Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier | |
---|---|
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinions | |
Majority | White, joined by Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia |
Dissent | Brennan, joined by Marshall, Blackmun |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend. I |
Hazelwood School District et al. v. Kuhlmeier et al., 484 U.S. 260 (1988), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States which held, in a 5–3 decision, that student speech in a school-sponsored student newspaper at a public highschool could be censored by school officials without a violation of First Amendment rights if the school's actions were "reasonably related" to a legitimate pedagogical concern.[1][2]
The case concerned the censorship of two articles in The Spectrum, the student newspaper of
The case, and the earlier Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), are considered landmark decisions for defining the right of expression for students in public schools. While subsequent court rulings have varied on when Kuhlmeier applies, the case remains a strong precedent in the regulation of student speech. However, the state statutes protecting student free expression, enacted by 17 states as of March 23, 2023, most in response to the limitations of Kuhlmeier, typically adopt the more protective Tinker precedent.[4][5]
Background
Facts of the case
The case concerned The Spectrum, a
Reynolds did not believe there was time to make changes because, if there were any delays in publication, the newspaper would not be published before the end of the school year.[8] After consulting with his supervisors, he opted to publish a four-page newspaper instead of a six-page one, omitting the pages containing the two stories in question.[10] Cutting two pages removed a total of seven articles from the paper.[12] Reynolds did not tell the students about the decision, and they did not find out about it until the paper was delivered to the school.[13]
In response, editor Cathy Kuhlmeier and reporters Leslie Smart and Leanne Tippett filed suit in January 1984[12] with the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union. Kuhlmeier later said that the idea for the pieces had come from old issues of The Spectrum and that she had been looking to update them.[13]
Legal precedent
Until the 1960s, administrative review of student publications was considered routine at both the high school and collegiate level. However, with the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s, student publications began to explore social issues with greater fervor, focusing on the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, sexual orientation, and other topics considered controversial at the time.[14]
In 1969, the
By the 1980s, however, with the end of the student protest era, school administrators sought to reassert their authority. The first case in the new trend, Bethel School District v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986), involved a high school student who was disciplined for delivering a speech containing sexual innuendos, even though they were not obscene or disruptive in a legal sense. Overturning lower court rulings, the Supreme Court held that the Tinker precedent did not apply because the penalties imposed by the school were unrelated to the student's political viewpoint.[19][20]
Lower court decisions
The Kuhlmeier case was filed in the
The
Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in January 1987,[12] and the case was argued on October 13, 1987. On January 13, 1988, the court handed down its decision,[8] overturning the circuit court in a 5-3 ruling.[22] Its majority opinion set a precedent that school-sponsored activities, including student newspapers and drama productions, are not normally protected from administrative censorship under the First Amendment.[23][24]
Majority opinion
The majority of the justices held that the school principal was entitled to censor the articles.[25] The majority opinion, written by Associate Justice Byron White, stated that officials had never intended the school paper to be a public forum, as underground publications were in past cases. White went on to say that educators do not infringe on First Amendment rights when exercising control over student speech in school-sponsored activities, "so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns".[26] The court established that the student publication could be regulated by school officials, and that they "reserved the forum for its intended purpose, as a supervised learning experience for journalism students".[23]
A school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission, even though the government could not . ... (Judicial action to protect students' rights is justified) only when the decision to censor a school-sponsored publication, theatrical production or other vehicle of student expression has no valid educational purpose.[23][27]
The decision overrode the precedent set in the Tinker case, which had permitted censorship of student speech only if it violated the rights of other students or threatened to cause a campus disruption. The majority opinion in Kuhlmeier held that this case was different.[26][12] The majority opinion said that school administrators are not required to tolerate speech that is contrary to the school's academic mission,[7] and continued:
The question [of] whether the First Amendment requires a school to tolerate particular student speech—the question we addressed in Tinker—is different from the question whether the First Amendment requires a school affirmatively to promote particular student speech. The former question addresses educators' ability to silence students' personal expression that happens to occur on the school premises. The latter question concerns educators' authority over school sponsored publications, theatrical productions, and other expressive activities that students, parents, and members of the public might reasonably perceive to bear the imprimatur of the school.[23][28]
In a footnote, the court clarified that the ruling did not necessarily apply at the collegiate level.[14]
Dissenting opinion
Associate Justice
The young men and women of Hazelwood East expected a civics lesson, but not the one the Court teaches them today ... Such unthinking contempt for individual rights is intolerable from any state official. It is particularly insidious from (a school principal) to whom the public entrusts the task of inculcating in its youth an appreciation for the cherished democratic liberties that our constitution guarantees.[23]
Legacy
The case established the standard that school personnel must meet to limit students' freedom of expression in secondary schools.[16] As representatives of the state, school administrators can censor, restrain, or refuse to publish school-sponsored student expression if it interferes with the requirements of school discipline, interferes with students' rights, interferes with academic propriety, generates health or welfare concerns, or is deemed obscene or vulgar.[12] This extends to theatrical productions, public speeches in an assembly environment, and publications produced as part of curricular activity, such as a student newspaper.[12] The Supreme Court majority termed these reasons "legitimate pedagogical concerns".[7][30]
This standard does not, however, apply to personal or non-school-sponsored communication, such as off-campus publications, unless that communication interferes with school discipline or the rights of others.[12] The Kuhlmeier case established student newspapers as "limited public forums".[16] This means schools may exercise prior restraint regarding the "style and content" of a student newspaper so long as their action is "not unreasonable", whereas there previously had to be compelling evidence to warrant censorship.[18] Separate cases also established what constituted school activities, such as in-class parties and art created by students at the behest of teachers.[31]
In response to the ruling, some students created web-based publications not subsidized by the school.[30] Some individual states have also responded with laws designating student newspapers as public forums and offering them greater First Amendment protection.[32] Experts from the Student Press Law Center say the case has meant that fewer lawsuits regarding student censorship make it to court.[13]
In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the Court's decision in 2013, the Student Press Law Center launched a nationwide censorship awareness campaign, "Cure Hazelwood," that ignited "New Voices" reform movements across the country, seeking to enact state legislation affording students enhanced press freedoms.[33]
Subsequent jurisprudence
Federal appeals courts have been divided on whether the Kuhlmeier case applies to college newspapers, a question the Supreme Court left open.[34] Courts have also been split on viewpoint-based expression in schools, such as religious expression.[35]
A 1989 case, Alabama Student Party v. Student Government Assn. (867 F.2d 1344), held that campus newspapers that are part of a curriculum might not enjoy First Amendment protection.
