Indiana high school newspaper adviser sues over suspension

An Indiana journalism adviser sued the Greater Clark County Schools claiming the the high school’s administrators were suspending her for her support of student’s First Amendment rights. The school suspended her claiming that in 2008 she had mismanaged the yearbook, but the adviser said the suspension came after the administrators objected to stories about security [...]

Seattle school administration considers new policy of prior restraint for student free press

A policy under consideration by the Seattle School Board would give principals the authority for prior review of high school newspapers and allow a stop to publication if they detected libel, obscenity and violations of the school’s educational mission. Critics argue that the principal would gain censorship powers and take responsibility for content out of [...]

Georgia: High school administrators cite federal privacy act in censoring interview with minor

A Georgia high school principal confiscated the January issue of their school newspaper and declared the newspaper under prior review in response to a story about eligibility rules for athletes. The district spokesperson Susan Hale cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, maintaining that the newspaper story contained confidential information about a minor. Hale held [...]

Student editors in Washington fight prior review

Although students in a Washington school district recently won a censorship ruling in federal court, they are still fighting their district’s media policy that permits the administration powers of prior review and prior restraint. -db Student Press Law Center May 20, 2010 By Josh Moore PUYALLUP, Wash. — Student editors at three Puyallup School District [...]

Washington jury finds for high school newspaper in privacy case over oral sex practices

A jury ruled 10-2 that there was a degree of newsworthiness in a news story on oral sex practices in a high school so that there was no violation of students’ privacy. -db Student Press Law Center April 22, 2010 By Katie Maloney WASHINGTON — A Pierce County jury found in favor of the Puyallup [...]

New California student free press law aims to stop prior restraint of student publications in charter schools

The adviser of a high school newspaper in Orange County, California says a revised publication policy at the charter school, the Orange County High School of the Arts, is in conflict with a proposed state law inspired by alleged censorship problems at the school.-DB Student Press Law Center January 13, 2010 By Stefanie Dazio ORANGE [...]

Supreme Court justice delivers dubious lesson in journalism to New York City’s Dalton School

When Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, a vigilant defender of the First Amendment, visited Dalton School in Manhattan last week, he came with a set of stipulations one of which was that his office would approve any article about his address to the students. Kennedy reviewed the article with dispatch, but it was still too [...]

Air Force opts out of Obama’s open government directive

The Air Force has decided to restrict information posted on Air Force web sites to content “intended for a wide public audience”.  All content is subject to a clumsy process of prior review intended to shut the public out, says Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists Commentary October 28, 2009 [...]

School administrators defy California law on students’ free press rights

Administrators at the Orange County High School of the Arts censored the school newspaper for reporting that the cafeteria service provider was a Christian company, but legal experts say under state law that would not be sufficient reason for suspending publication. -DB THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER September 11, 2009 By Scott Martindale SANTA ANA – [...]