Winter 1993-94 VoL XV, No.1

Discovering enHidd Treasures EDITORS Mirando Doyle Kevin Talbot S/crlOtdl.\'WIIeIt!Iy Un..... 1IlIy ct � CONTENTS CONTRIBUTO RS Erik Ugland Mike Hiestand lkIMl'IIIvct Mm.solo lowSc:hool ACCESS COVER ART __ •.• _ .. ___ 4 Jack Dickason Courts uphold open recordslaws Red &: Blad: victorious inaccess case ...... 5 ART Man wins right to view sex-ed films ...... 6 Jim B(Qndetsas McDe(mott Hea1nel' Michiganpapers win suitagainst university ...... 7 Brod Conn Charles Murroy Reporter fUes suitin Louisiana ...... 8 SheldonJames Rodney Rodgel! Ed Dept. policyers diff for theses...... 9 Paul Kinsella John TfO\AsanO Dan Kim Bruce Young Task force hopes to openrecords ...... 9 Vignelle settles suit with school ...... 10 Student Pres.s Law Center l1epcrl ...... 1 rr-CurIor t.... _".n (lSS)i' ''�... � .. __ Arizona srudent paper shuns governm ent ...... 1 ) S'IIuIaIc � la ... c.a&.tr, -,*-.....,...,1 caMO .ad_ ...... ,.,..,� Oklahoma professor sues boss ...... 11 IItwMac:Ck,�ot tboo""*'" _ rwSPLCJIqoof;" ,...rd>.td,wrlUorl ...... -.- ..,�...... ot_ "_ Sb""-C ""-l.¥to'R.-t, Caler V6I. xv, � I, WI8... I"�M." pubIIoIoo1 cboB�"'-"' .. Cao,*, 1 ... ,.... 504,1m l:7.IIIl'ett,H.W. w"�1acI<>e.DC _ (ltl)W-JloIl. � C 1m a...... t "'- W..Cetar IlL Allr1&hlo POLITICAL CORRECTNESS .-...L v.. ,.". -..- '"�5I'LC.".naU SUo a...lrlb..- .,. tar Iowa papers drawftre ...... -....sw.. " ....� ...... _.� .. _)J. Two ...... 13 Court reinstates professor ...... 13 Encultv_ Director MOOc Goodman HIGH SCHOOL CENSORSHIP staff Attorney Adm/nlstraltve AU/stant __..• _.• _ ...... Mike HIestand Chr1sffna Gross Back to class ro r school omcials 14 Ground-breaking in New Jersey...... Corporate Boardof Directors case . . . 15 Ohio school censors ad andeditorial ...... 16 Nancy L GrMn Student blamedfor principal'sresignation ...... 17 � Sllldents suspended for underground paper...... 17 v" �on. Floridastu dent suspended fo r artwork...... 18 Carolyn Jone. Howard ...... Atlorge Freeexpression legislationpending . . . . 18 ·0Ut.Ellngton SdIooIo( the Am WOIIW"Qton. DC CAMPUS CRIME Dr. louls E. IngelMrt &T..nn.. Police reportsstir conlJ'Oversy in Arizona...... 20 ·8oI S1at. � MLW"ICIe N . UCLA papersues for settlementinf o ...... 21 RIchard Johns QuI! aid SaoISociety . lJnt..oenIyol lolO'C LEGAL ANALVSIS IowoCIty. � Distributingpublications oncampus ...... 22 Jane E. Kirtley, Esq. A&ooIt� CommllleelOt IIHdo m ct the PNtI COLLEGE CENSORSHIP Wc.hngIon. DC Dr. UlUan lodge A rising tide 01Dewspaper thefts__ . __...... 28

Kopenhav., Intern facesjail time ...... _ ...... 31 At l.OtQe 'F!oIldo WemotlOrd UtWoenIIy Rorida student government threatens funds .. .. 31 Noll" MlcrnI. fl New York paperstops publishing ...... 32 Paul Me Matters ...... Society ctPIolftliord Joumdlrh SUNY campus readmitsreporter ...... 32 'FIMdomI'on6n Admissions office dumpspaper ...... 33 A.IIncr1on.V" rom Rolnlckl NoIfonci SchobsIIcPr9Q ADVISERS AIIocbt!onI"-':1a19d Collegial. Pree Louisiana adviser loses case ...... 33 'UrMrJIIy�o I>f MImeopoIt. MN Candace Per1t!ns CONFIDENTIALITY JouIrdIm £dJc::ofIonAIoodatlon ·St. Cha1eo$choQl KIlt! Law slUdenl's taped interView protected ...... 34 �. C/'lcJ1et. L Edmund J. SulRvan LJ BEL �SchobtIo I'I&tlAasocIoIIoI1 Courts offer prottctions fo r newspapers ...... 35 '�rrcIo�1IIy NewYortt.foN Ohio police offlCCt appealing dismissal...... 36 Robert Treger, Esq. Judge sayscartoon not libelous ...... 36 ...Il org6 was ... . 1/0091 a Row1crd Pennsylvaniajudge dismisses suiL...... 37 'u-Minlty0( CoIQIOdo Bouldet, CO Charges against yearbookeditor dropped ...... 37 LauraWId mer Personal ads sparklibel suit ...... 37 CoIeoo �AcMIe" • NoIlhW9tl),4IaoU'l stete ..... Un 1IIIy MaryI4t. t.4O • Qroonitafloru(or Pl.fpo$elldentflcatlon " oN.{ Louisana college paper that fights theft is honored with press freedom award

WASIHNGTON, D.C. -TheLouisi· tionpoints around the campus.. Within pline the sllldents for their actions. In ana student newspaper sWf that bas days,the student gov ernment president editOOak.new the spaper condemned the activelypmsued criminal chargesagainst had been arrestedrelating to the theft. theftas anaffront to their readers as well aslUdentaceuge'd taking of 15 perceIltof He cmrently awaits trial on chargesof as theFirst AmendmenL thepaper's press run has been namedthe '"1'0 steal newspapers so as to deny recipient of the 1993 Scholastic Press others the opportunity to see whatis in Freedom Award.. them is the c:ra.ssest, lowest fonn ot Tbestaff o f TheLion' sRlXJTal South· censorship,"Colooa wrote a in column.. eastern Louisiana University in "These are the IaCtics of an Adolph Hammond received the award at the Hider, a MIlSSOIinior a Joseph Stalin." Associated CoUege PressICollege Me­ "NO(only did UUevesthese censor the dia Advisers nation.eJ convention in paper.they cheated the campus commu­ Dallas,.• Tex on OcL30. nity," shewrote. Thea� spoosaedStudent bythe Inpesenting the Scholastic PressFree­ PressLaw Ceruerand d1eNational Sch0- domAward (0 � Lion'sRoar, Student lastic Press Associatioo/ AssociatedCol· Press Law Center uecutive Director legiale Press, isgiveneach year to the Mruk Goodman cited the newspaper's highschool �conege stll dentjournalist uncompromisingresponse to the grow­ or studentnews medium that has dem­ ing problemof newspaperlheft (SeeA onstrated outstanding support for the CRIME WAVE, 28.)page free pressrights of students. "At a time when the theft ofstudent TM Lion's Roar's battle for press publications has epidemicreached pro­ freedombegan in March 1993 when the pationsoncoIlegecamposes, I'm proud studentnewspapapublished a story de­ topresennbeaward 10.8 college publica­ scribing the frustration felt by studeD1S tion that is leading thefightagainst it," on campusabout waiting months f� the saidGoodman. '1lntil school8dmjnjs­ school's stlldentgovernment to distri� trat.ors and law enforcement officials ute over $2.5 million for campus im­ criminalmischief over the incident (See put a stopto newspaper no theft, college pro�meDts. Appruxicnarely 2.000 cop­ GOOD ENOUGHTO STEAL,Fall 1993 publicationcan feelsafe inexposing it! ies of the issue in which the story ap­ SPLCReport, page 4.) readers to controversial viewpoints or pearedwere confiscated fromdistribu- TheLion's Roar.under the leadership unpleasantfacts." of 1992--93 editor Dori Colona, urged Nominees for the Scholastic Press the campuspolice and prosecutorlocal Freedom Award should be sent to the The ReportStaff to pmsue criminal charges against the Student .Press Law Center and are ac· thieves and asked the school to disci· cepreduntil Aug. 1 of each year.. -, Miranda Doyle is a senior at Stanford Universitywh o aspires to be ha high school newspaper ad· SPLC now connected to Internet viser, Harvey Wehner. An ovine TheStudent Press Law Center is now Severa110picaldiscussion lists of � aficionado, she has spent most of connected to themuch talked about In­ cial interest to the student media now her coUege career at TM Stanford formatioDHighway.Recently,theSPLC exist on the Internet. Theyinclude ool· Daily editing stories on giantcysts gained access to the Internet, a world­ lege publication topics (ema. and napping in the lounge. widecomputer network that links thou­ [email protected]) high schoolme­ Kevin Talbot is a May 1993 sands of sub-networks, private sectOr diaropIcs(bBjourn @vm.ccJatecb.edu) graduate of the University of Wis· rums,nonprofit instiDlUons, schools and and college broadcasting topic. coruin at Madison wherehe was a government agencies. You cancontact ([email protected]). reporterfor theBadger H�rald. He the SPLC with an electronic mail mes.­ For more infoonarion on the college plans to attendlaw schoolin thefall sage addressed to [email protected]. andhigh schoolmedia lisu.C(WaC:tEddie of 1994 after attending the Rose Ifyou needquick: infonnation or advice, Blick 81 Louisiana Tech University 11 Bowl in Pasadena. pleasecall us. (318)257-4427.

Winter 1993-94 SPlCReport3 FISHING FOR ANSWERS

Courts help provide the media with more access to universityrec ords

f campus records have been viewed as 8 lost One would think that thesecases wouldseale the issue treasure buried somewhere a1 the boaom of the of accesscoUege to campllSCS. Bat they have not I sea, then it looks as though the public need not At Micbigan State University,the local has media filed learn to swim to get access tothem anymore. a lawsuitbecause the school did not open itspresidential In the paSL,universitieshave hidden certainmaterials searchto the public. Nor hasthe Georgia case helped other that should havebeen open LO the public in a Bennuda studentnewspapers. Sllldentsal Georgia Stale University, Triangle of files - lost fo rever. Louisiana State Uni­ But thepublic hJlSfo und a way tobreak away from versity81 Shrevepo rt., this obstacle and afliml itS rights.. the UnivetSi[yofAJa­ This fall, the ,highestC()wtS in three bamaandthe Univer­ statesdecided Ih3l an,educational sity of Arkansas at instirution in their 8lale, Fayetteville have re­ supportedby taxpayer ported being denied doUars, bad not com- records of judicial hearings. pliedwiLh lbe pubuc's (��S�:g�� ProPOIlCllIS of open access ar­ righl LO know. gue that victories in the judicial In New Yorle, the SYSlWl should send a message 10 Court of Appeals said schools that wilhholding information Wt Nassau Commu­ from the public will 001 be tolerated. nity College violalCd Carolyn Carlson, chair of a task force the sUIte Freedom of fanned 10 open campus COUJ1S 10 the Information Law public (see TASK FORCE. page9). said when it didnOl honora theNovember Georgia decision will abe man's request 10 see valuable tool for lawyers and stlJdcnlS films used in a SCJt-cdu­ who are trying LO gCl access 10 studenl calioncl ass. (See RUSSO. page 6.) disciplinary records. In Michigan.the sl3LC Supreme Cowt said lhe Univer­ "InGeorgia. fivediff crcOlschools said they wouldwait sity of Michigan did not comply with the Stale Open for tben,ilil1g [in thiscase): ' Carlsonsaid. "This inf onna· Meetings Act of Information Act when and Freedom non oughtt o be publ ic. In a democnuic society.thal is what selectinga new president of theuniversity. (See BOOT H, happens:' p:1ge 7.) Caroonsaid !.hst the !aSk foree w illmake sure that word 'InGeorgia. thes tudent newspaperal lhe Universil)'of ol ,the Georgiacase gets out so it will beusefu l for therest Georgiawon a Iwo-yearbaLLle with the university when of the country. !.heSlate SupremeCoWl decided that the school couldnot An allOmey who represenred the R�d & Blade in a withhold the records of 3 sludenfs disciplinary hearing. separatecase thatopened campus judicial hc.ari ng records (SeeRED & BLACK. page 5.) (See ACCESS. page 12)

- � . . . -- �- - 4 SPlC Report IMnter 1993-94 Court opens disciplinary records Results of hate crime hearing not private, Georgia court says

GEORGIA - The Georgia Supreme tion. thetrial courtsaid they Courthas afftrmed a lowercourt decision were not exempt the from ____...... thatsaid the disciplinary recordsof indi­ state openrecords act. nor � vidual students are subject to disclosure werethey edllC8tioo records. � under theGeorgia Open Records Act. "The findsCourt that the c:b InJohn Do� v. TheRed &.Black Pub­ factsinvolved in thiscase as lishillgCo.,1nc.,No. 93A1674 (Ga.,Nov. :reflected in the records of 8, 1993),an unnamed studenthad ftled a the Main Coon of the Stu­ lawsuitto stopthe University of Georgia dent Judiciary are a matter from disclosing records to the stodent of legitimatepublic interest 0 .,....--,. newspaperrelJUing to his hearingbef(Xe and inquiIy,"the uial court a universitycourt that hears cases against said in May.

