Hazelwood East High School Newspaper Case Digest

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HAZELWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT ET AL. v. KUHLMEIER ET AL. United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit (1988) 795 F. 2d 1368, reversed FACTS: Hazelwood East High School Journalism II students, edit The Spectrum the schools official newspaper. Two articles included in the Spectrum had been about divorce and student pregnancies. One article which was a story on a girl who blamed her father for the divorce of her parents, the other was about pregnant teenagers of Hazelwood East High School sharing the experiences they encountered in the school. In order to keep the girls privacy the editors changed their names. Before the article could be published they were removed by the Principal who felt they were inappropriate. The Principal felt that…show more content…
The Spectrum was produced by school funding, and Principal Reynolds felt the pregnancy article, though names were changed the students were still recognizable. And believe students’ parents in the divorce article was not given a chance to respond to the article. Acknowledging there wasn’t enough time to make the changes in the article he simply cut them out. The court felt his concerns were “Legitimate and Reasonable” JUSTICE BRENNAN (Dissent) JUSTICE BRENNAN (Joined) JUSTICE BLACKMUN (Joined) Hazelwood East High School student participated in Journalism II they did as a civics lesson. The Spectrum was there newspaper and responsibility, “was not just a class exercise. To hone writing skills, it was a… forum established to give students the ability to express their view and appreciate their right under the First Amendment..” “The Spectrum was a student press publication, accepting all rights implied by the first Amendment…Only speech that ‘materially and substantially interferes with appropriate discipline could be prohibited.” Students do not shed their constitutional right upon entering the school

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