Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., No 20-255 B.L. v. Mahanoy is a free expression case the Supreme Court decided in June 2021. The case has major implications for public school students across the country. This page is a primer for reporters, students and teachers who want a quick explanation of the case and how… Continue reading SPLC’s 5 minute guide to B.L. v. Mahanoy
Student Press Law Center attorneys are available to speak with media about the ruling in this major student speech case and its implications.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mary Beth Tinker, First Amendment advocate and former plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case that still affects students' speech rights 50 years later, told her story to hundreds of high school journalism students visiting the nation's capital on Nov. 22 — encouraging them to be caring, and use their free speech… Continue reading Mary Beth Tinker to high school journalists: It’s your job to speak up on behalf of others
Q: Do private school students have any recourse when their free speech rights are stripped? A: Options for fighting private school censorship can vary significantly from school to school. As you are probably already aware, you don't have First Amendment protection from censorship in private schools, so you have to look elsewhere. Reminder: The First Amendment only protects… Continue reading Ask SPLC: What can private school students do when they’re censored?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2019 Contact: Diana Mitsu Klos, SPLC director of engagement, (202) 728-7267 dmk@splc.org We are concerned by the attempt by government to insert itself into “free inquiry” and the debates around free speech on campus at both the federal and state level. Since 1974, the Student Press Law Center has been… Continue reading NEWS RELEASE: Student Press Law Center Statement on Government Involvement in Promoting “Free Inquiry”
Editor's Note: The Student Press Law Center signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief from the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. This story was originally published by the Brechner Center. Read or download the full brief. In the latest legal skirmish over the ability of public universities to regulate what… Continue reading SPLC signs onto brief appealing discipline for “disrespectful” political speech by medical student on Facebook
University of Wisconsin schools will now be required to suspend students after two violations and expel them after three.
As the debate over free speech on college campuses continues across the country, it's important for student journalists to prepare themselves. Are you ready to cover this issue when it comes to your school?
A half-dozen free speech groups are backing a University of South Carolina student who says his First Amendment rights were violated by university administrators.
Can you be arrested for insulting a school employee? No, says a 7-0 ruling from the Georgia Supreme Court, striking down a state statute that criminalized verbally abusing a school employee in the presence of a student.
