LOUISIANA -- If there were a "Censor Olympics," St. Tammany Parish School District near New Orleans would likely take home bronze, silver and gold medals for its ongoing suppression of free speech.
In the mid-1990s, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the district for banning the book Voodoo & Hoodoo and won. Then, in 2000 the ACLU again sued the district for a gag order it placed on parent Dana Thompson at a school board meeting.
MISSOURI -- A memo that asked on-air talent at KOMU-TV to remove patriotic symbols will cost the University of Missouri $500,000 from next year's budget.
SOUTH AFRICA -- Student journalists in Grahamstown have been threatened following the publication of an article about Zimbabwe's controversial presidential election.
In response to the threats, Rhodes University is providing round-the-clock security for the staff of Activate.
"We have had a number of suspicious characters asking questions about our Zim students and reporters," wrote Activate editor Natasha Joseph via e-mail.
Robert Mugabe, the country's reigning leader of 22 years, was reelected to a new six-year term in mid-March.
A college newspaper adviser who sued Fort Valley State University for not renewing his contract in 1998 has won what may be the largest settlement of its kind, including $192,000 and the establishment of new publications guidelines at the university.
In March, John Schmitt finalized a settlement wherein the state of Georgia will reimburse $117,000 of his legal fees and Fort Valley State, where he formerly served as communications adviser, will compensate him $75,000 and adopt a liberal publications policy that will protect future advisers.
Schmitt and Hollie Manheimer, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented him, crafted the new publications policy to "protect advisers," and it includes specific sections on protected speech and adviser job security.
Schmitt sued the university after his contract was not renewed in the spring of 1998, claiming censorship and racial bias led to his dismissal.
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 24 heard arguments in Gonzaga University v. Doe, its second case this term involving student privacy issues at federally funded schools.
The Court will decide whether individual students have a legal right to sue private institutions and seek damages for the release of personal information regulated by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, also commonly known as the Buckley Amendment.
The 1974 statute penalizes federally funded institutions that release "education records" without the prior written consent of students or their parents.
The Alaska Civil Liberties Union filed suit against a Juneau school board and principal in federal court on April 25 for violating a student's free-speech rights after he displayed a banner off school property that read, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."
Principal Deborah Morse of Juneau-Douglas High School suspended senior Joseph Frederick for 10 days after she saw him hold up the banner during the city's Olympic torch rally last January.
Nearly 4,000 copies of the University of Maryland's student newspaper, The Diamondback, were stolen during the early morning hours of April 17 from four campus distribution points.
The university police department is investigating the theft and the culprits could face stiff punishment if caught.
A federal judge rejected an Illinois elementary school student's plea April 16 to have her school print the words "God Bless America" on a yearbook cover she designed.
By refusing to grant a temporary restraining order, U.S.
Student journalists at The Minnesota Daily covering riots following the University of Minnesota's national hockey championship went from covering the news to becoming the news in early April.
Four student journalists -- three photographers and a reporter -- said they were taking photos and notes April 7 when they suddenly became the targets of police officers.
A Tampa high school student is pondering his next move after school district officials censored an editorial claiming that students were buying extra-credit in a chemistry class.
Student Brian Leon wrote an editorial in the Leto High School Legend in October criticizing an extra-credit project chemistry teacher Roohi Junejo had overseen in the fall.