Victims of sexual assault on campus often feel pressured to divert their cases away from the criminal justice system and into the secretive world of campus disciplinary bodies, frequently producing unsatisfying outcomes, according to a newly published study by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism consortium.The public often is surprised to learn that campus disciplinary boards -- made up of non-lawyer school employees and rarely bound by court-like rules of evidence or burdens of proof -- are adjudicating cases that would be felonies if handled by off-campus authorities.
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High school journalists ordered to print administration-approved newspaper
Staff members of the student newspaper atStevenson High School in Lincolnshire were told by school administrators Tuesdayto publish a newspaper composed of only administration-approved content.
Chapman University investigates newspaper theft
Chapman University is investigating the theft of about 2,200 copies ofthe student newspaper The Panther.
November 2009 podcast: Tarleton State University violates Clery Act
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Keith Evans of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas joins reporters Erin Cooper and Julie Vrazel in discussing their investigation into Tarleton State University's Clery Act violations.
For Meeps Sake — This Whomps!
The Salem (Mass.) News reported last week that Danvers High School parents recently received an automated call from the principal warning that students who say or display the word "meep" at school could face suspension.We’ve heard lots of those words over the years at the SPLC.
ACLU considers taking action against Ohio high school over obituary censorship
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio isthreatening to take legal action against administrators if they continue toforce the censorship of an obituary and photograph of a recently deceasedstudent in the student newspaper of Stow-Munroe Falls High School.
Louisiana joins “technophobia” craze with restraints on teacher-student communications
Louisiana's effort to deter inappropriate personal relationships between school employees and students may have a significant, and perhaps unforeseen, chilling impact on newsgathering by high school journalists.Act 214, enacted by the 2009 Louisiana legislature with the support of Gov.
'Porn policy' rejected by University of Maryland's Board of Regents
The University of Maryland's Board of Regents hasdecided not to implement a proposed "porn policy" thatwould have required films screened on campus for entertainment purposes to havean educational element.
Fairfield University files harassment charges against student newspaper
Harassment charges have been filed against The Fairfield Mirror,Fairfield University's independent student newspaper, in response to acolumn published Sept. 30.
Faculty group bemoans erosion of free-speech protections on campus
Some of the most troubling cases that come through our door at the Student Press Law Center are not stories about students at all -- they are stories about the faculty advisers who become "collateral damage" when schools and colleges realize that they cannot safely attack student journalists directly.The leading faculty voice in support of employee free-speech rights on campus, the American Association of University Professors, came out this week with an authoritative assessment of the state of faculty speech rights -- in a word, the state is lousy -- and with some "best practices" for campuses that are interested in fostering the free and open discussion of ideas, no matter how controversial.The AAUP report, Protecting an Independent Faculty Voice: Academic Freedom after Garcetti v.