individual students. In March, the Georgia I::. 0 - /- In November, the statesupreme court upheld . I Supreme Court the �Co. - focusedits decision on whetherthe propct right of the pa� to have procedures were followed by the bi.a1 access to the records � court, which dissolved a temporary re­ ceedings ofa student cowt strainingorder prev that entedR� TM &. that considered charges Black from obtainingrecords the . against organizations on In fIDding, without statement, that campus. proper procedures were foUowed, the Theeditor in chief for The state's highest court affmned the trial Red &. Black said the case courtdecision. seta greatprecedent inthe Doe was accused of setting fife to a state that will help other dormitory door of a gay student at the schools having difficulty University of Georgiaat Athens in 1990. gelting access to disciplin­ When TheRed &. Black attempted to ary records. getaccess tothert.COrds in thedisciplin­ "Youcan't have a fairand ary hearing,it wasslapped with a tempo­ equitable justice syslem if .­ raryrestraining order until a trialcould be you don't know what's g<}- held. ing on," Johnathon Bums Doe claimed that disclosing these said. records would have violated his rightto CarolynGorwitz, attorney privacyand thatthey were exempt from forTheRed& BlacJc ,said the publicinspection undet the Federal Fam­ press shouldbe able to write ily Educational RighlS and Privacy Act aboutincidentS on campus. (FERPA)because they were "education Recordsof a judicialpro­ records." ceedingsshould not bekept Olherwise known as the Buckley from thepublic just because . Amendment. FERPA allows the federal. the act happened on cam­ go'tternment to .withhold funding to pus,she said .. schools that release edUcation records "Butthe attorneyfor Doe withoutwriuen pennission from thestu­ said thereis a privacy right

dent that outweighs the public _ Many schools have used the Buckley right to know, and so the Amendment to classify disciplinary records should be exempt records relating to criminal behavior as from the open records aCl. sure, the university should keep its education records, thus justifying their Mark Wiggins said that since Doe promise. decision to withhold them from the pub­ was told in the disciplinary hearing Wiggins argued to the Georgia Su­ lic. that all information and anything he premeCourt that he had no chance to After inspecting the records in ques- saidw ould bekept from public disclo- (See DOE.page 8)

'vVInter 19Q3-Q4 SPlC Report 5 Sex-ed films ruled public records College must grant access to course materials, highest court says

NEW YORK - A Long Island man was granted access to a sexually explicit film and othec course rna1erWsfromasex -educalionclassafter New Yark's highestcourt ruled such that marerials were subject to the state freedomof infonnationtaw. Frank RU8S0,who beads a group called Citizens for a MereInform ed America,was granted access in October to materialsfor a NassauCommunity Col­ lege classtitled "Fam.i1y Lif e andHuman Sexuality." "'We establisheda criticalright for thepubl ic, tax­ payers, parents and the media." Russo said. "They [col lege officialsJ weretaking rU'Sthe t Amendment and literally llDlling it on its bead." The New York Coon of Appeals, in Russo \I. Nassau Community College, et aI., No. 161 (N.Y., Oct 14, 1993), 1993Westlaw 406653, said that.the film, entitled "SexualIntercourse," andother mate-­ rialsused by a public collegewere "agencyrecords" subject to theNew York Freedom of Infonnation Law. The president of Nassau Community College, Sean Fanelli, haddenied requests for the materials because hesaid it would violate the school's aca­ demic freedom rigtU8. The AppellateDivis ion agreedwitl1 thisasse rtion , but the Cowt of Appeals reversed, saying that the business of public colleges must beopen. "The breadth of the statutory language, in con­ jtmction with the purposeof the Freedom of I nfonnation Law, access to the materials to criticize and perhaps censor their compels us to hold thatitems the [Russo] seeks to inspect ­ use. a fIlm and filrnslJips from a college-level course taught in a According to N(;Wsday, Russocriticized h the uman sexual­ public college and provided by the coUege undoubtedly fa ll ity course after he learned that thesexually explicit film was within [the law]. To hold otherwise would frustrate thegoal of used the classroom. liberalunder disclosure FOIL," wrote the court. "Thecourt copped out,"said Joseph Dundero, chainnanof AnnaMmie �1o, attorney foethe coll ege. said that the thehealth andphysical educationdepartment, objecting to the school never stopped R�so from viewing anything in the lack: of guidance the court gave as to how to comply with classroom if be registered as a student The college only requests for audiovisual materials. objected to showing thematerials directly tohim. According toRusso, a brief bywritten theStudentPr essLaw '"The col1ege never denioo it was subject to freedom of Centerand the Reporter ' s Committeefor Freedom of thePress information laws," Mascolo said. "Our position was that playeda criticalrole in winning the case. governmentagencies stop at the classroom door." The SPLC brief distinguished the school's records from Thecollege also argued lhateven if thecourt decided that the personal material of individual fac ulty members and said the materialswere "records" under stalethe Freedom of Informa­ public coUeges must be treated I.iIcegov other ernment agen­ tion Law. they were "intra- or inler-agency materials" and cies. exempt from public disclosure under !hetaw. Russo said he never wanted to challenge the academic Thecoll ege saidthat theand mm otho materials areused in freedom of me college, only theiraca demic arrogance. the classroom{or discussionand are n ot final policy decisions. "They [college offlcials]acted like gods on MLOlymp us," Thecourt said. however, thatsince NCC hasthe used films Russosaid "We learnedfrom Watergate thatwhen thegovern­ fo r sevecaJy ears, there was no reasonnot to considerthem final ment says, 'Trustus with your money,' you can rest assured policy decisions. that there is trouble down theroad." Mascolo saidshe is concerned that the decisioncould put a Nassau Community College will not appeal the decision to "chilling effec t" on colleges. She said that people could use the U.S. Supreme Court,accord ing to Moscolo.•

6 SPlC Report Presidential search violated state laws Courtrules University of Michigan illegally closed interviews, records

MlCmGAN - The University of views," Justice Conrad L. Malleu Jr. dates. 12 of whom wished 10 beconsid ­ MichiganBoard of RegenlS violatedthe wrote for the majority."Travel expense ered. state'sOpen Meetin gs Act andFreed om records connected with these searches In thespring of 1988, groupsof two to ofInformationAct when it conductedits are not exempt from an FOIA request" four regents conducted private inter­ presidential search. the Michigan Su­ Jon Rowe, attorney for BoothNews­ views in thecandidates' homecities. preme Courtdecided in Septenl�. papers, said the people of Michigan Theinterviews were conducted after the TheAnllArborNews. followedbyibe scored a victory for theirrighls. candidates signed letters, prepared by Detroit Fru Press. filed suit in 1988 "It is a great dayfor open government theregents , thatrequested their candida­ alleging that the election of James J. inMichigan," Rowe said. 'Thedecision cies to remainconfidential. Dndetstadt to the UM presidency was was one of the strongest decisions the According to rhe regents, !he letters illegal becausethe regents made closed­ MichiganSupreme Court has put out on justifiedthe next setof closedmeetings, to doordecisions, held privateinterviews. First Amendmentrigh ts and the people's in May. in whichthey cut thelist five metin smallgroups that not did makeup right toknow." and,later, to two. therequired quorum and withheld travel The selection process began in 1987 Afterone of thecandidates withdrew expenserocords. wirh the fonnation of a presidential se­ his name, a nominating committeerec­ The court affumed in partand � lection committeeby the BoardUM of ommended Dudet-stadtin a closed ses­ versedin partthe Court of Appeals deci­ Regents,headed by RegentPaulBrown. sion. sion which said the selection process Three advisory groups were also In thefltSt open meeting of theselec­ only violated the OMA. fonned,consisting of a studentcom mit­ tion process, the regents interviewed '1>reside'Jltial searches at the state's tee, a faculty committeean and alwnni Duderstaclt. and then went into closed public universities must be conducted committee. . session torecommend him again. with due regard to the OMA'8 require­ Aftercompiling a list250 of potential In anotheropen session, following the ment of open meetings for all public candidates, themade committee a series closed recommendation, the regents bodydeliberations, decisions, and inter- of cuts 10 narrow thelist 10 one. voted10 name Duderstadt to UMpresi­ According10 the dent. newspapers, the Booth Newsp8pexs filed the lawsuit cutswere made in shortly afterthe voteorder to the regents meetingsof infor­ to make available the infonnation re­ mal sub-quorum garding the persons considered for the groups so thatthe presidency, correspondence between regents would not regents regarding the candidates.. min­ have to hold pub­ utesand decisions sub-quorum of groups lic hearings re­ andthe travelrecords of regents involv­ quired under the ing the search process. Open Meetings The media also asked that future se­ Act. lection processes be conducted in the The first cut of open. candidates re­ The court,in Boolh Newspaper!Inc. duced !he list to v. The Board ofRtgents of the Univer­ 70 and was made sityof Michigan. 444 Mich. 211 (1993), by Brown after said the selection committee violBted several of these the open meetings act becauseit was a informalmeetings public body that made closed session and phone calls decisions,deliberations and interviews. with regents. As long as the committeemade deci­ A second cut. sions thateffected the statusof theselec­ whichredIIced the tion process, it did not maner that the list to30, wasdooe committee took no fonna! votes, the in the same man­ court said. ner. After that, Italsosaid that intecviews should have Brown called the tem2ining candi- (See BOOTH, pag� 12)

WInter 1993-94 SPtC Report7 Student sues Louisiana State for access Reporter requests student government members ' disciplinary records

LOUISIANA - Michelle Millhollon Records Act, they couldnot be released issue," Raines said. '11' s just a matter of said her job is a watchdog for the stu­ because of a federal law. following federal regulations. We're just dents. Rainessaid the documents were "edu­ doing what we were instructed to do by So when the studentjoumalistatLoui­ cation records" protected from disclo­ the law. To us it is a very clear issue." siana State University at Shreveport was sure by the Family Educational Rights However, according tothe Societyof denied access to public records, shetook and Privacy Act of 1974, otherwise Professional Journalists-Shreveport action. known as the Buckley Amendment President Frank May, changes in 1992 MillhoIlon, along withthe Shre veport "There was a theft," Millhollon said. that excluded campus crime reportsfrom chapter of the Society of Professional the Buckley Amendment should have Journalists, fUed a lawsuit in October opened campus disciplinary proceed­ against LSU-Shreveport foraccess toa ings. copy of the results of a disciplinary "In many instances it has nothing to hearing involving two members of the tJ do with academic performance," May Student Government Association. said. "It hasto do with possible crimi­ Thestudents were appointed asman­ CJ nal acts, it has doto with abuse ofpublic agers of the SGA Book Exchange and funds, abuseof student funds oruniver­ admitted totakin g $1,700 from theex­ sity fu nds." change to pay for tuition, loans and May saidhe hopes thiscase will break personal expenses. ground in Louisiana for open records One of the students said that money on college campuses. had been taken from and returned to "People and students want to know if the book exchange fund for several there is some wrongdoing, even if it years. involves a student," May said. "If the The book exchange is a service pro­ univers ity fe els there is the possibility vided by the SGA to let students set of disciplinaryaction involving the vio­ prices on books they want tosell. If the lation of policies, then it's something book is sold, the SGA keeps a percent­ that is worth public attention." age of the money for supplies, the li­ Millhollon, who is the freedom of brary and a student-loan fund. "That is criminal, not academic." information chairwoman of LSU­ Both studentswere bro ught before the Millhollon wrote Raines again after Shreveport SPJ, saidstud ents on cam­ StudentAffairs Committee in May and enlisting the help of the Student Press pus have supported her efforts to gain disciplined, according to the student Law Center, which advised her that the access to the records. newspaper, the Almagest. Buckley Amendment does not catego­ The purpose of the student newspa­ MillholJon, a reporter with the rize campus crime reports as education per, she said, is to inform students of Almagest,wrote Vice Chancellor of Stu­ records and that a Georgia Supreme what is happening on campus without dent Affairs Gloria Raines toreq uest the Court supported this assertion in the interference from university officials. results of the hearing, a copy of the SGA context of campus judicial records. (See "S tudents were coming up to me and members' si gned statements and a tran­ RED &BLACK, page 5.) saying, 'Michelle, we want this infor­ scriptof the tapedrecording of the hear­ Nevertheless, Raines wrote back say­ mation,'" Millhollon said. "I fee l the ing. ing thatthe Georgia case was a differe nt administration is wrong for denying me In a letter to Millhollon, Raines told situation,and that the records were pro­ this information." herthat while the documents were pub­ tected by law. A trial in the case wasscheduled for lic records under the Louisiana Public "This is not a fr eedom of the press Dec. 22 .•

that [the records] would be confiden­ what is in the public 's interest," Burns Doe tial," Wiggins said. Now theyare say­ said. "I don't see it as a judge's or a ing to him, 'Well, we were just kid­ lawyer's decision. If it happened off (COIIlinuedfr om page 5) ding. ,n campus, he would have no privacy rights. produce evidence of Doe'spri vacy in­ Bums said he requested the docu­ He would have been tried in criminal terest because the trial court judge had ments as a "litmus test" to see if the court." il.1Spected the records himself. records would be available. The university hasappealed the deci­ "TheUni versi ty ofGeorgia told [Doe] "It is my job as a journalist to decide sion to the U.S. Supreme Court..

