Student fees can't be withheld to punish student organizations for their political viewpoints, a federal appeals court rules, in a case that could benefit campus news outlets facing censorship-by-checkbook from their administrators.
One of the nation's strongest laws protecting the independence of high school journalism is on its way to Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's desk after the state House gave its final approval Tuesday. HB 5902 passed the House 117-0 after its sponsor, Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, asked his colleagues to accept Senate-approved amendments that paved the… Continue reading Student press freedom bill bound for Illinois governor’s desk
Without opposition, the Illinois Senate ratified a bill Friday protecting the editorial independence of high school journalists and advisers, putting the measure one technicality away from Gov. Bruce Rauner's desk. House Bill 5902 needs only a perfunctory House vote agreeing to non-controversial amendments added in the Senate. The House had earlier passed its version of the bill 114-0,… Continue reading Unanimous Senate vote leaves Illinois student press freedom legislation on the verge of becoming law
The Wyoming teacher association, which is providing legal representation to Northwest College's embattled faculty journalism adviser, is urging supporters of the student newspaper to contact college trustees seeking reconsideration of a 4-2 vote to eliminate Northwest's journalism courses.
ILLINOIS -- Legal protection for Illinois high school journalists cleared its toughest legislative hurdle Tuesday and is headed for the Senate floor. Two weeks after giving House Bill 5902 a skeptical hearing that cast doubt on its prospects, members of the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the measure, setting up a Senate floor vote that… Continue reading Student press freedom bill unanimously clears Senate committee as school lobbyists drop opposition
Advocates say they'll be back in 2017 to try to pass student press rights legislation, which died in the Missouri Senate after school administrators lobbied against it.
A bill that sought to protect the First Amendment rights of Missouri student journalists quietly died in the state Senate this month. It would have prevented public schools and colleges from censoring student-produced media. The Walter Cronkite New Voices Act, named after the Missouri native and iconic broadcast journalist, spent this spring climbing the state legislative… Continue reading New Voices advocates regroup in Missouri after bill stalls in state Senate
A federal district judge sided with school disciplinarians in a First Amendment case involving a joke posted to Facebook, but the court also struck down as unconstitutional a school policy that made "inappropriate" speech a punishable disciplinary offense if there was any possibility of disruption at school.
After unanimously passing the Illinois House, a student-press-rights bill ran into skeptical questioning during a testy Senate committee hearing and may be amended to satisfy critics.
MARYLAND — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed into law Tuesday a bill designed to protect the free-speech rights of high school and college journalists. The new law, which goes into effect on October 1, will grant high school and college student journalists the ability to exercise freedom of speech and of the press in school-sponsored media,… Continue reading Maryland New Voices press freedom bill signed into law
