...LEGAL BRIEF Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988) 5-3; Justice White for the majority FACTS: Three former Hazelwood East high school students who were staff members of Spectrum, the school newspaper are suing Robert Reynolds, the principal of Hazelwood High School and Howard Emerson, their Journalism II teacher. The students believed that their school officials violated their First Amendment rights by removing two pages of articles from their upcoming new issue of Spectrum. The reasons for removing the articles based on Reynolds analysis, was because in the first article about pregnancy, it information was so descriptive that any of the students or faculty could identify the pregnant students from the text without giving out their identities. In the second article that was removed, a student argued about the impact of divorce on students at the school in her own opinions, but didn’t have consent from the parents to the publication of the article. The District Court found that no First Amendment violations had occurred. The District Court also determined that school officials could impose restraints on students' speech in the school sponsored newspaper. Even though the students believed what Reynolds did was wrong, he did have reasonable evidence to do what was right for the high school. Although the District Court made a decision, The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit had a different opinion. The court found out the schools newspaper is not...
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... Since the mid 20th century, there has been controversy about freedom of speech, especially in the school setting. These controversies led to four very important cases that have paved the way for the freedom of speech that is or is not allowed in school today. These four cases are Tinker v. Des Moines, Bethel v. Fraser, Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, and Morse v. Frederick. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District was the first case of freedom of speech for students. This case took place in 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa. John F. Tinker and his siblings and friends decided to wear black armbands to school in order to protest the Vietnam War. The principals and other parents and students were not fond of this gesture because they thought it was disrespectful to the people who were serving in the war. The principals of the school heard about this before it occurred and decided to make a policy that stated that any student that wore these black armbands would face consequences. These consequences included taking off the armband and being suspended until the student agreed to not wear the armband anymore. The children wore the armbands to school and were suspended. The Tinker family decided to take this to court. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court where they ruled in the favor of Tinker. The case law that resulted from this case stated that schools could only suspend speech if: 1) the speech causes problems or disrupts the educational process; 2)...
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...discussed the Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier case. The students at Hazelwood East High School, who ran the school newspaper sued the school. They sued over the fact that the principal had canceled the publication of their recently written articles before they were to be edited and published. The first court took the school district’s side. The students appealed the case and won. After the student’s victory, the school district appealed and the case found its way to the Supreme Court. In a five to three decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor for the Hazelwood School District, believing the the students’ First Amendment rights were not violated. This court case and decision had a neutral impact on me. I personally love to write and read; seeing people’s work and rejecting it to avoid “negative” opinions and statements is ridiculous. This school newspaper is written and run by the students of the school not administration, the staff, the mice who roam from nine to five, nor the custodial staff. This a way of students...
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...Erickson High School correctly disciplined Sarah Miller for the effect of her postings on StudentJournal.com. Intentional or not, Sarah Miller’s postings disrupted the normal routine and rules at EHS. The principal, Margie Baldwin, felt the need to maintain order at her school so that the main goal of academic progress could be realized. Baldwin’s action was consistent with Court rulings made in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988). In Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case, the Court decided that, “ School officials can censor speech if it conflicts with the school’s basic educational mission.” It also held in favor of the school officials at Hazelwood School District and found that the students’ First Amendment rights had not been violated....
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...Hosty v. Carter, a recent 2005 Supreme Court case, appeals to freedom of press in colleges. Three journalism students, Margaret Hosty, Steven Barba, and Jeni Porsche, at Governors State University sued the dean of the university for denying the printing of the paper. University Dean Patricia Carter prohibition printing the newspaper until a school officials reviewed the contents of the paper because it included articles critical of the school. The university’s policy says that newspaper staff will “determine content and format of their respective publications without censorship or advance approval”. Do colleges have the same rights as high schools to censor student newspapers sponsored by the school. Both the U.S. District Court and Court of...