A 2005
See also
- Desilets v. Clearview Regional Board of Education, 647 A.2d. 150 (N.J. 1994)
- Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
- Hazelwood School District v. United States
- Censorship of student media in the United States
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 484
- Student Press Law Center
References
Citations
- ^ "Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier". United States Courts. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ "Instead, we hold that educators do not offend the First Amendment by exercising editorial control over the style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns."Kuhlmeier, at 273.
- ^ "HAZELWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Petitioners v. Cathy KUHLMEIER et al". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- ^ Student Press Law Center (March 21, 2018). "Washington New Voices bill officially signed into law, becoming 14th state to protect rights of student journalists". Student Press Law Center. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
- ^ Center, Student Press Law (March 24, 2023). "West Virginia New Voices Act (2023)". Student Press Law Center. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
- ^ Bloomfield 2007, p. 66.
- ^ a b c Russo 2009, p. 419.
- ^ a b c d e Russo 2009, p. 421.
- ^ a b Alexander & Alexander 2011, p. 283.
- ^ a b c d Bloomfield 2007, p. 67.
- ^ Parker 2003, p. 250.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Parker 2003, p. 251.
- ^ Arlington, Virginia: Student Press Law Center, retrieved October 25, 2014
- ^ a b c d Belmas & Overbeck 2009, p. 587.
- ^ Alexander & Alexander 2011, p. 281.
- ^ a b c Russo 2009, p. 420.
- ^ Belmas & Overbeck 2009, p. 588.
- ^ a b Alexander & Alexander 2011, p. 280.
- ^ Belmas & Overbeck 2009, p. 589.
- ^ a b Blokhuis et al. 2013, p. 116.
- ^ a b c d Russo 2009, p. 422.
- ^ Russo 2009, p. 425.
- ^ a b c d e f Belmas & Overbeck 2009, p. 591.
- ^ Alexander & Alexander 2011, p. 279.
- ^ Russo 2009, p. 423.
- ^ a b Belmas & Overbeck 2009, p. 590.
- ^ Alexander & Alexander 2011, p. 284.
- ^ Alexander & Alexander 2011, p. 285.
- ^ Russo 2009, p. 424.
- ^ a b Hanson 2007, p. 444.
- ^ Blokhuis et al. 2013, p. 114.
- ^ Belmas & Overbeck 2009, p. 596.
- ^ "Breaking the back of Hazelwood: a press lawyer's decade-long campaign". Poynter. July 17, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- ^ a b c Belmas & Overbeck 2009, p. 594.
- ^ Blokhuis et al. 2013, p. 117.
- ^ a b Belmas & Overbeck 2009, p. 595.
- ^ Alexander & Alexander 2011, p. 287.
- ^ Hanson 2007, p. 446.
Sources
- Alexander, Kern; Alexander, Klinton (2011), American College and University Law: Policy and Perspectives, OCLC 732807640
- Belmas, Genelle; Overbeck, Wayne (2009), Major Principles of Media Law: 2010 Edition, OCLC 313635152
- Blokhuis, J.C.; Feldman, Jonathan; van Geel, Tyll; Imber, Michael (2013), Education Law, OCLC 42080199
- Bloomfield, David C. (2007), American Public Education Law Primer, OCLC 80360483
- Hanson, Ralph E. (2007), Mass Communication: Living in a Media World: Second Edition, OCLC 473730416
- Parker, Richard (2003), Free Speech On Trial: Communication Perspectives on Landmark Supreme Court Decisions, OCLC 427509620
- Russo, Charles J. (2009), Encyclopedia of Education Law, OCLC 185031300
External links
- Text of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988) is available from: Cornell CourtListener Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)
- Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier: A complete guide to the decision
- First Amendment Rights Diagram (shows whether Hazelwood or Tinker standard is applicable)
- State student free expression laws and regulations
- The Supreme Court on "Hazelwood": A Reversal on Regulation of Student Expression
- Much information on the case including the arguments
- Research resources