Hazelwood vs Kuhlmeier
1987-1988
Hazelwood East High School
A school-sponsored newspaper, run by students, sent the proofs for the May 13th issue to the school's principal, Robert Reynolds. As routined, Reynolds was reviewing the paper when he found two of the articles to be inappropriate. He demanded that the stories be restrained from publication. Cathy Kuhlmeier and two others, all former students from Hazelwood East High, took the controversy to court.
Verdict
After a 5 to 3 decision, the Court found that with the First Amendment, schools are not required to encourage certain types of student speech. The Court felt that the school's staff held the right to deny publication of any story they felt inappropriate or unfair to the student body. Reynolds was not breaking the First Amendment by using his editorial control over the articles. As long as the regulations and restricting seem probable and fair, the actions of the staff will be backed up with full support.
Because the newspaper was school sponsored, the school and its staff held the right to deny any student's article from being published. Schools can now censor any and all articles before publication occurs due to the verdict of this court case.