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...Perform a search in the University Library databases and locate four school-related court cases (with outcomes decided), two which involve educators as defendants and two which involve students as defendants. Fill in the table below. When you give your informed opinion, state and discuss whether you agree or disagree with the outcome. Base your opinion on legal and ethical standards as discussed in Ch. 9 of the text. If you do not agree with the outcome, explain what would have been just. Base your explanation upon the rights and responsibilities of those involved. Cite your sources in APA format below the table. |Name and Date of Case |Brief Overview of Case |Your Informed Opinion | | |and Outcome | | |Case 1: Educator as Defendant |Justice will decide whether or not school districts may|I agree with the court on thins one. | | |employ policies specifically designed to achieve | | |Name of Case: |racially diverse schools, local educators in Seattle | ...
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...cases The first court case being discussed is Bethel School District v. Fraser in 1986. What happened includes Matthew Fraser using obscene sexual references in a speech in front of 600 students at a school assembly and being punished. The question in the case was whether the First Amendment protected students from being punished at school for using lewd speech. The court said no the First Amendment does not protect a student from being punished ("Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser." Oyez, 5 Apr. 2018, www.oyez.org/cases/1985/84-1667). Ultimately I agree with this court decision on the basis that the school has the right to enforce their rules to maintain order in the learning environment. The second court case being discussed...
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...inappropriate for the school newspaper. The students took the school district to court for violating the First Amendment rights of student journalists (Abrams, 1). This court case is known as Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier. The court ruled that, despite the Tinker ruling recognition of strong First Amendment protection, student expression in school-sponsored venues may be subject to greater limitations when those venues have not been established as “designated public forums.” In that context, school officials can censor, if they provide a reasonable educational justification for their actions (Bowen, 1)....
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...Supreme Court Case Brief: Hazelwood v Kuhlmeier Story: This case involved former East High School students who were members of their school’s newspaper. The petitioners filed suit in Federal District Court; the students alleged that their First Amendment rights were violated due to the deletion of two pages from a particular issue of the school paper, The Spectrum. The principal, Robert Reynolds, objected to a story on teen pregnancy and another article about divorce. After reviewing the page proofs for the May 13, 1983 issue of The Spectrum, the principal felt there was insufficient time to edit the articles and meet the publication deadline, and therefore chose to omit the pages containing the material he found objectionable. With the decision to not publish the questionable articles, Principal Reynolds also removed five other columns that appeared on the same pages. The principal consulted board members, his supervisors, before reaching his final decision. The writers were not able to propose a remedy since Reynolds did not advise the students of his plan for the publication. One editor and two reporters from the Spectrum brought a claim...
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...Karissa Ramirez School Law and Policy Issues Professor Criscione Table of Contents Introduction Student free speech Teacher free expression Freedom of Expression Rights: The Tinker Standard The Fraser standard The Hazelwood standard Faculty free speech Conclusion Introduction Free speech in public schools is important because it allows students and teachers to speak their minds on school grounds, wear jewelry or buttons, wear t-shirts with messages or color their hair a certain way. However, with the protection of the First Amendment that is guaranteed by the United States Constitution, it is sometimes not enough for students and teachers since there are limits to their speech or expression. It is evident that there are issues that have impacted free speech in public schools such as student and teacher free expression, freedom of expression under the First Amendment including the Tinker, Frazer and Hazelwood standard, and faculty free speech; in dealing with these cases it has helped shape future decisions of public school officials. Student Free Speech Student free speech rights have advanced since the twentieth century because previously students had no First Amendment rights. On the other hand, sometimes student’s rights are reduced or eliminated in certain situations. The Supreme Court has also maintained that the First Amendment rights of minors can be restrained in regards to school safety. School officials are also allowed to prevent, “student expression that presents...
