VIRGINIA — The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection ofFree Expression announced the recipients of their annual Muzzle awards, whichare given to the “best Muzzlers of free speech,” according to a press releaseissued today.
Among the list of those noted for stifling the right to free expressionwere several colleges and high schools, including the administrations of theAcademy for Arts, Science, & Technology in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and MillardSouth High School in Omaha, Neb.
The awards are given “to those who in the preceding year committed some ofthe more egregious or ridiculous affronts to the First Amendment rights of freespeech and free press,” according to the press release.
School officials at the Academy of Arts prevented the editors of thestudent newspaper from distributing an issue that included a story about samesex marriage. Officials at Millard suspended 23 students for wearing t-shirtscommemorating a classmate that police said was killed in a gang-relatedshooting.
“It is especially concerning to see the proliferation of measures taken toprevent controversial speech,” said Robert O’Neil, director of the ThomasJefferson Center, in the press release.
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