In February 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court reversing lower court decisions in favor of three Iowa students who were suspended for wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. Memorably, the court's majority opinion — penned by Justice Abe Fortas — noted that neither students nor teachers "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." The ruling sets the standard by which school administrators may censor student speech.
News
Lawsuit alleges Ohio high school students were illegally punished for social media posts
The parents of four high school students have filed a federal suit against their school and local police department, claiming the students were illegally punished for social media posts that school administrators saw as threats.
The News and Observer Publishing Co., et al. v. Baddour
The News & Observer, along with seven other North Carolina and national media groups, including The Daily Tar Heel, requested access to records from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after football players were accused of receiving improper benefits from agents. A university tutor was also accused of providing inappropriate assistance on academic assignments and providing illegal benefits for players.
State ex rel. The Miami Student v. Miami University
In 1996, two reporters at The Miami Student newspaper requested disciplinary records from the University of Miami of Ohio's campus court proceedings, but were denied. The university claimed the records were protected by FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Although The Miami Student reporters did not request the names of students who had been disciplined, the university said that disclosing the records could risk identifying specific students' records. The newspaper argued the records were public under Ohio's public records law.
Student Press Law Center v. Lamar Alexander
In February 1991, the Student Press Law Center released a “survey indicating that 24 universities routinely disclosed personally identifiable information regarding students in campus crime reports.”
From the hotline: do I have fewer First Amendment rights in a journalism class?
While it's true that these are are factors in figuring out the scope of rights, it's not that simple.
Wis. high school reverses prior review policy, returns editorial control to students, adviser
Fond du Lac High School’s student news organization will return to business as usual this academic year with new guidelines, after a prior review policy caused friction between administrators and student journalists in the previous school year.
From the hotline: can I be punished for fighting censorship?
You can't be punished for opposing censorship — at least, not lawfully — as long as you don't break any laws or rules in how you choose to protest.
From the hotline: what do I do when I’m censored?
We spend a lot of time learning about how the First Amendment is supposed to work and very little time learning what to do when it doesn't.
Amendments to the US Constitution
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