8 SPLC Report WInter 1993-94 Ed Dept. reverses decision on theses

W ASIDNGTON, D.C. -CoUegelibrariesbreathed a collec­ tive sigh of reiief whenthe DepartrnentofEducationrescinded statements in September that said co11eges needed written permission of students LO put student theses in theirlibraries. According to a spokesman. who wished 10 remain anony­ mous, the department now says as long as students are in­ formed that their theses will appear .library.in the no written permission from the student., the spok.esman said that the pennission is necessary. Department views theses differently than the usual exams or The controversy began when Jackie Esposito, asrulant research papers. archivistat Permsyl vania StateUniversity wrote LeR oy Rooker. Theses, the spokesman said.carry an "implied consent" of a DepartmentofEdocation o fficial , to ask whetherwere theses being accessible to their peeTS andthe community at IBcge. privateunder the 1974 Fami\y EducationalRights and Privacy Therefore, ina letterCD PrueAdler, the Assistant Executive

Act (FERPA). Directorfor Federal Relations of thelibrary assoc iation , Rooker FERPA, also known as the Buckley Amendment., prohibits said the department recognized that a university can get per­ federalf unding 10 schools thatrelease ed ucation recordswith­ mission fromstudents to place theses in alibrary by notifying out a smdent's permission.. them through cow-se or program requirements. Rooker, in a letter to Esposito, wrote, "None of theexcep­ According to the spokesman, ifnotified on paper that their tions would pennil making students theses available 10 the theses will go inlO the library, it is implied that the students public, such as in theUniversi ty library. without fITSt obtaining have given theirconsent. writtenconsent from the studenL" Examples ofnotification wo uld bea coursedescription or a The lener, however, was quickly brought LO the attention of bulletin board inside the classroom, and this would qualify librarians who then voiced their concerns with theinterpreta­ instead of the required written permission, he said. tion of FERPA to RooJcer, the director of the FamilyP olicy FERPAhas been used in thepast byunivcrsities to withh old Compliance Office. campus crime reports and disciplinary records (See LSV al According to the spokesman. Rooker then clarified the SHREVEPORT, page 8). But the Department has failed CD position of the Education Depsnment after discussions with apply the notion of "implied consent" to these records. the Association ofResearch Libraries. Despite the controversy, there have beef! no complaints Although FERPAsays thatno funds should beg iven toany about theses in libraries and none are expected, according to university that releases education records without written the spokesman"

SP J launches task force to open campus courts

The Society of Professional Journal­ the campus community should be She said the work of the task: force istsannounced in September !hatit had aware of these casesand their disposi­ is urgent because the U.S. Educatiqp formed a task force to open campus tion." Department has released proposed judicial proceedings and disciplinary The task force will gather informa­ rules stating that records of disciplin­ records to the public. tion about restrictions on campus ac­ ary proceedings aren co sidered "edu­ Carolyn Carlson, a reporter with the cesspoli cies and wiJ1 educate thepu b­ cation records"under the Family Edu­ Associated Press inAtlanta, was cho­ lic and campus residents about the cational Rights and Privacy Act and sen by SP] 10 chair the taSk force that problem. are not open to the public. includes 13 professional pressand aca­ The group will also study whether "Campus officials often justify the demic organizations,i ncluding the Stu­ laws or coun challenges will beneces­ secrecy of theproceed ings on grounds dent Press LawCenter. sary to open up campus courts. that they are protectingthe privacy of

"Police repons on campus are open Carlson worked with the Red & students."Carlson said, " College jour­ records, but the public rarely is told Black student newspaper at the Uni­ nalists just want to see that all are what happens to the people charged versi ty of Georgiain a successfulGeor­ treated fairly and 10 assure the public with a crime," Carlson said. ''Por their gia Supreme Court decision to open that its interests in justice and an or­ own safety and security. members of campusjudiciaJ hearings and records. derly com m unity are protected....

Winter 1993-94 SPLC Report 9 Student newspaper settles with college over sexuai llarassnlellt documents

NEW YORK - Nassau Community rasse

Newman in Morristown. NJ .• said the of sexual harassment, and therefore. Guilano. of the Nassau County seuJement was a two-fold victory; one would not besubject tothe freedom of Attorney'soffice, said be co uld not com­ for the community and one for women information law. men t on the case because of genecal or others who have been sexually ha- But after reading the letter. Schwartz (See VIGNETTE. page /2)

10 SPLC Report WInter 1993-94 Newspaper bans stories Professor sues o�n university

on student government OKLAHOMA - You would think that the best way to keep your job would not ARIZONA - When the executive need to give 24 hours notice [or a committee of the student government meeting], have a public vote (to be to sue your boss. at ArizonaState University closed its close a meeting] and have a valid But Bill Loving, an un-tenured assis­ meetings to the public, the campus reason (to close a meeting]," Smith tant journalism professor at the Univer­ newspaper took a unique approach to said. 'We infonned them of these sity of Oldahoma, has filed a lawsuit the problem. laws andthey said to get ourselves a against the school and its president, Ri­ It cut out almost all coverage of lawyer." chard Van Hom. student government news. The student government, accord- "The University of Oklahoma doesnot Scott Smith, edi- have enough money to buy my prin­ tor in chief of the ciples," Loving said. "If I have to lay ASU State Press, 'The piddly back-biting scan­ down my principles towork here, I'll go dig ditches." said the paper still dals in the Senate, we cut that covers the Arizona Loving, president-elect of FOI Okla­ Student Associa­ out.' homa, an organization that defends the public's right to know about government tion, a lobbying Scott Smith group of student operations, was denied access in Sep­ governmentleaders Editor tember to documents relating to an audit and students ap- of the office of the vice president of pointed by them. ing to Scaggs, isworried that a ban administrativeaffairs, theuniversity food "We haven't technically banned all on coverage would be hurtful to service and the OU golf course. coverageofstudent government," Smith students. According to Loving, Van Hom an­ said. "But the piddly back-biting scan­ Scaggs said a lack of coverage nounced in June that results of the audit dals in the Senate, we cut thatout " would be detrimental to students would be released in about a month. The Accordingto Smith, a combinationof becauseservices and programsspon­ statements were reported in The Okla­ apathy on the part of students toward sored by ASASU would beignored. homaDaily, the student newspaper. student government, limited space and "Our concern is, are the students Van Hom asked for the audit after a decreased adrevenue forced the State being serviced?" Scaggs said. "The university employee expressed concern Press to cut coverage last year of the responsibility of the pressis toprint about abuse of food service policies that Associated Students of Arizona State the news." provide rree meals or food 10 employees. University, the student government Nevertheless, Smith said the stu­ But the university now says that an Over the summer, the executive dents do not care enough about stu­ audit report does not exist. committee of the student govern­ dent government to warrant a con­ Theuniversity, in a brief filed with the ment closed its meetings to the pa­ tinuation of coverage. districtcourt of Cleveland County, said it per, and then did it again just before "Student government has no conducted an investigation of alleged the start of classes. impact on our lives," Smith said. violations of univerSity policies andprg­ Jonathan Scaggs,executiv e assistant The only people that read stories cedures by university personnel. to the president of ASASU, said the about student government are It said the material gathered in the meetingswere closed because they were people in the government them­ investigation is exempt from disclosure discussing personnel matters. selves. " under the Oklahoma Open Records law. "A portion of every executive The local media have not sup­ But Loving said that the public has a council meeting is closed, usually portedthe decision to restrict cover­ right todocuments involving the investi­ for personnel reasons," Scaggs said. age of ASASU, accordingto Scaggs. gation of state employees and materials "We are well within our rights." ButSmith said only thestudent gov­ used to create theaudit The ASASU is funded by student ernment has complained about the "The uni versity has played games un­ fees and is exempt from open meet­ paper's decision. der the open records law before,"Loving ings laws, Scaggs said. However, "If the (student] senate passed a said. "This is an institution operated by Smith said theexecutive commit tee is resolutionin [their] con�tution to ad­ the state of Oklahoma. Government is a public body by their own definition here 10 the open meetings law, we the public's business." and should adhere to thelaw. would reconsider covering them The schoolhas filed for summary judg­ "Under the openmeetings law, they again," Smith saia ment. A hearing date has not been set.

WInter1993-94 SPLC Report 11 Booth (ConJinuetifrom page 7) occurred inthe open becausethe public hasa right to knowthe qualifications of potentialpublic officials. EdPetykie wicz, editor in chief of the AnnA rbor News, said anumberof news­ papers willbe able touse this decisionto get access to documents that had long been denied. ''They [theregents] were violating the law and doing it in tentionally," Petykiewicz said. "We were going to fight them in court as long as it took them to comply with the law." In the freedom of information act claim, therege nts said their destinations needed to be confidential becausecan­ didates feared losing their jobs if their names got out. "People we would like to have would be unlikely to expose themselves and Cole saidreveal ing names of thecan­ is it is a strong statement from the court possibly jeopardize their current posi­ didates hurts the final selection of a that when making a decision, it must be tion early in the process," university president. made in the open," Rowe said. "It is a general counsel ElsaCole said. "We're disappointed thatthe supreme strongstatement that you can 'tdivide up But the court said that to be exempt court did not appreciate the problems into sub-committees to get by the Open from the law, the information sought of an open proceeding fo r getting the Meetings Act." must beof a "personal nature" and must best candidate fo r the job of presi­ Petykiewicz saidagreed he with Rowe, constitute a "clearly unwarranted" inva­ dency." because, without this decision, no one sion of privacy. Accordingto Rowe, thegovernment in would have to hold the governmentac­ In this case the court said the travel Michigan cannot pick and choose what countable for its most important fu nc­ recordsof a public body did not qualify decisions are madeunder public scrutiny. tions, such as choosing a university as personal in nature. "The most important issue in the case presiden�

Access courtbattle, the warrages on over the Vig nette same issues. (ConJirwedfr om page 4) The only difference is the school (ConJirwedfrom page 10) for student organizations, said that al­ that denies access. office policy. though other states may pass off the One must wonder what universities

However, a spokesman fo r the col­ [Georgia) case, it validates the argu­ are trying to hide when they withhold lege said NCC gave the letter to the ment that there should be nosecrecy in public information. paper as a condition in the agreement student court proceedings. Arethey really trying to protectpri­ betweenNCC, The Vignette and Barton. "It would be a travesty ofjus tice for vacy interests? RobertAllen, director of college and all 50 state supreme courts to have to Are they trying to protect the aca­ community relations, said NCC kept render the same decision," Anthony demic freedom of the school? the letterto Barton confidentialat first DiResta said. "I certainly hopeit is not Or are they tryingto hold on to what becausethe school fee ls documents I ike the case that universities or their ad­ they perceive as a squeaky clean im­ this are personal and arenot subjectto ministrators have something to hide." age? freedom of information laws. TheGeorgia case illustrates the dis­ As long asdisclosure by public uni­ "By keeping the documents confi­ heartening situation fac ing journalists versitiesis denied,journalistswill never dential,we protect everyoneinvolved," seeking access to public universities effectively inform the community Allen said. all overthe country. aboutthe business ofthese institutions He saidNCC agreed to hand over the As the media wins court battle after that receive our money .. letter "to end the lawsuit:'.

12 SPlC Report Winter 1993-94 An uneasy alliance Two papers under fire on Iowa campus lOW A - Under attack by outraged gerbil quilt was meant to ttaivists,Doily Jowan editorLoren Kel.lec parody the Names Project fm dshimself in a strange positi on: allied quilt whilesections of the with Uthe niversity oflowa's conserva­ AIDS memorial were on tive monthly in the free speech fight. display at the university. The Campus Review and the daily "TIle radical gay commu- , paper usually "tear into each other" in nily went ballistic." theireditorial columns, Keller said. But TheReyiew quilt wasin� in September, a group students formed tended to "diminish, de­ theCoalition Against Terror - or CAT meanand insultthe people - to put pressure 00 both papers fo r who have died of AIDS." expressing conservative viewpoints. said CAT member Jeff 'oneinteresting thing here that is we're KUnzman, an Iowa gradu­ both in the same comer now," Keller ate. 44It was meant 10 fo­ said. ment and incite hatredof gays." emment callingfo r the columnist's ru ­ Thecontroversy began when the Re­ A columnistin The DailyIowan also ing and the revocation of theReview' s viewdisplayed a "gerbil quilt"in a glass drew the ire of the activists when he right 10 use the student union display case located in the student union. The wrote that "theof death a few abortion­ cases.The re solutionwas defeated on a four-foot square was decorated with� ists is not too high a price10 pay" for voice vote. dent caricatures along with fictional preventing third-trimester abortions. Keller stoodup for thepaper ' sconser­ names and autobiographicaldetails, ac­ CAT -whichhas since disbanded ­ vative columnist It was a writer from ccrding to Revieweditor J elfRenander. protested. gathered.signatures andtook: the other end of the political spectrum "We thought it would be kind of . their case to the media.They also sub­ who ended up getting the boot: in the funny." Renander said,addin g that the mitted resolutiona to the student gov- middle of the CAT uproar, Klinzman was IOldth at The Daily Iowal'l would no longer runhis colum n. Judge reinstates a professor "He wasn ot frred for belonging 10any group," said Keller, who characterizes the controversy as an employer-em­ booted for 'hateful' remarks ployee dispute."He crossed the line of a conflict of interest." NEWYORK- A professor ousted speech given off campus where B utKlinzman,who was warneda bout over rem.arkscalled anti -Semitic and Jeffries blamed "rich Jews" fo r the his CAT membership and then fired anti-whitemustbe reinstated as chair slave tradeand said there was a" con­ after�. went toa localn ewspaperabout of City College ofNew York'sblack spiracy ,platt.ed an d programmedout that warning. said he believes his free studies department. a federa1 judge of Hollywood" by Jews and the speech andfree association rights have ruled in August Ma.fia. to cause "the destruction of been violated. .. Dr. Leonard Jeffries made"hale­ black people." He wentthrough The Daily Iowan's ful. poisonous and reprehensible He hadalready caused controversy grievance process in hopes ofbeing re­ stalements,"Ju dge KennethConboy by voicinga theorydividing the races instated,but anarbitralOr decidedagainst wrote inlqJries v. Harlston 828 F. inlO cruel white "ice people" and " him in November. Supp. 1066 (E.D.N.Y. 1993), but cooperative black sun people." To add to thenewspaper 's problems, college administrarors violated his The university could have taken a group of black students has fo rmed a constitutional rights by forcing him action againslJe ffries based on in­ coalition 10 protest an editorial cartoon to step down. stances of "brutish behavior," in­ TheDaily Iowan ran OcL 27. Jeffriesis curren tly "back:as head cluding tardinessto class and inturn ­ In me meantime,both campus editors of the departrnenl," City College ing in grades, Conboy wrote, but say they have weathered the storm of spokeswoman RitaRodin said. The instead they "inexplicably, and per­ mediaatte ntion.Re nanderalso sees the school hasappealed the August rul­ hapscowardly, chose 10 ignore these ironyoftbe uneasy alliance againstCAT. ing and expects arguments to be improprieties"and only demotedhim "Even your die hard liberals are sup­ made in December, she added. after the public expressed outrage porting us." he said, in the faceof "left­ The furorbegan with a July 1991 over the 1991spee ch .• wing radicalcensor s.''' \Mntel 1993-94 SPLC Report 13 H.S. CENSORSHIP AnUSES OF POWER

