An Oregon High School may be backing down after it suspended at least 20 students earlier this month after they retweeted or, in some cases, favorited a Twitter post.
Author: Rex Santus
Spotlight shines on colleges' regulation of student-athletes social media posts
In a new law journal article, Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, makes a case for why universities shouldn’t regulate student-athletes’ social media accounts and online speech.“What makes social media novel and empowering — that it is an immediate, unfiltered way to ‘speak’ with thousands of people — is also what makes it frightening to campus regulators,” LoMonte writes.
At a public institution, the First Amendment protects students' ability to express themselves free from government sanction, and the Due Process Clause protects against the removal of public benefits in an arbitrary way or without adequate notice.
Maryland student journalists encounter roadblocks in survey of universities' student-athlete social media policies
Last year, student journalists at the University of Maryland conducted a public records audit to learn more about the social media regulations governing student-athletes at public universities.
Social media monitoring widespread among college athletic departments, public records survey shows
Monitoring of student-athletes’ social media accounts is widespread among university athletic departments, according to the results of a public records audit carried out by journalism students at the University of Maryland.
Colorado school district destroys emails about student 'to protect against' records requests
A Colorado school district employee instructed staff to destroy public records “to protect against” open-records requests from a special-education student’s parents, according to emails obtained by the boy’s father.
Ninth Circuit backs school that ordered students wearing patriotic T-shirts to turn them inside-out
A California high school did not violate the First Amendment when officials ordered students wearing American flag T-shirts to turn them inside-out during a school-sponsored Cinco de Mayo event, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Contracts limiting union members' ability to talk with student media concern Central New Mexico Community College journalists
Central New Mexico Community College student journalists are worried their school’s faculty contracts could dissuade union members from talking freely with student media.
High school newspaper's article about Seattle landlord was not defamatory, appeals court rules
A Seattle landlord failed to prove a high-school newspaper defamed him, an appeals court determined Monday, two years after the court decided the same article did not defame his brother.
Washington considers bill that would allow schools to punish speech that causes 'emotional harm'
A bill that would update Washington’s anti-bullying statute to include online speech as well as speech that causes “emotional harm” has Senate approval and is being considered by the House.
Nevada school uniform policy struck down by Ninth Circuit appeals court
A Nevada public school’s uniform policy requiring students to display a motto — ”Tomorrow’s Leaders” — might not jibe with the First Amendment, an appeals court has ruled.