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...Table of Contents Spanierman v. Hughes ……………………………………………………………………………………………. New Jersey v. T.L.O. ………………………………………………………………………………………………. Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier ……………………………………………………………….. Christensen v. Royal School District No. 160 ………………………………………………………….. References and Works Cited ……………………………………………………………………………….. Spanierman v. Hughes, 576 F. Supp. 2d. 292. (D. Conn. 2008) Jeffrey Spanierman, a teacher at Emmett O’Brien High School in Ansonia, Connecticut, created a MySpace page for the purpose of communicating with his students regarding homework, learn more about the student’s personal interest and to conduct casual, non-school related discussions. (Neuberger, 2008) A colleague visited the page and was concerned with some of the content---pictures of nude men captioned with inappropriate comments and personal conversations between Mr. Spanierman and the students. The colleague spoke to Spanierman and convinced him to remove the page arguing that it was disruptive to students. Spanierman complied, but went on to create a new profile page with similar content. The colleague learned of the new page and immediately reported her findings to the school administration. The administration went on to place Spanierman on administrative leave and ultimately declined his teaching contract for the upcoming school term. (Neuberger, 2008) In the case of Spanierman v. Hughes, 576 F. Supp. 2d, 292, the Plantiff, Jeffrey...
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...speaking to a school assembly about nominating a classmate, Jeff Kuhlman, for office in the school’s student government. In his speech he was said to have used sexual metaphors that could have inappropriately interfered with the educational process, although his speech had not contained any obscenities. Students can be penalized for giving a speech that disrupts the school’s mission of education. Court found it was appropriate for a school to prohibit use of vulgar and offensive language. The Court held, by a 7-2 margin, that school officials acted within the Constitution by disciplining Fraser. The Court had earlier held, in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School Board, that students do not shed their constitutional rights at the school gate. In that case, the Court said that the First Amendment gave students the right to wear black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. Chief Justice Burger, who dealt with both cases, pointed out that there was a huge difference between the protest in Tinker, which dealt with a major issue of public policy, and the lewdness of Fraser's speech. "The purpose of public education in America is to teach fundamental values," wrote Burger. "These fundamental values…must…include consideration of the political sensibilities of other students." Does the first amendment prevent a school from disciplining a high school student for giving a lewd speech at a school assembly? No. Along with Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, a case involving...
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...different types of censorship. There is Media Censorship, and there is censorship in books. There is also censorship in school, with filters and limits of what websites you are allowed to be on. In The United States the first amendment states that every American has a right to the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. In elementary school, censorship is only really common in the school library. Many books can...
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...minor, by and through his parents; DONALD LAYSHOCK; CHERYL LAYSHOCK, individually and on behalf of their son v. HERMITAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT KAREN IONTA, District Superintendent; ERIC W. TROSCH, Principal Hickory High School, CHRIS GILL, Co-Principal Hickory High School, all in their official and individual capacity Hermitage School District, Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (Civ. No. 06-cv-00116) District Judge: Hon. Terrence F. McVerry Argued on December 10, 2008 Opinion Filed on February 4, 2010 1 Opinion Vacated and Petition for Rehearing En Banc Granted on April 9, 2010 Rehearing En Banc Ordered for June 3, 2010 Argued En Banc on June 3, 2010 Before: McKEE, Chief Judge, SLOVITER, SCIRICA, RENDELL, BARRY, AMBRO, FUENTES, SMITH, FISHER, CHAGARES, JORDAN, GREENAWAY, VANASKIE and ROTH, Circuit Judges. (Opinion filed: June 13, 2011) ANTHONY G. SANCHEZ, ESQ. (Argued) CHRISTINA LANE, ESQ. Andrews & Price 1500 Ardmore Boulevard, Suite 506 Pittsburgh, PA 15221 Attorneys for Appellant, Hermitage School District SEAN A. FIELDS, ESQ. Associate Counsel Pennsylvania School Boards Association 400 Bent Creek Boulevard P.O. Box 2042 Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 Attorney for Amicus Curiae, Pennsylvania School Board Association, filed in support of Appellant, Hermitage School District KIM M. WATTERSON, ESQ. 2 RICHARD T. TING, ESQ. WILLIAM J. SHERIDAN, ESQ. Reed Smith LLP 435 Sixth Avenue ...
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