School offi cials who step out of bounds to censor

co ntent could use a Ha zelwood refresher course

s the I'lCWsemester rolls around and students are go ing back to school . some school oOicials rnay also need quality time in the class- 'She's trying room. A to make it a The class could be called Ha2.elwood 101. free�press This class would consist of a thorough issue, and it's examination of the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hazelwood School Dis­ not, , sal'd a trici 10'. Ku.hlTJU!ier. principal who Principals and school superinlendems would learntha! although !.heHaze/wood suspended a decision gave them greater con Iro I of student for school-sponsored publications than lhey ever had.the C3.'!e did not allow them to her critical exert censorship at will and without rca­ article. son. TheH02elwood decision uphel d theright of public high school adrninisLralors al HazelwoodEasl Hig h School in suburban SL Louis.Mo., to CCJlsor stories concern­ ing leen pregnancy and the eff&tS of di­ vorce on children from a school ·spon­ sored swdcnt new.!>-papcr. In thedec ision theCO Ull c.hose OOt to follow Ihc SlaDdatd set in Ti nker 10'. Des M()illf!.� Independent COrnrTlJlnilY Sthool DisLricl. in which it said schooll adminis­ lrill(H:'; CX111d only iimjl student froc ex­ pre ion if il caused a matcrial and sub­ stantial disruption of school activiti . Insrea.d. theCourt said thaI !.he chool­ sponsored newspaper in Hazelwood was nOUlot a public foru m and·. !.hercforc, the studenL..; were nolcnli tlcd llOTink er'sslrong FirslAmcndmen1 lprivikges. The Court went on to say thill if the censorship of style and cootcrll ' ';rc.ason­ rx� ncli(1g.Ol'lt: c uri s id 111 July lIblyret Lcdto I giJ.irtla1epcda goglcal lcdu· (Sc£ PO W£R .pi:l� 19)

14 SPlC Report Wlntet 1993-94 Principal wrong in censoring reviews

Ban on 'Rain Man, ' 'Mississippi Burning' articles held impennissible

NEWJERSEY -For the ftrst time his information: it was to suppress the funds. It gives the appearance of en­ since 1988, a courthas said that a school ideaitself." dorsementn could not justify its censorship of a Oearviewauomey Alan Schmoll said, In June 1988. there were reviews of school-sponsored student publication however, thatcourt the createdan actift­ three R-rat.ed movies in the student pa­ even under the Supreme Court's Hazel­ cialdistinction between cont.entand su� pet. However, Toscano said they were wood standard. ject matter that the scbool never 8t­ published before he had a full under­ A school-sponsored srudentnewspa­ tempted 10 make. standing of Hazelwood. At least one perarticle cannot be censored only be­ "You can'tseparate thesub ject mat­ teaCherhad discussed ''MississippiBurn· cause of itssubject. acc ordi ng 10 adeci· ter of an R-rated movie from the con­ ing" in class. sion of a New Jersey appellate court tent.... Schmoll said. lilt still amounts The attorney for Desilets, Bill involving a student and the school that to encouragement for thisage group Buckman, said he had mixed feelings censored him. that shouldn't be seeing these mov- about thedeci sion. TheAppel1ate Division On the one hand, he of the Superior Court of said he was glad the court New Jersey ruledin July decided that Clearviewdid AU. tH [ FD L UW'� that Clearview Regional not meet lhe Hazelwood 14"S'" BE A PPRO 'IeP J un ior High School standard. However, he also 8'1 �£ PfU",CIPAL : should not have censored wanted the court 10 make a two movie reviews writ­ statement that Clearview ten in 1989 by Brien had violated the New Jer­ Desilets, then an eighth sey Constitution. grader, fo r the student A fa vorable ruling OIl the newspaper. state constitutional level The court based their would seta precedentinde­ decision in Desilets v. pendent of federal review Clearview Regional by the U.S. SupremeCourt. Board of Education. 630 he said. A.2d 333 (NJ. Sup. Ct. The trialcourt had rejected App. Div. 1993) on the the school's censorship on U.S. Supreme Coun's this basis. 1988 decision in Haze l­ Nevertheless, Buckman wood School District v. said he was glad to see the Kuhlmeiu, which gave courtrule thatcontent the of school administrators there views should not have control over the content been censored. of studentspeech in many "Whattbesch091 was school-sponsored activi- doing was prohibiting an ties ifthe censorship is reasonably r� ies... entire realmsubjects of which was not latedto le gitimateeducational concerns. Clearview Principal Charles Bishop proven to be detrimentalto [students]," But in thiscase. thecourt said that the toldDesi1ets,who wrote reviews of "Mis­ Buckman said "There was nothing in censorship had nothing to do with style sissippi Burning" and "R.ain Man" for the articlethat was offensive. Therew8.9- or content of the movie reviews Desilets thePioneer Pr ess, that the articles were nothing inappropriate. There was nOth­ had written.The subjectmauer, R-rated omitted from the paper because the ing that the students didn't already movies, was the sole reason the school movies were R·rated and would encour­ know .... removed the reviews. age students under the age of 17 to see Desilets, now a freshman incollege, '''Thisis animportant distinction; c on­ them, said he has no remorse about taking on tentis whatis written;subject is whati s "I don't believe R-rated movies were the school even though, at times, he had writtena bout," wrote theopinion of the intended for juniorhigh stude nts," Su­ thought abou t giving up. COOrt, "The point of the censorshipwas . perintendent of the ClearviewBoard of According to Schmoll, the school not to address stylistic deficiencies or Education Michael To scano said. "The board will appeal the decision to the thewords chosenby the writer to con vey reviews arenot an a ppropriateuse of our Ne w Jersey Supreme Court..

WInter 1993-94 SPLC Report 15 Superintendent first nixes ad, then censors student's editorial

omo-'"Thefundamental budlOfthe When the adviser for the paper saw grealetauthoritytocensorcenain � � r1J'St Amendment is that all ideas and thead, she told Harrodto show it tothe sponsoredpubl icationsthey when could voices have I rightto be heard,.. wrote superintendent demonstrate a reasonable educational AmyHarrod, edilOroi the High Medeira Hoc.kney said lhal after consulting jUStiflCaUon for their actions. School sWdeot newspaper, inan edit0- legAlcounsel , hedecided thathe didnot Whenasked about theHrue lwoodre· rialcriticizing thesuperintenden t's de­ have to let the paper run any political quiremenl, Hockney said he read the cisionto censoran advertisement from ads. meaningof thecase differently. a school boardcandidate. "We made a policy decision that was -rhat'syour interprel3rion," Hockney Harrod's edito- supported by our le� rialwas censored gal counsel," as welt. Hackney said. "We TheSu perint.en� will not accept any dent of Medeira political ads from City Schools, anybody. It doesn't Cl::::::::J � r--__ Dennis Hackney , matter who they're �j ;:� Sh""ls v:::::=::::l Q Srot;6 told Harrod that from or what the is- con�I:Sio.L � no "political" ads sue is." Stones couldnm inM us­ When asked why r����/ :::::::::�h=J tl1llgEclwes. political ads could / According to not run in the paper. Harrod,Hackney Hockney refused 10 / / saidthat of sort ad give a reason. - would open the Theproblems con­ school10 ali lcinds tinued for Harrod of political ads . : :_- when she attempted He also said a - -:";:-�-=-:;;::::::;:::_ � to print an editorial political adver- aboutthe rejection of the ad. said. "We have our own." tisementinthe student newspaper would She claimed, in the editorial, that the Harrod saidshe would take legalac� bepoin tlessthe because srudenlS could newspaper was being denied its First tion against the school if censorship not vote. Amendment rights thatguarantee.free­ continues. "He never said theproblem that the domof the press. For now. though, she will tell her ad had," Harrodsaid. "He couldn't give But the adviser would not run the story to the media to alert others to the me an educationalreason." editorial, according to Harrod, and problems at her school. The adquestion in was sold by Harrod HocJcney saidhe wouldget legaladvice "I want the stJ:Jry toget out because to alccal school board candidate as pan before making a decisionon themauer. this could be happening to Other SOl­ of thepublications class thatproduced WhenHockney failed to get back 10 dentsthat think. theirschool has right the thestudent newspaper. her in time t£l print the edilOrial. she to censor them," Harrod said. "'J want SeUmg the advertisemcot was a re­ attempted to publish it wirhout his ap­ administnttors to lenow that they can't quirement in the course, and Harrod proval. However, the adviserit said could get away with this." said tht.re WaJ no policy dw stated nOL run. As for Med.eira High. Harrod said certain types of ads would not be ac­ Harrod said she ttied to convince students should get an education that cepted. Heckney that be had violated the Jaw, benefitsthem in colle ge and beyond. Thecandida1e' s adwas an open letter andthat he hadto justify the censorship "School is liJce our own small soci� to the students discussing the impor­ by providing herwilha "legitimatepeda� ety," Harrod said. "School is where tance of publiceducation of and setting gogicalconcern," as required the in U.S. peopleare supposed to learn about things an good example for the community. SupremeCourt's 1988 Haulwooddeci· that happen in the realworld How are The neverad mentioned theelection or sion. we supposed to learn if the administra­ urged srudencsto vote for thecandidate. Hazelwood gave school officials tion is censoring us?'"

16 SPLC Report Winter 1993-94 Underground papers stir controversies Student denied acceptance to honor society after publishing paper criticizing cipal Magazine spurs prin . . NEWYORK - Thefac ultyat a Roch­ tion. SIX suspensIons ester High School denied 8 studentac­ William Bnmdt. an anomey who is OHIO- An underground maga­ ceptance into the National HOIlOf Soci resen said she got ­ rep ting Bamhan, zine supporting "seniors' rights" ety as punishment for her newspaper caughtin lhepolitical disputebetween resulted inthesuspensions of six princi pal, student faculty criticizingthe the said. and citythe administration. students at Hillsboro High School The paper pointed out problems at "Shespoke out. PI Brandt said. "She until they printedan apologeticis­ John Marshall High School and criti­ criticized [Wallman) fairly for hispoli­ sue, one of the students said. cized Principal Rlchard Wallman and ciesviolaJed lhat schoolboard policies. The magazine, called the Del­ schoolpolicies. When he removed himself, the faculty phic Oracle, was funny at first. Rachel Barnhart. now a senior at tookit out on her.to accordingto Ass istantPrincipal Jim Marshall, said school officials would According to Brandt. the school did Patrick. not admit her into the honor society not follow correct NBS procedures in Patrick, who dealt with the stu­ becausea of connection they Dl8de � selectingnew members.facility AU and dentsin April, saidmany students, tween the paperforma andthe tionof a staffwere givenballots told and to rate teachersinistrators andadm were school district fact-finding team to in­ 8lDdentswere who eligible for the soci­ amusedby the firstissue. vestigate Wallman. ety on character and that. they knew The second issue, however, The ftndi ngs of the school disttict leadership. causedconlrOVersy the and the sus­ resulted in Wallman taking medical Sixty peoplerated Barnhart, who is pension. leave. rankednumber one in herclass, but was Patrick said the magazinemade "I had vecy littleto do with mefact­ the only one ofnine candidates not se­ fun of1eaming disabledsrudents as fm ding, except for a lO-minute inter­ lected to NHS. weU as hersteac admini and strators view [Igave tbemJ,"Bamhartsaid."'The "There's no way llcnow 60 adultsat with physical differences, suchas teachers blamed me (or everything. All that school," Barnhart said. women with facialhair. of the school's problems were blamed Noteveryteachersupponed Wallm an, ·'Any school has the right to on me." but nevertheless,Bamlwt said she felt limit what is said when it is cruel Barnhartwas suspended for publish­ degraded that people felt she lacked and maJc:es fwl of others," Patrick ing an undergroundpaper, Marshalrj goodcharacter andleadership qualities. . said. Message,when she did notf oDowschool "It was 8 very painful experience," But one of the student writers districtpolicy by gettingappr ovalof the she said. said that the Delphic Oracle was Brandt has written a letter to the the articles from Wallman distribu-for published because the seniors' school's atlOOley ap­ rightshad been violated. pealingthe honor soci­ TerenceWilliams, who has since ety rejection and her graduatedfrom Hillsboro,said that·, suspension, buthas not adminislators made students fileda Jawsuit changeout of clothes they dressed Counsel for !hes:fuol - up in for SpiritDay because it was I district did not return supposedlydisruptive . tJ tnrecallsl) treReport. "Whena teachertells us to stand UNP6R�RoUN1) The new principal up and go to the [principal's}o f­ changedtheNHS selec­ �APEnS MV�T fice. that's disruptive," Williams tion policy to comply said. iE APPRo VEl) with the NHS constitu­ WilliBms said comments were tion. Students will BV now made inmagazine the about facW ,�tJt only be reviewed by I PA L.. hairbecause teachers and theprin­ teachershave 1haa: mught cipaJ have facial haireven though themin�. students are prohibited from hav- "I think that showsthat (See MA GAZINE. page 19) I � right," Barnhart saiU

