Student Newspapers in Wisconsin Would be Protected From Interference Under New Bill

Monday, December 4th, 2023 -- 11:00 AM

(Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio) Student newspapers in Wisconsin would be protected from interference by college or high school administrators under a new, bipartisan bill that would guarantee free speech protections for student journalists in state law.

According to Rich Kremer with Wisconsin Public Radio, if backers are successful, Wisconsin would be the 18th state to address a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing administrative review of school-sponsored news stories.

Freedom of speech and of the press are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, but when it comes to student-run newspapers funded by high schools, there's a caveat.

In a 1988 ruling known as Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a principal in Missouri did not violate students' free speech rights by pulling articles they wrote about teen pregnancy and the impact of divorce prior to the school newspaper's publication.

Because the paper was sponsored by the school, the court said, the principal was right to prevent articles deemed inappropriate. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Wisconsin hopes to address that ruling by including new free speech and free speech protections for student journalists in state law.

Their bill clarifies that student journalists are responsible for content published in student-run newspapers or websites and school administrators will be barred from "exercising prior restraint" over those publications.

The bill would provide protection from disciplinary actions brought by the school against student journalists or their advisors. It would also allow them to sue a school to enforce free speech protections.

The bill would not offer protection to students for articles or opinion pieces considered libelous, obscene or inciting students to violate laws or school policies.

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