The event included Facebook Lives with the likes of student press advocates Mary Beth Tinker and Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey, a webinar on the history of the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier decision and a ton of great photos, videos and messages from students on what getting rid of school censorship would mean to them.
Students at Florida's Valencia College who complained about being forced to serve as test subjects for vaginal ultrasound exams will get their day in court, after a three-judge federal appeals panel restored their First Amendment claim and sent the case back for trial.
When Hope Johnson was a freshman in high school, her journalism instructor taught her class the history of American journalism. But one lesson in history stuck out the most to her, and even struck a nerve. The Hazelwood case. “It made me slightly angry, but mostly confused,” said Johnson. “I was under the impression that… Continue reading Hazelwood Inspires Student’s Testimony
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
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.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died this weekend, leaving a complicated legacy on his rulings regarding students' First Amendment rights.
Thursday, Sept. 17, is Constitution Day, when all schools must set aside time to teach about constitutional principles. For Constitution Day 2015, the SPLC has created a classroom lesson plan to get young people talking about the nation's newest student-rights statute, the New Voices of North Dakota Act, and how it fortifies their federally protected First Amendment rights.
A federal appeals court allowed student plaintiffs to go forward with due process and First Amendment challenges to the state of Arizona's decision to eliminate "ethnic studies" courses from the K-12 curriculum. The court's 3-0 decision is remarkable for recognizing that students have a constitutionally protected right to receive information even in the classroom setting, a principle that may strengthen the hand of future student plaintiffs.
North Dakota governor Jack Dalrymple signed into law Thursday rules to further protect the free-speech rights of high school and college journalists.
