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September 10, 2007
Speechless in Seattle?There is an interesting legal case out of Washington that just reached an out-of-court settlement with three former editors of a high school student newspaper, days before the case was scheduled for trial in federal court. And, as sometimes is the case, both sides are claiming victory.
Here's the skinny from our legal beagles at NSBA's Legal Clips and the Seattle Times report:
Three former student editors of [Washington's] Everett High School newspaper conceded that school administrators have a right to review the school newspaper prior to publication, but they say the settlement ensures that the district can't censor articles unless they contain libel or otherwise violate district policy. The students originally had argued that the school principal could not review the newspaper because it was a public forum, which enjoys broad free-speech rights under the federal and state constitutions.
In July, a federal district court judge ruled against them, holding that the school district's policy that allows prior review is constitutional. But the judge said other issues, including whether the Everett High principal retaliated against the students for asserting their free-speech rights, would have to be settled at trial. The students say the settlement affirms that student editors, not administrators, control the content of the newspaper.But the attorney for the Everett School District says the settlement agreement reaffirms the district policy over which the students brought suit. The lawsuit received national attention and prompted student editors at the district's other high schools to publish off-campus to avoid administrative review.
Our legal beagles also point out that Oregon has a new law that protects high school and college journalists from censorship by school administrations. They noted this report in USA Today: "Student journalists are now responsible for determining the content of school-sponsored media and gives them the right to sue schools if they feel free-press rights have been violated. It is the country’s first law in more than a decade to protect high school journalists, and the first ever to cover both high school and college journalists under one statute, says Warren Watson, director of J-Ideas, a First Amendment institute at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind." The state of Washington apparently considered and rejected similar legislation, a version that would have considerably more lawsuit-prone.
Want more legal news and insight? Subscribe to the free weekly e-newsletter Legal Clips, published by NSBA's Office of General Counsel and the NSBA Council of School Attorneys.
Posted September 10, 2007 4:38 PM | School Law
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