Kansas student press rights background
Congratulations. If you're from Kansas, you live in an anti-Hazelwood state.
To which you most likely say, huh?
Here's the deal. In 1988, the Supreme Court took a look at a student newspaper case out of Hazelwood, Mo. Members of the student newspaper staff sued when two pages of the student newspaper were deleted -- pages that included stories about student pregnancy and the impact of divorce on students. The school principal had nixed the pages during a review before publication with worries that the unnamed pregnant students might be identifiable and that talk of sexual activity and birth control wasn't appropriate for younger students.
The court had previously held that public school students and teacher don't "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District) Yet, in this case, the majority of justices said the Hazelwood principal acted appropriately. Essentially, they said that the student newspaper was part of the school's educational curriculum and not a public forum. That meant the principal could edit -- or censor -- the content as he saw fit.
Not everyone agreed. Three justices dissented. The students, they said, had signed up for class expecting a civics lesson. "In my view the principal broke more than just a promise. He violated the First Amendment's prohibitions against censorship of any student expression that neither disrupts classwork nor invades the rights of others, and against any censorship that is not narrowly tailored to serve its purpose," wrote Justice Brennan.
So what does this mean today? Kansas is among six states that has passed laws promising stronger student press rights in public schools. (Although you can't count on these protections if you're in a private school.) As it stands in Kansas, any attempt by a public school administrators to censor the work of the student newspaper would be illegal. Specifically, the law bars suppressing material in a student publication because it is controversial and prohibits firing or transferring an adviser for refusing to infringe on students' free expression rights.
Perfect, right?
This won't give you a free pass. You can be sued for libel, invasion of privacy or copyright infringement.
And nothing protects students from the reality that newspaper stories (even ones that are important and need to be told) can make people really mad. There's no protection from the sting of writing stories that bring glaring heat from fellow students, parents and administrators -- a true lesson in what professionals often face as they tackle tough stories.
Also, it helps to know that there is a difference between what you can publish without getting sued and what your staff finds ethically acceptable. For example, our newspaper could publish grisly accident scene photos. It chooses not to publish them. A student publication staff should feel empowered to talk through tough ethical questions.
The law in Kansas
72-1506. Liberty of press protected; regulation authorized; review of material not restraint on publication; material not protected; responsibilities of editors and advisers; liability, immunity and limitations. (a) The liberty of the press in student publications shall be protected. School employees may regulate the number, length, frequency, distribution and format of student publications. Material shall not be suppressed solely because it involves political or controversial subject matter.
(b) Review of material prepared for student publications and encouragement of the expression of such material in a manner that is consistent with high standards of English and journalism shall not be deemed to be or construed as a restraint on publication of the material or an abridgment of the right to freedom of expression in student publications.
(c) Publication or other expression that is libelous, slanderous or obscene or matter that commands, requests, induces, encourages, commends or promotes conduct that is defined by law as a crime or conduct that constitutes a ground or grounds for the suspension or expulsion of students as enumerated in K.S.A. 72-8901, and amendments thereto, or which creates a material or substantial disruption of the normal school activity is not protected by this act.
(d) Subject to the limitations imposed by this section, student editors of student publications are responsible for determining the news, opinion, and advertising content of such publications. Student publication advisers and other certified employees who supervise or direct the preparation of material for expression in student publications are responsible for teaching and encouraging free and responsible expression of material and high standards of English and journalism. No such adviser or employee shall be terminated from employment, transferred, or relieved of duties imposed under this subsection for refusal to abridge or infringe upon the right to freedom of expression conferred by this act.
(e) No publication or other expression of matter by students in the exercise of rights under this act shall be deemed to be an expression of school district policy. No school district, member of the board of education or employee thereof, shall be held responsible in any civil or criminal action for any publication or other expression of matter by students in the exercise of rights under this act. Student editors and other students of a school district, if such student editors and other students have attained the age of majority, shall be held liable in any civil or criminal action for matter expressed in student publications to the extent of any such student editor's or other student's responsibility for and involvement in the preparation and publication of such matter.
http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-statutes/getStatute.do?number=29398
Resources
The Student Press Law Center offers solid guidance for student journalists. Check out all it has to offer at www.splc.org.
However, if you're trying to pry documents from your school district or attend a closed-door meeting, you'll probably be working under the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) or the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA). For information about navigating that law, try contacting the Kansas Press Association or Kansas Attorney General. The best guidance I've found on what's available under the law are in these documents produced by the AG's office about KORA and KOMA.
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