A school may exercise great control over schoolsponsored publications that students and members of the community might reasonably perceive to bear the imprimatur of the school. Hazelwood expanded authority of school officials to censor a student publication that is curricular and not a public forum, as the court found the newspaper at hazelwood east high school to be. Kuhlmeier established standard for censorship of school newspapers. Louis, which had upheld the rights of the students. As part of this update, you must now use a street law store account to access hundreds of resources and supreme court case summaries. Hazelwood school district v kuhlmeier 1988 supreme.
As of march 2019, all accounts have been taken out of service. When the principal of east high school discovered that the paper wanted to produce stories dealing with teen pregnancy and divorce, he said that those stories. Supreme court case regarding student journalism in history. If there are any similarprecedent cases that you know of please let me know.
Censorship in school newspapers landmark supreme court cases library binding december 1, 1998. Explain the significance of the supreme court decision. Louis ordered two pages from an issue of the student newspaper, the spectrum, be removed because these. The paper examines the ideas underlying the educational policies illustrated by the three decisions and evaluates whether these policies are compatible with the aims of public education. Kuhlmeier dealing with free press tensions between school. Kuhlmeier dealing with free press tensions between school administrators and student journalists on the school newspaper. Here is a school policy from massachusetts that was enacted after hazelwood v kuhlmeier. Without question, supreme court decisions regarding public school student rights have greatly affected school policies. Court of appeals for the eighth circuit which reversed the decision in january 1986 made its way to the supreme court chief justice. Reynolds found two of the articles in the issue to be inappropriate, and ordered that the pages on which the articles appeared be withheld from publication. Louis county, missouri sued the school district after the journalism. Jan, 2017 dismayed by the schools decision, three of the student journalists, including editor cathy kuhlmeier, pursued their case in the courts, arguing that the school had violated their first amendment right of free speech. In 1983 students at hazelwood east high school were responsible for publishing the school newspaper, the spectrum.
Audio transcription for opinion announcement january, 1988 in hazelwood school district v. Engage your students during remote learning with video readalouds. Catherine kuhlmeier produced articles about the issues of teen pregnancy and divorce. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The court had to determine if the spectrum was a public forum, and whether public schools could censor student speech within schoolsponsored expressive activities. Students in the journalism ii class at hazelwood east high school in st.
Analysis of high school newspaper editorials before and. The decision raises concerns that high school newspapers no longer will publish controversial information or criticism of school policy. School officials will be allowed to censor these kind of publications when they can show that their censorship is reasonably related to legitimate. Jeff eaton on january, 1988, the supreme court decided a first amendment case that had major ramifications for the constitutional rights of students in hazelwood school district v. Argued october, 1987 decided january, 1988 on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eighth circuit 261 robert p. Get an answer for explain the significance of the supreme court decision hazelwood school district v. District court for the eastern district of missouri. A complete guide to the supreme court decision splc hazelwood v. I chose this choice mainly because even though the way that the circumstances were handled, the intentions were for a good purpose for the children involved. In the united states teenage pregnancies or students dealing with divorce is not always unusual. Kuhlmeier 1988catherine kuhlmeier was a student at the east high school who undertook a position on the schools news publication, which was titled the spectrum.
The school was absolutely right in taking away those pages, it was very inappropriate for the students. Kuhlmeiercatherine kuhlmeier was a student at east high school in st. This amendment is the most important of the first ten amendments in maintaining an ordered government. Kuhlmeier audio transcription for oral argument october, 1987 in hazelwood school district v. Twenty years before hazelwood was decided, another student free speech case reached the supreme court. This first amendment activity is based on the landmark supreme court case hazelwood v. It was a 1988 case ruled by the supreme court on the schools side. The big idea of this case was that the articles were written in a school newspaper. Kuhlmeier, involving high school students and how the court has ruled on their freedom of expression in school newspapers. Reynolds, the principal of hazelwood east, however, did not view the story as appropriate for publication, because of its controversial nature. Mar 29, 2015 this feature is not available right now. The spectrum was the school newspaper of hazelwood east high scho. Supreme court announced its decision in hazelwood school district v.
Censorship in school newspapers landmark supreme court cases library binding december 1, 1998 by. Kuhlmeier is one of the most famous legal matters in u. Louis wrote a story detailing divorce and teen pregnancy in their school newspaper, the spectrum. Kuhlmeier background of the case hazelwood east high school, near st. When the principal of east high school discovered that the paper wanted to produce stories dealing with teen pregnancy and divorce, he said that those stories were a violation of. Kuhlmeier 1988 from the knowledge your gained in class starters.
In 1983 however, student journalists at hazelwood east high school in st. Since it was a newspaper that was sponsored by the school, i beleive the. I suspect that things would have been different had we not had this change. Court ruled that school officials could exercise prior restraint if and when a student newspaper was produced as a regular classroom activity rather than a forum for public expression. Hazelwood v kuhlmeier the background of hazelwood school district v. A summary and case brief of hazelwood school district v. Hazelwood school district appealed the case to the supreme court. In 1988 students enrolled in the journalism ii class at hazelwood east high school were responsible for writing and editing the schools paper the spectrum.
When engaging in school sponsored activities, the first amendment rights of a student may be abridged by the curriculum within which they are working. Also, the father in the divorce article was not reached for comment, so the article had not been unbiased, as should be expected in a newspaper. In may 1983, he decided to have certain pages pulled because of the sensitive content in two of the articles, and acted quickly to remove them in order to meet the papers publication deadline. Kuhlmeier i, alexa sonnett, write this opinion to support the majority opinion on the case of hazelwood v. Des moines found that public school students had a first amendment right to freedom of speech in the school. You will be prompted to sign into or create a street law store account. Reynolds, the school principal, received the pages proofs for the may issue. Supreme court said public school officials can censor schoolsponsored expression for legitimate educational purposes. Kuhlmeier, high school students in a journalism class at hazelwood east high school in st.
Des moines independent community school district 1969, bethel school. Kuhlmeier, giving educators the right to exercise editorial control over the style and content of student speech in schoolsponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns. Respondents were students in a journalism class wrote and edited a school newspaper, which was funded by the board of education and through sales of the paper. Speech, press, and assembly civil rights or civil liberties. Justice byron white wrote the courts majority opinion, which was joined by justices. This lesson goes over the landmark supreme court case hazelwood v. Hazelwood v kuhlmeier basically was a fight of 1st amendment rights.
Cathy kuhlmeier and two other former hazelwood east students brought the case to court. Yearbook project a photo documentary of student life, beginning or end of year. The young student was a leading member of the schools newspaper, titled the spectrum. The first amendment rights of public high school students introduction the first amendment to the constitution guarantees freedom of speech and press to everyone under united states jurisdiction. Hazelwood school district v kuhlmeier 1988 background of the case. It can be used for all grade levels and with many different kinds of software or web 2. Jun, 2017 this lesson goes over the landmark supreme court case hazelwood v. January, 1988 background students in the journalism ii class at hazelwood east high school in st. They want to remove inappropriate topic in the newspaper like teen pregnancy and divorce.
633 97 1036 1356 1255 147 691 928 406 1202 968 518 704 174 95 556 237 1060 1521 209 121 1401 68 240 468 436 523 709 684 44 1104 1202 1308 487 931 1168 968 607 1342 429 477 378 1379 710 634