'Mnte( 1993-94 SPlC Report 17 Artist suspended for picture with hidden message

FLORIDA- An artistwas sus­ pended fromschool for five days lastspring becauseo f work pub­ lishedintheFt Myers High School student newspaper. The art corisisted of an upside down cross with a depiction of 1esus witha television for a head. There was also a picture of a woman holding a baby that the

student , Carnm Plummer, got through a highschool n ews and graphics magazine. Next to the woman was the quote, "Loving You For Your UnlawfulCamalKnowled ge. The "F', '''U'',"c" andthe UK" werein bold print Frances Mallory.advi� to the Tidal Wave, said that people as­ States to introduce bills swnedthatlhewoman represented Mary,the mother of Jesus. Free-press legislation pending in three states Although was away from she Although the outlook is dim for stu­ die in January. according to an aide to school at the time, Mallory said dent free press legislation pending this state Rep. Anthony Impreveduto, D­ school officials tol d her thAtru­ fall in statelegislatures aroun d thecoun­ Secaucus. mors of the meaning of the an­ try. more states will consider similiu' Mary Waller said thatAB 575 will be work spread u ut quickly thro gho bills in the upcoming year. re-introduced witha new numberwhen school. the These bills are an effort to return to thelegis lature opens in January. She the causeda dis­ said paper sOldents the free press protections that But momentumis building for student traction in classbecause all of the were limited in the Supreme Court's free expression bills to beintroduced in students about the were talking 1988 Hazelwood decision. other states. hidden messages. In Wisconsin, a staff aide to Rep. In Oklaboma, Rep. Laura Boyd, D­ As a result. Principal lames Peter Bock. D-Milwaukee, who spon­ Norman, saidshe wiUsponsor a student confiscatedcopies aU of Browder soredAB 118. saidthe bill would prob­ free pressbill when thestate gislature le suspended Plummer. the paper. ably not pass the Assembly rules com­ convenes in February. who gradualed,and said hassince mitteebefore thele gislatureadjourns in In January, a new bill will be intro­ allfuture paper issuesof me must March. duced in the MissouriHouse of R� beapp roved by him. In Michigan, HE4656 is stuck in the sentatives by Rep. Joan Bray. D-St. Mallory said she was told the House judiciary committee, according Louis,acc ording to ber secretary. an was offensive to churches in to ana ide tostate Rep. Lynn JondahI,D­ The bill is being re-introduced with the community and that it prob­ Okemos. somerevisions from last year's version . ably includedsexual references. The aide said her office is trying to according to 1 ackie Root She said causing a if thean was gain more support for the bill before A student press bill willalso beintro· disruption. then she that believed scheduling a committee hearing. duced again in Indiana, according to have a right cor­ Browder did to But she said the situation does not DaveAdams of theIndiana High School rect the problem. But she ques­ look promising. PressAssociation. tioned the quick conflSCaLionand The bill will die at theend of 1994if Adamssaid the bill will beintroduced the priorapproval rule. it doesn ot get out of commiuee. in the General Assemblyin 1anuary. He Browder would not comment A biU in the New Jersey Assembly on the suspension (SaSlA TES, page 19) .• education committee will most likely

18 SPlC Report INintef 1993-94 Power Magazine the righl lO speaktheir minds," Wil· Iiamssaid. "Freedo m of thepress and 14) 17) (C�from page (C(HI/iruudfrom page freedom of expression were streSsed thata school failed to meet the Hazel­ ing it. throughout the Delphic Oracle." wood test Neverthel ess.the students. who had Williams said that the school had prinl.edthe paper anonymous I y, were Desilets v. CtearviewRegionalBoard the wrong reaction to the magazine . a ofEduc ation. was the flIS t case since discovered andsuspended Wltil third He saidit tooican entireday and night 1988 where a coonsaid a school did not issueof the magazine was distribu ted toprod uce thethird iss ue and cost the mut the Hazelwood standard when it to "right the wrong," in Patrick 's students one dayof classes. censored a school-sponsored student words. Williams said he did not feel he to newspaper.(SeeDESI LETS. page 15.} According Williams,the students owed anyone an apology. but a sus­ Clearview Regional Junior High were told the magazine violated the pension was beuer than expulsion, School censored two reviews for R­ rights of others because it was abu­ which had been threatened at first sive, �tfuland vulgar towards rated movies because it said they en­ 'We didn't have a chotce,.. Williams comagedsrudenlS to watChmaterial that school employees. said.."It Wa

Hazelwood standard. c:______- ___ -_ If censorships continue. the adminis­ Herb Schimmlck saidthat no sponsor tnltor-s musttake a refresher course on States has been announced for the bill. what the law allows them to do. (Con/inuedfrom page 18) StaleSe�. Stan Funnan. D-Phoenu, rnaddition, it will takethe persistence sajd hewill introduce a biU in the Ari­ of studentsand thecooperation of all lhe said the bill needs some revisions be­ zona legislature towardsthe of end J anu­ cause it has failed in the Slate Senate parties involved to explain Hazelwood ary. to Ihe editors. who may be ignorant of twice in the past.. He said the he is inlJ'odllCing the bill a the law. In Nebraslol, lobbyist fo r the Ne­ more 10 keep the issue of student press HopefuJly, theday will come when all braskaStal.e Education Association said rights in the public eye than with hopes schools can make the grade when it a draft hasmade been for a stUdent press of it passing. comesto their Imowledge of the Hazel­ bill tobe inb'oduced in the legislature in Five states now havelaws protecting wood standard.• January. studentfree press rights .•

WInter 1993-94 SPLC Report 19 University censors police reports Controversial article sparks brief policy of deleting names and details

ARIZONA- Anarticle namin g a bas­ "alleged." ment Larry Barnett said the paper had ketball player aUegedly involved in "I prefer it that way bec3use it gives printedinaccurac ies. He saidthe chan ge criminal activity at Northern Arizona thestories more credibilit.y." Evans said. inpotiey was thesame for allmedia. and University resulted in the school chan­ Since 1990. police have allowed re­ therehad beenno other complaints from neling police reports through the cam­ porters to get information on campus other mediaabout thepolicy change. pus public relations office and deleting crimes directly from the incident re­ Barnett said he requested a return to weeks, namesfor almosttwo according ports. theold policy. but ifa storyjeopardizes to theeditor in chief of thestuden t news­ Afterthe September contro versy. the an investigation or privacyinterests. in­ paper. policy changed to letpolice sendreportS formation will stillbe withheld. Tom Evans, editor of The Lumber­ to the campus public reLations office "We need to make student newspa­ NAU jack, said that. the police depart­ (University News) where an attorney pen more responsible," Barnett said. ment and Vice President of Student Af­ foeNAU could delete names and other "We need to give someopponunitiesfor fairs David Markee told the paper that infonnation. swdentjournalists to be responsible. .. the policy forreleasing policerepor ts to Although the policy returned to nor­ The mediatypically gets blamed when the media was being changed because mal, Evans said he fears the university thingsgo wrong. according toEvans. He storiesnamed suspected criminals who wiUkeep aclosewateh offurureacticles. said no one has pointed out any prolr were not described as "alleged." "I'm afraidof a heightened awareness lerns with printing inaccuracies to him . According to Evans. news articles by theadministration of policereports," Nevertheless, 8 school administrator from the quoted suspects directly inci­ Evans said said an interim change wasmade in the dent reports which did not use theword Director of the NAU police depart- policy only asa routinereview which is done every couple of years. "There was an oral change directed by me," Vice President for Busi­ ness Affairs Norman Hintz said. "They were proposed changes that were suggested. not implemented... Hintz,who aIong with Markee is a member of thePresident' s Executive Council, the top policy review groupon carJ1]XlS, said a review of how p0- lice release infOI'Trultion to thepublic had already been under way. An ad hoc group of Hintz, Markee. Barnett o andmem basofthe pub­ lic relations department decided to make the change in policy. Ho wevec, when the public relations office said they could not handle the workload of II the police reporu, the ..• ... "MY MYI WI Ll YOO lCX)( ATTWAT YOU R FOU(E Rf� IT �RUNK! (St!e REPORTS. page 21) 20SPLC Report Winter 1993-94 UCLA newspaper seeks access to files

CALIFORNIA - The student According to Spiekerman, Cali- newspaper atUCl.A filed a law- fornia lawallows a publicbody to suitagainst the university inSep­ keeprecords when lhepublic in­ tember after being denied access terestof withholding informathe ­ to settlement and investigation tionoutweighs thepublic interest documentsof sexualharassment in disclosure. cases. The ofresult disclosinginvesti­ JoshRomonek, editor in chief gation materials to the public of the Daily BnUfI,said that al­ would hinder the ability of the though the university disclosed 1uuversity10 thorough! y lookinto settlementinfonnatiooof one case analleged sexualent, hamssm ac­ without namesof people in vol ved. cording 10 Spiekerman. hewants documents on odlercases He said ifnames of those in· and all materials used to investi­ volved were disclosed, it would gatecases. the puta chillingeffect on lbeuniver­ Theattorn ey forthe pa� said sity because the publicity would that afler narrowing the request disrupt theinvestigation. from all sexualharassment infor­ But if all theof involvedparties mation to all settlement informa­ agreelet to the public see the settle­ tion involving payments of men' information with names re­ $100.000or more, the university moved, the university will pro­ came up withfour such cases. vide access to the information, he said. Whatthe paper got. said Cathy Jensen, was theinfonnation Spielcetman saidthat stipulation allowedthe DaiJy Bruin to about one case involving a settlement of $250,000. have access 10 one settlement and soon they will get another. The names ofthe people involved in the cases. however, Nevertheless, Romoneksaid that the public interest is impli­ were removed from the documents, Jensen said. catedwhen a university keepsinfocmation thatthe co mmunity According 10Romonek, the paper also wantedjnf onnation would nothave known without asking. thatled to the investigation of sexualharassment and any other He said that although sexual harassment charges can be materialsregarding the investigation. sensitive matters to every one involved., the risks of not "We wanted investigatory materials and other research discussing it arefar greater. materialsused 10 assessthe 10 liabiliof ty the univenity in these "Withoutknowing what is in thesettlement. we can'tknow cases,"Romanek said. "My concernnow is what othercases ifthe university is doing anything about it, " Romanek Aid.. the univenity has chosen to strik.e from its institutional Jensensaid there could be fewer of theseof types casesif the memory." public knew thatharassment would notbe toleraJied. The information requested, however,is personal and could Theonly way toclne the public inon wbatis happening on damage careers, anattorneyhandling thecase for UCLAsaid. campus, she said,for is the univers.ityto reporton fiodings of Philip Spjekennan, university counsel, said lhat records sexual harassment even ifthe namesare noc. reltased. relating to allegations of sexualharassment entail matte rs that "There is a great leaming opportunity here," Jensen are privateunder the California Constitution. said. "There is confusion abouts exual harassment. Peorue "'The recordscontain highly detailed graphic information," think that women sue because they are offended. Once Spiekerman said.'�y could behighly damaging to alleged you redact theidenti fiers. where is the privacy interest in perpetrators of sexual harassment and alleged victims." that?" Jensen said .•

Reports the need to know of the public with Executive Council can look at it and . protecting thoseinvolved in anincident, makeany redactionsnecessary ." (ConJirwedfrompage 20) Hintz said In this case, the committee Evanssaid he �satisfied with NAU if no committeedecided toSlay with the 1990 saw need to continueto fIlterstories thepolicy worksas it has since 1990. policy. througb public relations. "If I feel thereis nota valid reason to "'Thepublic relations office, having "Our role is to protect the rights of withhold information, I will definitely sucha smallstaff, said they w ould not be victims or persons involved in serious challenge that." Evans said. "I have no able to beresponsive," Hintz said. "We incidents,.. Hintz said.it "If isdeterm ined reservations about clWlenging cither go out of our way to beresponsive. " by the policean that incident mightneed through the university or the legal 'The administration tries to balance to be reviewed. University News or the system.... ------Winter 1993-94 SPlCReport 21 Getting the message out

Distributing publications on canlpus can be an uphill battle

be days when there was one school officials will be able ta reason­ 3) Whatis themethod o f distribution? publication on a college or abl y regulatethe mannerof distribution. By hand? By distribution box? T universitycampus are quickly These two principles establish thepa­ Each of thesequestions will beconsid­ tMing from memory. Today. in addi­ rametersfor a discussion of distribution ered separarely below. tion to an " official"student newspaper, rights.Unfortunately, these general rules theremay beseveral other publications fail ta answerthe specific where , when, Characterof the Publication producedby students thatrep resent dif­ who and how questions that arise as one Before aslcingwhe tberornot therltSt feren t ethnic or political groups or that tries ta get a publication from printing Amendment protects the right of an in­ focus on humor, spons or some other press into the handsof srudentreaders. dividual to distributeor his her publica­ topic. In addition.there may be"shop­ Beyond the two very general rules tion on campus, it must fU'St be ­deter pers" or coupon books that count stu­ stated above, there is no simple answer mined whether or not thespeech con- dents among their tained within the primary audience. publication is itself All of this com­ procectedtheFirst by petition foradver­ Amendment.

tising revenue and In Tinker v. Des readers can make MoinesIl'lIkp . Com­ life interesting for munity School Dis­ this student press. trictl the U.S. Su­ But it alsoposes the preme Coun held questionof just who that"it canhardly be is allowedto distrib­ argued that either ute oncampus. Can students or teachers a schoolallow onl y shed their constitu­ certained" "approv tionalrights to free­ publicationsto have dom of speech and direct accessstu­ to expression at the dentreaders? schoolhouse gate." Whilescope the The Court added , of distribution rights on public college . andthe scope ofone' s distributionrights however, thatstudent expr ession can be and university campuses has not been will varyfro m casecase. to Theana.lysis restrictedwhere schooloffkiaJs can dem­ it clearly defined by the U.S. Supreme begins withthree essential questions: onstratethat would "substantially dis­ Court. related decisions by the Court 1) What is thecharacter of the publi­ rupt" the educational environment or andlowercouncases that have addressed cation? would intrudeon the rightS of othe�.2 theissue provide consid erable guidance. Doesit contain mat.erialthat is unpro­ This is a very difficult standard to Indeed. two thingsare certain. First, as tected by the First Amendment? Could satisfy. TheSu preme Courtemphasi.zed long as a publication does not contain itscontent disrupt schoolact ivities?Is it inTinker that school administrators must unprotected speech (thatis, speech that commercialor political? Is thepubli ca­ bea ble to show thattheir restrictions of issubstantia lly disruptive. libelous. ob­ Lion produced and distributed by stu­ expression are motivated by more than scene, a violation of copyright laws, dents or non-students? just"a desire to avoid thediscomf ortand elC., .see discussion, below), schooloffi­ 2) Whatis thenature of thelocation in unpleasantness that alwaysaccompan y 3 cials will not be able to completely ban which the parryks see ta distribute? an unpopular viewpoint." In addition, itSdistri bution on campusby a student Is it a public forum. limited public school officials must also demonstrate Second, with buta few rnre exceptions, forum or non-public forum? (Su DlSTRIBUfE. page 23)

