MISSOURI ' The Parkway Central High School principal rejected the student newspaper's proposal to run advertising for a pregnancy center in its February edition.
Principal Bill Myer said he was concerned that publishing the Pregnancy Resource Center ad, which offered free pregnancy screenings, would force the Corral to accept ads from any reproductive service organization, regardless of their views on abortion or birth control.
NEW YORK ' The New York Court of Appeals denied a request to hear Cornell University's latest appeal in a case that will decide whether its biotechnology records are subject to the state Freedom of Information Law.
In 2002, a lower court ruled in favor of former radio host Jeremy Alderson, who requested the files because he was concerned that the college was hiding the possible risks of genetically engineered crops from the public.
Cornell will now have to prove that each individual record is exempt from freedom of information laws.
CALIFORNIA -- The U.S. Supreme Court in March declined to hear a case over the rejection of a graduate student's thesis that could have addressed the application of its Hazelwood standard at the collegiate level.
CALIFORNIA ' State legislation intended to protect expression regarding matters of public concern broke new ground late last year when two appellate panels provided free-speech protections to students and high school media.
Two libel cases focusing on the rights of high school students to publish or pass along controversial comments made by classmates were thrown out of the California Court of Appeals in December 2002.
WASHINGTON, D.C. ' During an anti-war rally in the nation's capital March 15, Caroline New, a student journalist from University of Pennsylvania, learned of a rather rowdy group of protesters and began shadowing their movements near the Washington Monument and the White House.
UTAH ' Criminal defamation charges were dropped against a former Milford High School student in January, ending the case brought against him for derogatory comments he posted online about classmates and his principal.
Ian Lake, now a resident of California, was arrested and charged with criminal libel, slander and defamation after commenting on a friend's Web site in 2000 about several students' sexual histories and accusing his high school principal of being the 'town drunk.' Lake spent seven days in a juvenile detention facility.
Fifth District Juvenile Court Judge Hans Chamberlain dropped the misdemeanor criminal defamation of character charge on Jan.
CALIFORNIA ' A college newspaper photographer covering anti-war protests in San Francisco was arrested March 20 after police refused to recognize him as a credentialed journalist.
Sacramento City College student Nick Varanelli, a photographer for The Express student newspaper, was taking photos of an anti-war demonstration when police barricaded Mission Street in downtown San Francisco and arrested 300 protesters, along with Varanelli.
FLORIDA ' A federal court ruling late last year that minors have the ability to consent to the use of their images could have broad implications for journalists.
The court ruled that the producers of Girls Gone Wild did not violate the rights of then 17-year-old Veronica Lane when they used footage of her exposed breasts in their videos.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit gave the college press an important victory in April by reaffirming what courts across the country have been saying for decades: public college and university officials can rarely if ever censor student media.
OHIO ' In a significant legal victory for high school student media, a federal district court judge ruled in February that some student newspapers must be accorded greater legal protection than others.
Although Judge James S.