Elementary school students First Amendment rights honored
The National Association of School Boards has posted their interpretation of the Morgan v. Swanson case which was handed down November 29 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. You can read their rendition of the case at http://tiny.cc/130vu
Read MoreFirst Amendment Press Freedom Award
If you and your students attended the JEA/NSPA convention this past week in KC, you are aware of the courageous fight some teachers and advisers wage against censorship. In some cases they kept their student media operating as designated forums for student expression or as practicing forums for student expression.
Others still continue to fight the good fight. We would like to increase recognition of such programs.
To achieve this, JEA, NSPA, CSPA and Quill & Scroll sponsor the First Amendment Press Freedom Award. Deadline for applying is Dec. 1. To find out more about the award and download an application go here.
If your student media are open forums by policy or practice, please apply. We would love to recognize more of you.
And, if you are forums for student expression, please let us know so we can list your student media as such on Kent State’s Center for Scholastic Journalism website. Recognition forms can be downloaded there.
For other news on current censorship issues:
• The student paper Minnesota Catholic school administrators don’t want seen
• School pulls op-ed pieces (includes links to the student media website)
• Catholic school administrators delete editorials from student media
• Parents challenge school’s ban of “I heart boobies” bracelets
Read MoreTeacher does not have First Amendment rights over curriculum
In today’s issue of NSBA LEGAL CLIP, you can read the National School Board’s take on the issue of teachers not having First Amendment rights in choices of materials and curriculum design. We are living in a dangerous time. Evans-Marshall v. Board of Education of the Tipp City Exempted Village School District, No. 09-3775 (6th Cir. Oct. 21, 2010)
http://legalclips.nsba.org/?p=2753
Read MoreIssues for possible discussion
Journalistically, it is been an interesting week for discussion issues.
Two commercial issues and one scholastic event come to mind.
• In Missouri, according to a SPLC News Flash, a school confiscated a student’s photos of an event in which a student was injured, would not allow the photographer to publish in print or online any shots of the fight and have not returned them to the student. According to the report, the school argued privacy issues were involved. In addition to raising excellent ethical and legal issues, the situation might be an excellent discussion starter about developing a staff policy about handling police or administration requests for images, audio or other forms of gathered information.
• In Ohio, a story in the Plain Dealer raises interesting copyright issues. Earlier this year, the paper reported – and photographed – a county official being led away in manacles. The charge was corruption in office. The photo, page one material, since has been used on political ads opposing members of the official’s party who are running for office, trying to tie them to him. Plain Dealer Editor Susan Goldberg said, in the story, “Pulling our photo out of this context and having it stand alone is improper use — even if it is credited. The larger issue here is that our work be portrayed fairly and in the context in which it was presented to the public. In addition, we need to avoid being used by a political campaign as their partisan mouthpiece, which is what we are seeing here.”
• Nationally, the U. S. Supreme Court heard arguments Oct. 6 about Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, a group that protests at funerals and has a history of anti-homosexual activity. The groups claims its First Amendment rights to speak out and opponents urge the Court to rule that funerals should be off-limits to protest. A myriad of First Amendment discussion threads exist.
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