22 SPLC Report Winter 1993-94 and may not be misleading. If these Finally. there is some support for the Distribute criteria are meL, the govemment must notion !hal. public Wlivers.ity campuses (Coruiruudfrompage22) also show that its interest in restricting are limitedpublic foru ms whose use is fac tual evidence of a disruption. It is not the speechis substantial, 1hatre the stric­ intended to be restricted to studen ts of enougb that theexpression in question tion directly advances itsasserted inter­ the university. In Widmar v. Vi ncelll.14 "could"or "might" cause a disruption.4 esl and that the restriction is no more for instance, the court made clear that Aside from substantially disruptive extensive than necessary to serve that university campuses are not inherently publications. school officials may also interest.1 0 public. UWe haven ot held, for instance. restrict or prevent thedissemination of Blanket prohibitions on the distribu­ thata campusmust make ofitsall fac ili­ otherexpression thatis unprotected by tion of commercialspee.ch are probably ties equally available to students and thertrSt AmendmentThis includes ex­ not constitutional. Although il doesnot non-students alike. or that a university pression thatis obscene . libelous . con­ recei ve the same level of protection as must gram accessfree to aU its grounds tains "fighting words," or is "likely to political speech. commercial speech is orbuildings."15Asar esWt, a university produce imminentlawl essaction." Note. however. that while universities may prevent the distributionof these typesof expression. they are generally prohib­ Un iversity offi cials seeking to restrict ited from establishing a system of prior review or restraint to make such detec­ distribution will have to demonstrate that 5 minations. Schoolofficials may alsohave greater such distribution has or will substantially flex ibility in restricting commercial speech. Commercial speech can be disrupt the educational process. loosely defined as speech that does no more than propose a commercial trans­ 6 action. Publications are often difficult protected by theFirst Amendment.. and mighl claim that its property has, since to characterize as either commercial or "cannot be banned because of an itsvery creation, been reserved fo r the political (non-<:ommercial) because they unsubstantiated belief thatits impactis exclusive use of its students. and that usually contain both commercial and detrimental."l l non-student speakers do not enjoy the political messages.However, it is settled Thus. the Firsl Amendment protec­ same access privileges. The success of that where political and commercial Lion afforded commercial speech must thisargument ina givencase will largely speech are "inextricably intertwined'" be outweighed by the state's asserted depend on the location of the distribu­ the speech wiU begiven the samefro­ substantial interests inorder for restric­ tionpoint and theWliversity ' s pastpolicy tectionsas purely political speech. tions on commercial speech to survive. or practicein limiting access inthat area Thus most pUblications that sell ads For instance,in FDx v.Boardr:.rusrees to sllJdentso nly. (This argum ent is dis­ merely10 finance the publication of their of Stare Univ. of New York. 2 the Su­ cmsed more fu lly in thefo Howing sec­ non-

Wlnt9f 1993-94 SPLC Report 23 create- by express orpolicy simply by university. at leastfor its students,p0s.­ Distribute practice- a "limited"or "semi�"public sesses many chatacteristics ofa public pag6 (CD#IIiN1e4 from 2J) forum , access towhich may be limited forwn."27 authority to restrict commercial publi­ to certain groups20 or 10 diSCussion of Several olhezcourts have since found cations.but becausecommercial speech certaintopics.21 A limited public forum parts of public universitycampuses 10 is entitled to some F'ust Amendment is created where a state intentionally be either public or limited public f0- prolOCtion. !he government must stiU opensprev iouslyprivate property upfor rums.28In other cases. have courts fODDd very specific partspublic of university 29 campusesto bepublic forums . Not all � of universitycamp a.ses Exp ress ion in closed or non-public fo rums are likely to be coll8idered public f0- rums.For instance. areas such as admin4 is given less First Amendment protection istrative and faculty off"JCeS would al­ most certainly not be consideredpublic than exp ression in public or limited public fornms. Also. at least one circuit court fo rums. has heldpublic that university dormito­ riesonly possess some o f the­ ch.aracter isticsof a publicforum .3ONeverthel ess. given all of theabove precedents, cer­ demonstrate a substantialinterest in re­ public expression.22 It cannot be cre­ tainareas, suchas sidewa.lks, 1awns and strictingthe distribUtion ofsuch publi­ ated by government inaction. As a re­ plazasare likely tobe considered public cations. AId fm auy, there issome au­ suIt, in determining whether a limited forums focexpression and dislribution. thoritYto sugg eslthat students may have . public Cerum has been created. courts Theseareasareclearty the ofplacesI:)'pe$ a stronger F'm t Amendment right of look: to the policy and practice of the that on most campuses havetradition­ distribution on campus thantheir.non­ government to determineits intent. ally been openfor expressive activity. student counterparts. In creatinga limitedpublic forum , the There are certain areas of campus, government may limitaccess tocertain suchas lobbies. hall waysand otbercom4 lAcation of Distribution people, issu� or modes of expession; monareas indoors wbosef orumsmtus is In addition to the signillcance of the Ilowever. once the government has moredif ficultto determine. areas These characterof Lhepublication . therights of openeda forum forcom munication. "it are not the type tha1lypica1ly come 10 a person scekqtg to distribute are also is baITed by the First and Fourteenth mind w henone thinksoftraditional pub­ affectedthe by lOcation w� d..istribu- Amendments from discriminating lic forum s, bill at the same time. they tion is planned.The U.S. SupremeCoun among forum userssolely on the ofbasis share manyof the same characteristics has consistently held that expressive message content.r-23 as sidewalks andplaz.as. Fonbermc:re. activity that occurs in "traditional" or Where a limited public forum has theseareas typicaIJ are with ycreated the "quintessential" public fornm s is af- beencreated, expression in thatf orumis expectation that they will serve as ven­ forded greater FU'stAmendmentprote.c� given the same FlJ'St Amendment pro- ues for at leastsome speakersand some 6 tionspeech than in non-pu blicforums.1 tection as expression in a traditional types of expression. It is most likely, Content-based restrictions on speech in public forum .24 therefore. thatthese areas woold be pre­ public forums are subjecl to strictjudi- FinAlly, expression in closed or non- sumed to be public forums. subject to cia!scrutiny and areconstitutional only public forums isgiven lessFirst Amend- evidence by theuniversity tha.t they are if they serve a compelling government ment protection thanexpress ion in pub- only limited public forums. and that interest and are rwTowly drawn 10 lic or limited public forums; nevenhe- access to them has been restricted to achievethatend. 17 'Thegov ernment may less,regulation therei n still must berea- caurin issues, individualsor groups.3 1 impose content-neutral regulations af- sonable and not based 00 the speaker's AssUJningthe locationof distribution fee ting the time, place and manner of viewpoint25 Govmunent propenythat inquestion is considered a publicforum . expiessioff in a publicforwn ; however. is neither a public nor a limited public content-based restrictions therein will the Slate must show t1w thoseregula- forumis considered a non-publicforum . be subject to strict scrutiny.32To illus­ lions are narrowly tailored 10 SClVe a The U.S. Supreme Court fIrSt ad- trate, regulations thatp-ohibit the distri­ signifacantgovc:mm enlinterest and that dressed the public nawre of university bution of. for instance, "radical right­ they leaveopen ample alternative chan· campuses morethan twenty years ago in wing" publications. or even "political" l8 nels for expression. Government- Healy v. JQJrIeS .26 The Cowt reeog- publications, would be subject to strict owned property is a public forum if it nized in Healy that "thecolle ge class- scrutinybecause they are based. respec­ bastraditiooa llybeenused by the public room with its surrounding environs is tively, on the viewpoint andcontent of for expressjve activlty.19 peculiarly 'the marketplace of ideas.'" the message. Furthermore, regulations In addition to traditional or quintes- A decadelater, the court wentfurther by that are notexplicit with respect tocon- sentia! public forums, a state may also stating that the "campus of a public (Su DISTRIB lffE. page 25) ------24SPlC Report Winter 1993-94 manner in which theforum is actually solicitation and 3) regulations that es­ Distribute used.3S Therefore. a univenity could tablish a licensing system for distribu­ (C�fr()lfl p4ge24) not successfully preventdiStribution of tionof publications.

. tentor viewpoint, but which nevertflo.. certain publications ifits pi"&dke has . ', • TheU.s. Sup-emeCourt hasbeIdthat lessdisaiminate among parties seddng been allowto geneml access public its to the distributiooof .l.itelaJureproIeCted is acces8 to apublic forum woald also be property.If 6 universitytraditionally bas bythe F"ltIt Amendment.41 This prin­ subject tostrict 9CrUtiny. Thus. regula­ penniUed distribution of both student ciple has beenlied app to distribution of tions ina publicforum that allowdistri­ andnon.stDdent publications. cannot it newspepet8newsracks.42 via Still, con­ bution of. for example, a university­ subsequeotly impose a policy limiting te.nt-neutral time. place and manner re­ supported publication, but not a non­ access tostudentpublicationB .36 While IOictians are constitutional, provided universitysupponod publication. would theuni versity mi�t beable to closethe they are narrowly ULilored to serve a be strictly scrutini2edby thecouris.33 forum altogether. 7 itcouldnot pick and substantialgovernment i.ruerestand they Onecowtheldthat a publicunivers ity choosewhich publications may distrib­ leave open ample alternative channels could notseek to increase popularity the ute and which have to seek alternative ofcommun ication.43 of itsown offic ialstudent publication at avenues.38 Blanketprohibitions on the installa­ theexpense of otherpublications. 34 The Similarly,even aftera universitypr0- tion of or distribution boxes anywhere same would be true of regulations that mulgateS a policy limiting � to a onpublic college propertywolild pr0b­ alloweddistribution of student-runpub-­ particularfo rum.if theuniversit y's prac­ ably be unconstitutional. It is unlikely lications.but nOl non-student·nmpubli­ tice is to allow dislriblltion of various lhat wUversity officials could demon­ cations, or distribution of T� New Yo rk publicaJions in the forum , it maynot be strale a substantial enough interest to Times,but not TIu! WashingtonPost. In able to enforce theregu1ation .39 Thus. jmtifysuch a rule.44 If university offi­ short,an y dissim ilartreatment of publi­ any presumption that a uniVelSity is a cialscould show that newsrac.k: distribu­ cationsdistribut.ea in a publicforu m will public forum but only for students can tionwas "incompatible with the normal be striclly scrutinized by the courts. berebutted by evidence thatuniver­ the activityof a particularplace," !heregu­ Some of the discrimination among sity intended to allow access to both lationmight beconstitu tional.45 But this ideasand parties described above might studenlS and non-studenlS alike,or that stemsunlikely. because most areas of beconstillJtionaJiftlle public university universitycould demo campusesare either onstratethat foro the m public forums or in question was a lim- limited public fo- ited ra1her than tradi­ rums,and thosear­ tional public fonnn. eas are by defini­ and that its use had tion appropriate been properly re­ places for the dis­ stricted to discussion tribution of publi­ of those topics or use cations.46 bythose specific indi­ Regulations af­ vidWllsor groups. For fectin g the pl� instance. university ment of newsracks officials will often are much more seekto limit access to likelyto beconstf:! campus. or partS ofcampus,to those the university's practice bas been 10 totional than com plete bans. For in- publicationsthat are somehow affiliated allow such equal access. stance. regulations that prohibit "sttuc­ with the university - either because tures"from being left on publiclawn s,47 they are supported in somo way by the MetJwdof Distribution or tbat prohibit the placement of universityor because they areproduced and Restrictions newSlllCks in areas that would pose a by universitystudents or smdent groups. Despitethe facta that particularpub­ threat10 public safet y,48 arcnot uncom­ Assuming theforum(s) in question had licatioD isentitledto First Arnendmeat moo.These regulationstypes of are typi­ not previously been open for distribu­ protection. its disaibution may never· callyupbeld, provided they do notbur­ tionof allpublications, this of kind regu­ , the1e.u be subject to reasonable time, den "substantially more speech than is lation might bea pmnissible limitation place and manner restrictions.40 The necessary 10further the government's on access to a newly created public threemost common typeSof time,place inb:rest."49 aDd provided they produce forum . and manner restrictions inthisCODStxt "�ficant gains insafety and acsthet­ However, in determining the forum are: 1) regulations that either prohibit ics. ..so status of a particularp1ace. it is neces­ the instal.l8lionof distributionor boxes Therestill is more support for reguJa­ saryto examine not only theuniversi ty's restrict their placement, 2) regulations tionsJXOhibit &hat "hawking"Sl and other declamtions and policies, but also the thatrestrict ''hawking'' IlIld other direct (See DISTRlB lfJE, plJ8e26)

