Do administrators at your school monitor students' social media activity? What happens if they find something? Find out the details of this nationwide debate and what this means for your school.
Author: Mark Keierleber
Ohio Supreme Court rules in favor of student journalist, opening private university police records
In a 4-3 decision, the Court ruled the Otterbein University Police Department can be compelled to produce public records because it employs sworn, state-certified police officers, who have the same arresting authority as municipal police or a county sheriff.
Texas Legislature votes for transparency in private university police departments
Sen. John Whitmire said he introduced the bill after Rice University denied his request for information about an incident in 2013 where a surveillance video showed two Rice University police officers beating a suspected bicycle thief with batons.
First Amendment lawsuit says student was punished for wearing a T-shirt advocating gun rights
When an eighth-grade Logan Middle School student refused to remove his National Rifle Association T-shirt because a teacher said it violated the dress code, he was suspended. Now, a lawsuit argues his First Amendment rights were violated.
Md. governor gives OK to student social-media privacy law
The law, which saw overwhelming support in both the Senate and House of Delegates, prohibits college officials from requiring or asking students to grant access to their private social media accounts. The rules, which go into effect June 1, also apply to college applicants and prospective students.
Oregon student wins free-speech lawsuit against school, overturning discipline for critical Facebook posts
An Oregon middle school student’s free-speech rights were violated when he was suspended for calling a teacher a “bitch” who “needs to be shot” on Facebook rant, a federal judge has ruled.
Student journalists at Iowa community college allege harassment, intimidation in First Amendment lawsuit against administrators
Administrators at Muscatine Community College also took actions to remove The Calumet’s full-time faculty adviser and replace him with a part-time adjunct instructor, modify the fall 2015 class schedule “to marginalize the journalism program” and reduce funding to the program, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
NYPD arrests student photojournalist during Baltimore solidarity protest
As New Yorkers took to the streets Wednesday in solidarity with demonstrators in Baltimore, who have been protesting Freddie Gray’s death after he was injured in police custody, student photojournalist Sam Bearzi became a part of the story.
Wash. Supreme Court rules state agencies can release records that detail employees’ misconduct investigations
In a 5-4 decision on April 2, the state's highest court reversed an appeals court’s ruling and determined such an investigation “is merely a status of their public employment, not an intimate detail of their personal lives.”
Supreme Court declines to hear First Amendment challenge over school’s American flag clothing ban
A petition to the nation’s highest court followed a February 2014 ruling from three judges on the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in California, who found Live Oak High School officials did not violate the First Amendment when they ordered students to remove American flag T-shirts during a Cinco de Mayo celebration in 2010.