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COLORADO -- A bill under consideration by the Colorado General Assembly would make the theft of free newspapers, including student-run newspapers at Colorado colleges and universities, a misdemeanor crime.House Bill 1057, which is expected to pass, will fine thieves up to $5,000 for taking newspapers from distribution racks ''with the intent to prevent other individuals from reading that edition of the newspaper.'' Taking five newspapers or more would constitute theft under the bill.The amount of the fine varies by the number of newspapers stolen.

TEXAS -- A federal court has ruled that Lubbock Independent School District can restrict students' promotion of sex and sexuality in school-sponsored activities without violating their First Amendment right to free speech.

TEXAS -- Officials at the University of Texas at Austin have fulfilled part of the student newspaper's open-records request for documents related to campus security cameras after a yearlong, continuing legal battle that spilled over into the Texas Legislature.Jonathan York, a reporter for The Daily Texan, filed the request with the university in October 2002.

TEXAS -- The editorial board of Baylor University's student newspaper is facing criticism by the university president and the Student Publication Board after printing an editorial supporting gay marriage.In the Feb.

PENNSYLVANIA -- Between 100 and 800 copies of Drexel University's student newspaper were stolen from at least one residence hall distribution rack on Feb.

VIRGINIA -- A middle school student who sued his school district over its dress code has agreed to settle the case with the school board.Eighth-grader Alan Newsom and his father sued Albemarle County School Board in September 2002, alleging that a Jack Jouett Middle School assistant principal violated his First Amendment right to free expression by requiring him to wear his National Rifle Association T-shirt inside out.

PENNSYLVANIA -- After attempting to prohibit the student newspaper from running advertisements from certain booksellers, administrators at Cedar Crest College, a private school, have decided to allow students to publish the newspaper without administrative interference.An advertisement for www.half.com, an Internet-based discount bookseller, ran in the Feb.

GEORGIA -- State Attorney General Thurbert Baker told the University of Georgia Foundation that it violated the state's open-meetings law during its Feb.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments March 2 in a case questioning whether a law that punishes commercial Web site operators who make "harmful" sexual material available to minors violates the First Amendment.