WInter 1993-94 SPtCReport 25 physical characteristicsthat make it im­ ated to serve sOldents, access by non­ Distribute possible to establish a definitive and SOldents may befreely restricted orpre.. (COllljfl�df,om pllge25) universally applicableset of rules in this vented.However, thisargument is much direct solicitation. Courts have recog. area. more viable in theory than it is in prac­ nized that hawking poses dangers of Restrictionsonlbedistribution of pub­ tice. The factthat is most public univer­ d�tion. COQgesdon. �nt and licationson public campuses will gener­ sities have traditionally permitled ex­ 52 duress . Wbether those concerns are ally only be permissible in three situa­ pression by non-swdeulS on theircam­ substantial enough to warrant restric ­ tions: I) wherethe fo rum in question is puses. Wberea universityhas so, dono it Lions on hawking on public university eitherprivate or limi ted10 certain groups may not draft a policy � enforce an campuses is not clear. However. the or issues, 2) where the content of the existingpolicy thataccess denies tenon­ U.S. Supreme Courtupheld has univer­ publication in question i8disruptive of students. sity policies prohibiting face-to-face Asidethe from oCthecbaracter forum solidtation campus in dormitories. 53 and in whicha partyto seeks distribute, Lbe one federal district court has upheld characterof thepubli cation is also im­ prohibitions00 hawking inareas of cam­ portantSc hooloffic.ialscan restricl� CJ pus reserved fo r tables fo r studentorga­ Iicarions if they can establish that the nizations.54 :10 public.ation's content is either disrup­ Finally, regulations that establish a tive of university activities oris unpro­ dislributionlicensing system or any son tected by the First Amendment of prior restraint are constitutionally These types ofrestrictions are rare, suspect, although not necessarily un­ howevec, because the content of most constitutional. In City of Lakewood v. J publications is protected by the F1I'S t 55 Plain Dealer PublishingCo .• the U.S. Amendment., and it is extremely diffi­ Supreme Court held that a licensing cult 10establish that a publicationcould scheme that gave a particular govern­ beso provocative that it causesdisrup­ a ment official "unfette reddiscretion" to tion of school activities. Morecomm on decide which venders may place their are restrictions on publications whose machines on �Ublic propeny was un­ school activities or otherwise not pro­ contentis purely commerelal. Still, it is constitutional. 6 While the State cer­ tected by the First Amendment or 3) difficult to justify restrictions on these tainly has an interest in directing the where the time, place or manner of dis­ publications. While they may receive placement of structures on public pr0p­ oibution implicate a significant interest less First Amendment protection. they erty.any regulationsmust establishpre­ of theuniversity such that content-neu­ are not without value. andit is unlikely cise criteria, not based on content or tralregulations are warranted. thata university coulddernonwale that viewpoint, on which applic.ations are to With respect10 the offirst these, most treating these publications differently bereview ed. Otherwise.the Court held, common areasof campuses arelil.:: ely to thanothel' publications serves a substan­ it would be impossible fo r a rejected beconsidered public fo rums fo r expres­ tial governmentinterest. distributorto pro ve rhat a denw of pet­ sion. Areas such as plazas, sidewalks. Probably the most common regula­ mission was based on me content or andeven certain areas indoors are typi­ tions affec ting disoibuUon of publica­ viewpoint of the publication. cally created with the recognition that tions are those that relate to the time, Despite these limitations, however, they will sezve as venues for public place andmanner oC disaibution. These several typesof pre-disoibution regula­ expression. Conversely, Wliversity of­ types of regulations may seem less in­ tions have been upheld by the courts, fices, c 1a.ssroomsand similarplaces are sidious,but they areoflen have thesame including payment of licensing fees57 , likely to beconsidered private, because effect as ouuight censorshi p. Parties and requirements thatvending mac hine those areas are not the type that were seelcing to disuibule their publications ownerspurchase liability insurance.58 created with the intention of accommo­ shouldbe especially vigilanto f auempts dating public expression. by the university 1.0 disguise content­ Summary The accessibilityof most otherareas basedre gulationsby using content-neu­ As !heforegoing discussion suggests, will lilcely depend on the policies and trallJlnguage. there are a number of factorS thai will practices of the university_ In order 10 On the whole. those seeking to dis ­ affect the access rights of those who restrict distribution in those areas, the tribute publications on public college must wishto distribute publications on publ ic university beable to demonstrate and university campuses will typically college and university campuses. eitherthat those areas pri are vate orthat have considerablelegal support for their Determiningthe precise scope of dis­ the party seeking access is not in the efforts. Whilethere are several different tribution rights in a particular case re­ class of speakers for wruch the forum rntionalesfor resaictingpublication dis­ quires applic.ation of several distinctle­ was created. tribution,they each have legal standards galprinciples. Furth ermore,every school Some university officials might con­ that are difficult 10 satisfy. has different traditions, poliCies and tend thatbecause their c.ampus was ere- (See DlSTRlB lffE. fHl8e 27)

26 SPLC Report WInter 1993-94 istrib ute andcontmt-neutral regulations affectingthe 39 Su, e.g .. Hays C04UIty GllOTdianv.SIlpPk., D time, plsce and nunna" of distribution are 969 F.2d 111 (5th Cir. 1992) (sttikin& I 1IIIM. page (ConIi from 26) uncon.sriturional unless they are nlllTOwly univa-sity regul atw,n restrictingdisaibuticm

tailored to serve a substantial govc:nunent ofpubl.ic.arions containing ldvertisingwbere. Sources: int.erect Uld leave open ample allemAlive in practice. university had permitted 1 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969). channels Cor expreuion/distribution. distributionoC papers suchas TheNew Y ()t'l 2 rd. at S09 25 C�lif4J, 473 U.S. 41806 (19&5). Timu. US.HodayandawUvemty-supponed 3 rd. &1 509. 26408 U.s. 1 69, 180 (1972). newsp aper, ,11 of which contained 4 27 rd. at 508_ Widmarv. VincDII, 454 U.s.263, 267 n. advertisements). 0 5 Antonelli v. HtlmI1Ibf'li. 308 F.Supp. 1329 5 (198 1). 4 Ward v. RockAgainst Racism, 491 U.s. (1970); su a1sc, Near v. Minnest'JUl, 283 28 Su, e.g., Hays Co. Guardian v. SlApple, 781, 791 (1989).

U.S. 697 ( 193 1 ) (establishing that prior 969 F.2d 111, 1 17 (5th Cir. 1992) (holding 41 Lovell II. Griffin.303 U.S. 444 (1938). 42 restraint! are presumptively invalid). that all areas "outdoors, on grounds owned Miami Herald Pllblishiflg CO. V. 6 PiDsburghPressCo. v. PiusburghComm 'n or controlled bythe university" are public Hollandale, 734 P.2d 666, 673 (1 1thCir. 413 on Human Re/alions, U.S. 376, 385 forums); and VlIiversity 01 Utalt. StIIdotls 1984).

�1973). AgainstApartheid v. Peler$ort, 649 F.Supp. 43Ward, 491 U.S. &1 791.

Riley v. NaJionaJ Federation oltke Blind, 1200, 1209 (0, Utah 1986) (holdingmat "the 44S�, e.g., Providence JOIUrItlICo. v. City

487 U.S. 78 1 . 796 (1988). university cllmpu5 is availableto students as of Newpot't, 665 F.supp. 107 (D,Rl, 1987) 8 SeeFox v. Board ofTrwstees ol the Stote a�blic Corum) . (bolding that goVe:mmenl'1l eoncerns OVa" 2 were insufficient VlIiv. ",New York, 492 U.S. Mi9,474-475 Su, e.g., Searcey v, Crina, 681 F.Supp. auwtics to justify a (1992). 821, 828 (N.D. Os. 1988) (holding !hat proh.ibitionof newmds). SOCil!tyfOT 5 9 HejJron v.! nterlJilJ ioruJJ Krishna campusb ul1�tinboards were a limited public � Grayn.edv. RocJrford,4 08U.s. 104 (1 972). Conscic�ne.JS, /nc., 452 U.S. 640, 647 Corum). 40 Su HI!IlI'j II. JOI11U, 408 U.s. 169, 180 (1981). 30 American F1U1I.rt Systems, In c. If. (1972) (holdingIhBt ''the college clusroom 0 1 Cefllral Hudwn Gas eftElectric Corp. v. PennsyJWJniJJStau Unjy., 752 F.2d 854(3d with it! surrounding environs is peculiarly Public SeN. Ct>mm'n, 447 U.S. 557, 566 Cir. 1984) 'themsrl:c:tplace oC ideas."'). 47 (1980). .31 Also, because of concerns over SII",tenLSAgain31 ApartheidCOtJIiticrz v. 1 1 Linrntu/c Auocs. II. To wn.ship 01 congestion and safety and because of the O'Neil. 838 F.2d 735 (4th Cir, 1987). 8 Willingboro, 43 1 U.S. 85, 92n. 6 (1977). proximity of these areas tD classrooms and 4 Washing ton Post Co. v. TlUner, 708 1 2 492 U.S. 469 (1989). offlCeS,cont.en1-neutralregulationuffecting F.supp. 405 (D.O.C. 1989) 13 4 Note, however, that if the papers Ihe time, place and marmer of distribution 9 Ward, 491 U.S. at 799. themselves wen: sold door-t.o-door and in ere much more likely to be constil:Ution.al. 50Cincinnativ. Di.scovuyNeJwork, Inc .,_ 3 person. the S[ale'S interests in prohlbiting Seediscussion, infra.p. 15. U.s. -, 1 1 5.0. 1505 (1993). 1 face-tD-faoe sale of suchdistnbu tion would be thesame AS they 32 Corey v. Br(}Wt1, 447 U.S. atMil . 5 "HawkinB" is the were 33 were in Fox. Also, even if the papers Sa Herp Co. GlUlTdian v. Supple, 969 publications, usually on public sidewaIb. given away bystudents walking through the F.2d111 . 121 (5th Cir. I992),ciJing,BlICkley street oometB and otherpublic uus. donnilOty halls, the univenity's interest in v. Vako , 424 U.S. 1, 4849 (1976). 52 Su HayJ Co. Gumdian v. Supp le, 969 preventingassment hlll' of s!l.ldents may be 34/d. F.ld 111, 120- 121 (5t1lCir. 1992).TIle Fifth 5 substantial enough 10 warrant restrictions . 3 C�lius II. NAA CP LegalDef enseand Circuit held in SlApplethai "hawking" does 14 454 U.s. 263 (1981). . Edw:aJioNllFund, IftC .. 473 U.s. 788, 802 1WI include distribution by hand of Cree IS /d . 81 267·68 n. 5. (1985). newspapers. � court held that when 1 6 Perry Educ. Assn. v. Perry Local 36 It isnot entirely clurwlw cJunclfristics ne� ere simply being given aw ay, EdIlCau>rs' Asm., 460 U.S. 37, 4S (1983). courts would look at tDguish distin student thisactivity does notpose the types dangers of 17 Carey y.Br()wfl,447 U.S.455,461 (1980). fromnon-studeru publications. But theFifth dwunderlie most anii-hawking regulations. 18 c Ward y. RockAgainst Raci.srn. 49 1 U.S. Circuit implied inHays Cowuy GlUUdiaI'IlI. Indeed, su h activity is virtually 781, 79 1 (1989). Supple,969 F.2d 11 1 (5thCir. 1992) that my indistinguishableleafleting, from resaricI:iooI 1 9 Perry&l.w:. &.1'11, 460 U.S. at 46. studentinvolvement. citherwith production on whichhav e beenconsistently rejected by 20 Widmar II. Vincent,4 54 U.S. 263 (1981) or distribution. would be enough to me c.ouru. LoW!lI v. Griffll1, 303 U.s. 444

�tuderugroups). characterize the publication u student (1938). Still somecourts mightstill fmd that 1 Ciry 01 Madison Joint School Dis', II. ewression. /d. 41 118. even distributionby hand of freenewspapan 3 WisconsinEmp/.o-ytnenJ RelaJions Comm 'n. T Se.ePerryEdluaJ Ass'n UJn v. PerryLocaJ may still pose lome dangers, luch u 429U.S . 167 (1976) (schoolboardbusiness). Educau>rs' Au'II, 460 U.S. 37, 46 (1983). congestion.etc., which mightbe significent

22 Cornelius \I. NAACP ugalDe ll!lUL and The sweprobAbly couldnot closethe forum enoughto justify COIl1enl-neutral rcatri.ctions.

Et4IcationalFlUId. Inc., 473 U.S. 788, 802 because of a disagreement with the 53 Feay. Boardoj1 ', 1UIUSofSltlJe Ullili.of (1985). viewpoints being ex� in the forwn . NewYork. 492 U.S.

23 PoUa Dep'l ofChicago Y. Mosley, 408 See Trujillo II.Love, 322 F.supp, 1266 (D. 54 Tcxm Review SocieTy v. ClOI1I.inghaft, U.S. 92, 95-96 (1972). Col. 1971). 659 F.Supp. 1239(W.O.Tex. 1987). 24 ComeJius.473U.S. &t SOO.Thus,conten l. 38 See Widmar, 454 U.S. 263 (holding th.a.t 55 486 U.S. 7.50(1 98-8). fo rums, 56 based restrictions in limitedpu blic once a university had opened up its /d. at 772. 7 just as in Iradilional public forum i, are c1aasrooms for use by regi&tered sllldent 5 Jacobsofl \I. Cr;lIaro, 85 1 F.2d 1067 (8th unconstitutional unless they serve a groups. all registered studentgroups had to Cir. 1988). 8 compelling government interest and are be given equa1 a.cces& to those areas). 5 Jacobson v. HarriJ, 869 F.2d 1172 (am narrowly tailored to achieve that objective, Cir. 1989). ------Wlnt9f 1993-Q4 SPlCReport V A Crime Wave

The trend continues as college newspapers are stolen from coast to coast s a tidalwave of newspaperthef ts washes over to itsraci st oature, the Diamondback will not be available college campuses fr om California LO Mary­ today- re-ild a boo !" land ,many administratorsand campuspolice Therebad been protestover lackof m inoriI)' representa­ A a.re doing nOlhing to prevent lhousands of Lion in a.rt OcL 20 fas hion supplement that showed mostly papers from beingSWepl away . whilemodels, Editor Drew Weaver said. Campus police In many of the 29 incidents reported to the Sludcm hadat Iea:st lWQ SUSpeclS arcand lookingfor more, Weaver Press Law Center io 1993.no one hasbcc ncaughl. When added, and tol.d him lhey �pccted to make arrests in the I.hc thieves do confess, the universityhas sometimes let case. them off scot-free. About750 copic!;oh he sUldentnewspaper at BriarCliff 1lw trend isbeginning to lUm around. however. At College in Sioux City. Iowa, were stolcn OcL. 21 . Sl3ff

