Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier
Published on Feb 05, 2016
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Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier
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Hazelwood East High School had a student written newspaper. The principal of the school reviewed it each time. This time, a student had written an article about a sensitive topic, and the principal pulled it from the paper.
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The principal, Robert Reynolds, took out two pages of the newspaper. This meant that seven articles were removed along with the two on the topics he was uncomfortable with.
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The two topics that the students had written about were teen pregnancy and divorce. The article about pregancy included an interview with three students who had been pregnant. Their names had been changed for the interview to protect their privacy. However, the principal was still concerned that the identity of the girls would get out. He was also concerned that someof the matter discussed like sexual activity and birth control would not be appropriate for the younger viewers at the school.
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The second topic, about divorce, included an interview with a girl whose parents were divorced. The interviewed student gave details about how she felt, however her name would also be changed to protect her privacy. The principal did not know that and he believed that the family should have been spoken to and asked whether they would be okay with the article being published.
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The principal did not tell the students whose articles were taken out of the newspaper. They found out only when they recieved the newspapers at school. Editor Cathy Kuhlmeier and reporters Leslie Smart and Leanne Tippett sued, stating that it was their right to freedom of speech.
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The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri decided against the students saying that the school is allowed to take actions against certain topics in places like the school newspaper. However, the Supreme Court voted for the students saying that it was indeed the right of the students to freedom of speech. For years to come, many cases similar to this won on the students side, until a little later, when school decided they wanted their authority back.
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Works cited:
streetlaw.org/en/landmark/cases
and
wikipedia.org
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