Not only did administrators do just that, they demanded he erase the footage — on the grounds that it infringed on the rights of the students Smalt captured on film.The incident began when Smalt, who was in a class that produced news and entertainment segments for Time Warner Cable's local public access channel, decided to report on a fight between two groups of students at Ithaca High School.
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Police apologize for deleting students' photos
Although Paul Gleason and Kyle Smealie were only in high school at the time, they knew they had rights like any other journalist.So when a Fairfax County police officer confiscated their digital camera and deleted photos from it, they knew their rights were being violated and demanded an apology from the police department.
Minn. court dismisses professor's libel suit
A state court debunked a common excuse for administrative censorship, ruling that a public university cannot be held liable for an article in a student newspaper because it does not have editorial control over the publication.
Student punished for Web posting critical of school
Graham said the posting meant that he was not going to be silenced about his opposition to the school district’s newly enacted student publications prior review policy and Superintendent Herb Levine’s treatment of students during meetings about the change. In December, Principal Ann Papagiotas ordered the newspaper’s publication date delayed until students changed editorials on low student moral and school policies forbidding hats and eating in classrooms. The school then established a prior review policy breaking with the state’s tradition of only allowing censorship of a student publication if it would lead to a substantial disruption at the school.
Supreme Court says COPA is likely unconstitutional
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 29 that a law designed to protect minors from Internet pornography was probably overbroad and unconstitutional, but sent the case back to a lower court to rule on whether new technological advances would make enforcement of the law feasible. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that a 1998 statute, which carried up to a $50,000 fine per day and jail time for anyone who exposed minors to harmful material online, threatened the First Amendment right to free speech if enforced.
'Sunshine' forecast for La. minors
When a 16-year-old Michael Wayne Barker requested records from his school district about computer- and technology-related purchases, he had no intention to start a yearlong journey to change state open-records laws -- he just wanted to make a few money-saving suggestions.
It's a jungle out there
Georgia Dunn was not surprised when she learned that Ohio school districtsperformed poorly in an Ohio Coalition for Open Government study gaugingcompliance of the state’s open-records law.
The audit’sresults, released in June, showed school districts released records the same dayor the next less than 30 percent of the time -- the lowest rate of any typeof public body included in the statewide audit.
Dunn, Ohio JournalismEducation Association state director, said compliance with open-records laws hasnot been a high priority for schools.
What records should I request?
Experts say auditors must be sure that the requested records are public records.
After police refuse to investigate, colleges reprimand thieves
Every year, many newspaper thieves go unpunished because local and campus authorities cannot locate a suspect, or because they choose not to investigate the incident.
Student politicians implicated in newspaper thefts
Although other jurisdictions have successfully prosecuted those involved in the theft of free newspapers, a student newspaper in California is trying to make a university police department acknowledge that newspaper theft is a crime.