Cases Affecting Student Press Rights

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Cases Affecting Student Press Rights
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Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School
District

• 1969
• Supreme Court said that students rights did not
  stop at the school house gate
• Students have the right to express their
  political views
• Administrators can only restrict free expression
  when it materially disrupts class work or
  involves substantial disorder or the invasion of
  the rights of others

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Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier

• 1988
• Supreme Court said the rights of high school
  students were not necessarily the same as those
  of adults in other settings
• Majority opinion said that school-sponsored
  publications, theatrical productions, etc. may
  fairly be described as part of the school
  curriculum and therefore administrators have
  editorial control

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Hazelwood continued

• Administrators have the right to review materials
  before publication and remove those materials
  considered unsuitable
• Administrators have Prior Restraint/Prior Review

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What can be censored?

• The Hazelwood decision said administrators may
  censor material that is
• -ungrammatical
• -poorly written
• -inadequately researched
• -biased or prejudiced
• -vulgar or profane
• -unsuitable for immature audiences

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Restriction of topics

• Hazelwood allows administrators to restrict
  topics such as
• -the particulars of teenage sexual activity
• -speech that might be reasonably perceived to
  advocate drug or alcohol use, irresponsible sex,
  or conduct otherwise inconsistent with the shared
  values of a civilized social order

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Exceptions to the rule

• Many states have anti-Hazelwood laws, including
• -California
• -Massachusetts
• -Iowa
• -Colorado
• -Kansas

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Bethel School District v. Fraser

• 1986
• Matthew Fraser, an Honor student, gave a
  nomination speech for a student government
  candidate filled with double-entendres and sexual
  innuendos
• He was suspended the school claimed he used
  vulgar and indecent language in front of a
  captive audience

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The outcome

• Fraser lost
• Supreme Court said there is a difference between
  the expression of political beliefs protected in
  Tinker and the sexual content of Frasers speech
• Protects students free speech, but gives schools
  the right to censor material on the grounds of
  vulgarity