DukeUniversit y a swdent wasrecently placed on disci­ members suspec:l thala �tory in the issue about a campus plinary probation for uashingcopies of a conservative IJaffic accideol may ha.ve sparked the the fl campuspaper. And two Pennsylvania Slate University The issue wasreprintedthe same day ,andadviscrMic hael studenlS charged with criminal then agreed to CSUet a Crowleysaid the thefl haS beenreported to campns and ci ty rehabilitation program to avoid prosecution. police. A controversial Despite the dis- 'll ' cartoon sparkedthe appearance of I L, .4' ' thenof 1,500ncws­ thousands of papers (ro m Jobns newspapet'S at the HopkinsUn.iversity Uoiversi1y of N� dormitories in late braska ar. Omaha, September. The assistant editor cartoon showed an Julie Larsen said Asian man wearing campus police re­ a Cllinese 5Uldcot fused to investi­ Association t-shin gate - even telling a while thoughpapers van­ woman'" only dale ished fr om bins chinks." righl in front of Thecanoon iUus­

theiroffice. trated a column by City policc arc anAsia n�Amcrican looking into the woman who com­ Ihcfts- which be­ plajned !.hal cmnic

gan OcL I - and groups on campus Larsen said The lcod10 f onn c liques GaLewO"jhas setup sl8keouts iand ncreasedits pr ess run and w-ging more effortS toward inLer-racial fri endships. tocompensate for the trashed papers. "It's our policy not to censor the opinions p38c." said

11te problems began after the papere ndorsed one of NewS-Ulur co--edil r AndrewDunlap, adding thatwh ilea the candidates for a student government post, Larsen 11umbel of Asian rudcnr groupsarc upsetabout !.he cartoon said,and since then two distributionbins have alsobeen "no one hus come forward La claim rcsponsibi.lity" for Ole dcstroyedby the thicves,"These poo plcarc really serious Lhcfts. about this,"she said. In the univc ilY' responsc to the incident, Dean of About 10,000cop iesof the Universityof Maryland's Student Servic I...arry BenediClwrote rhal while the theft Diamondback - half thenum�( primed.. _. weresLOIL �n vio\atcdl thc LUUcnt conducl code he felt the cartoon was from bins Nov. I andreplaced with fl iers thaisaid: "D ue (St!t!TH EFT. page 29)

28 SPlC Report Winter 19Q3-94 fore Ohio State University football Solowsky suspects may have been Theft games was dumped at the direction of spaIked by a profile of a star player the athletic department because it cre­ who saidone of his quoteswas inaccu­ (ConJinuedfrompage 28) ated litter, according to Lantern editor rate in the story. "offensive" and in "pooreditorial taste." Chris Davey. If the team members - who say The university should have con­ Aftercopiesof theStadium View were they did not take thepapers- go 10 demned the dumping of papers in stron­ nowhere to be _____. ______�------ger terms, Dunlap said . "I think they found at an Oct. 2 honestly didn't like the fact that the game, photogra­ students dumped [the newspaper], but phers were posted (1 consider [the Duke Review] the priority was denouncing the slur." by distributionbins 1 1 Campus security agreed to investi­ two weekslater and litter, and when see litter gate the theft, but Dunlap said he is "a sropped men in an littledissatis fied" with the fac t thatdur­ OSU vehicle from throw it out.' Nico Tynes ing the incident two studentstold a guard confiscatingcopies Duke student in a residencehal l that they wererem ov­ of the paper. The ing papers in protest and the guard did Lantern isasking for compensationand trial inthe universityjudicial system, nothing. a written apology. Solowsky saidhe hopesthey will be At East Texas State University, at At Stanford University, 3,000copies forced to reimburseThe Observer for least 3,000copies of the student paper of a conservative campus paper were printingand costs.other were stolen in earlyOctober, and editors stolen in mid-October. The theft was "Expulsion wouldbe nice too, but 1 believethey may have been trashed be­ reported to the police department and don'tthink thathappen. will " headded, cause of a story aboutthe president-elect thejudic ial affairs office, but there are "because this was an actof stupidity of the fraternity association. . no suspects. rather thananythingpolitical." The issue was quickly reprinted and At El Camino College in Torrance, distributed again the next day, accord­ Calif. , a professor admitted to taking Crime and punishment ing to adviser Fred Stewart. Campus about2, 000news papersNov. 4 afterthe If studentsare punished by the judi­ security officers are investigating the paper wrote a story about him being cial processat Tufts, the school willbe removedfrom teaching a business math class. Students had complained about theprofe ssor's performance. TheWarwhoop filed a complaintwith the campus police,adviser Jolene Combs said, but most likely will not pursue charges of theftand destruction of prop­ ertyafter the professor wrote a letter of apology and paid the paper $350 for reprinting costs. 1 Combs said the professor,a candidate (// theft // /1 /1 // //1 for city council, told her he stole the About 3,000 copies of the student papers because he thought the story newspaper at West Valley College in would tarnish his reputation. "He was Saratoga, Calif., were trashed Oct 14. afraid this was going tohurt his political While some were recovered from dump- life," she said. "He did not seem to be fo lJowing the lead of Duke Univer­ sters, News Editor Jerry Simmons said, concerned about his teachingfuture ." sity. A studentthere was found guilty they were soaked with rain. "Himstealing the stackswas inexcus- of theft Nov. 3 and placed 011 disci­ The editors decided to reprint three able," said Warwhoop Editor Marisela plinary probation for the rest of the controversialarticles in the next week's Santana. "We felt that theeducational academic year. edition, stories dealing with the student processwas disrupted by his actions.to Junior Nico Tynesadmitted to steal­ government's violation ofopen meetin g OnNo v. 5, morethan 3,000copies of ingcopies of the DukeReview afler the laws, an employee who threatened a theTufts Univers ity Observer weresto- consecvativepaper's editorspotted him studentwith a lead pipeand a Mexican- len, leading Editor Adam Solowsky to taking a pile of papers and followed American studentgroup upset with pro- ftle a complaint with the university. The Tynes intothe BlackStudent Alliance fessors. Police are still investigating the associate dean of students has ques- offices. theft, Simmons said. tioned two membersof the men's soccer Tynes was "very defUUlt.very con- A special publication distributedbe- team in connectionwith the theft. which (SeeTH EfT, page 30)

Winter 1993-94 distribute material that might be offen­ $1,500in resti tution so far. Theft sive" unfairly influenced the trial's out­ Newspapers thefts continue, he added come, Coleman said. - 500 to 1,000 were stolen in mid­ (Conli1UU!dfrompage 29) Tynes' caseis not the only one where October - but he hopes the additionof frontational," ReviewEditor Ton y Mecia studentshave beenpunished. Two jour­ a new publication funded by the Na­ said. After the two argued for about half nalism graduates have agreed to enter a tionalOrganization for Women willhelp an hour, Mecia took back the newspa­ rehabilitation program after being solve the problem. pers and left the office. Tynes said he charged with stealing 4,000 copies of The news is not so positive at the objected to several articles, including the conservative student newspaper at University of Pennsylvania. Nine stu­ one warning black students thatif they Penn State, The Lionhearted. dents who dumped 14,000copies of The disagree with the Black Student Shannon Coulter, form er co-director Daily Pennsylvanianwill go unpwtished, Alliance's agenda and "don't toe the of a campus women 's group, and her the school's president and provost de­ party line, you'll bebranded as a sellout former roommateAlisa Giardinelli, were cided in September, although they or an Uncle Tom ." charged by Assistant District Attorney warnedthat future theftincidents will be "We'd noticed newspapers missing Ray Gricar with theftby unlawful taking dealt with "swiftly and sternly." previously," Mecia said. "This is the ordisposition, re ceiving stolen property TheBl ack StudentLeague organized first time we've caught someone red­ . andcriminal conspiracy. and sanctioned the incident last April. handed." The stolen issues included a carica- according to the university. The group Tynes admitted to twice was protesting what it called confiscating copies of the Re­ the paper'sinsensitive policies view lastspring. "I don't think FREE SCHOOL andmore specificall y thewrit­ I've done anything wrong," NE.WSPAPER ings of a conservativecolum­ he told The C hronicIe, Duke's nist who complained that the daily student paper. "I con- university gave blacksprefer­ sider it litter, and when I see \T�EI ential treatment litter I throw it out." ONE "Mistakes by students must Disciplinary probation in- be seen more as opportunities creases the possibilityof more for education than asoccas ions serious punishment if Tynes for punishment," said Profes­ is caught taking papers again, sor Howard Arnold, who was Mecia said, but there are no appointed to handle the case day-to-day sanctionsand it will andrecom mended thatno dis­ not be placed on his perma­ ciplinary action be taken. nent record. Tynes may still "Of course it's appalling," appeal the decision. said editor Stephen Glass of Mecia said he was pleased the decision. The outcome by the c�e's outcome, which shows that "right and wrong he had not expected "given P,lt no longer mean anything at incidents at other schools 'Ot::::::::=::::7 this university," he added. where hearing panels, etc., ex­ Also, administrators at the oneratedstudents." He did not State University of New Yone thinkthe Review would take at Rochester have taken no ac­ further legal action in the case. ture of a female columnist fr om The tion against students who trashed more

Without taking a stand on Tynes' ac­ Daily Collegian - the mainstream pa­ than 3,000 copies of the Campus Times tions, Black StudentAlli ance President per - in a bikini next to a sign reading lastmonth becausea personaladvertise­ Sana Coleman said she is circulating a "Fem inist at Work." ment revealeda fraternity 's secretmotto. petition protesting the way the trial was If the court approves his recommen­ "We put it into the campus legal pr0- conducted . dation , Gricar said, Coulter and cess," said editorAdam Keats, but "they "It's not right," she said. "It's sup­ Giardinelli will be on probation and pay said it's been so long that there is noth­ posed to be a judiCial system and there restitution to the newspaper. They can ing they can do about it" was no justice there. They wanted to ask to have their record expunged in The administration had considered make an example ofNico and they did." about a year, he added. drafting a policy outlining the conse­ Duke President Nan Keohane's pub­ Ben Novak, a Penn State trusteewho quences of fu ture newspaper thefts. But lic statement condemning the theft and acts as an adviserto the paper, said The Keats said thatwhile a policy"would set calling it "unacceptable to deny others Lionhearted's staff agreed to the reha­ an example on campus," administrators the right to express their views or to bilitation program and has received recentlydecided against adopting one ..

30 SPlC Report WInter 1993-94 Intern appealing prison sentence Judge finds student in contempt of court, orders time in 'crook box' MICIDGAN - A Detroitj udge sen­ over the trial." people for interviews," said Esparza, tenceda reporting intern to fivedays in In the meantime.Espana said the jail who works on Wayne Slate's student jailin June for contempt of court., and sentence and resulting media feeding newspaper, The SOJJ.lh End. '-rhey ask, added a few conditions. The Wayne frenzyhave not soured himon a journal­ 'How wasjail?'" StateUniversity studentwas ordered to -ismcareer. He plansto return to the News The appeals court has a backlog of serve his time in the courtroom - next summer as part of a scholarship abouta year,Esparza so said, he may not dressed inprison garb. program where the paper pays for his know for some time whether he will "And we're going to sit you in the education. actuallyhave to serve the senfence. crookbox, one of thebest seats in here, Hisencounter with Crockettgave him Espana is nO' the only jomnalist to andyou can seeeverything both from a a new view of thejownalism worJdas he draw CrockeU's wrath. A Detroit Free reporter'spoint of view anda prisoner's became the focusof mediareportS. 10e Press phoCographer was also charged pointof view," Judge GeorgeCrockett TVpeople were just the worst."Esparza with contemptfor takinga picture of a III tOld Detroit News intern Santiago said,-describing how reporters hounded trial witness who bad asked not to be Espana, who has since appealed the hisfamil Y anddeluged his grandparents' photographed.even thoughthe wilness sentence and has not spentany time in housewith phone calls. was on a publicstreet jailso far. Journalistsfrom mecity's print media Thatcase was transferred to a differ­ Esparza hadjust begun his f� re­ were less intrusive, he added, and not entjudge and dismissed inSeptember, porting internship last June when he everytelevision station wasrude. accordingDetroit to Free Press phOto made the brief phone eM! thatwould "I get teased a lot now when I call - editor Mike Smith.• plunge him into the middle of a bitter baUle betweenthe judgeand local news­ papers. Crockett had several other run-ins Prez tries to cut fundin with the press during the potentially FLORIDA-Afterthecampusnews­ that the statute itself explosive trial of three white former paperendorsed his opponent for stu­ needed to be re-exam­ polireofficerschargedwith fa1alIy beat­ dent body president, University of ined. ing a blackman. I SoulbFlorida student Jim Johnson During the June 18 contempt hear­ chargedthat the paperhad violated ing, Esparza testified that he acciden­ a school statute and could lose tally called a juror while compiling a $200,000 in funding. list of telephone numbers [0 be used Sour grapes? Maybe - except when thetrial ended. He did not ask: any thatJohnson won the election, questions and latercalled back to apolo­ The narrow victory did not stop gize, he added. But Crockett held that him frompointing to a studentgov­ speakingto a juror before a verdict was e m statuteprohibiting organi· inexcusable. rn ent zations receiving srudentfees from as­ "It's justanother vic­ When pronouncing the sentence, sisting a political campaign. He as­ tory for freedom of Crockett said he had mistrusted the serredthat he did not file the charges speech," Nguyen said. News since he was a child, when me becausethe paper backed another can­ ""He's the new ptesi­ newspaper al.lacked his father during didate. dent. There's always a the McCarthy era for defendingpeople "Despite the Oracle's statusas the power struggle." accusedof being Communists. member of the press, the Oracle is a VVhen the charges The Michigan Court of Appeals govemmenlallysubsidized publication were nrst filedwi th the stayed Esparza's jail sentence until it and must follow the rules of the gov­ student supreme court, can consider thecase, said Mark Hass, ernment."Johnson wrote in an Oct 20 the Oracle responded a Detroil News assistantmanaging edi­ memo to Editor Phuong Nguyen. withnews tor.The three-judgepanel has heardthe storiesas well B utaftera heateddebate at theTampa as an edilOrial blasting appeal and taken briefs but setno time­ campus- anda St. Petersburg Times the complaint as "a sad Lable for a decision. editorialtitled "A sore winner at USF' display of sour grapes" "Thisis nota priority for !hem:'H.ass -Johnsonbacked down sixdayslaLer, and "a violation of free said. "I expectthat they'renot going to dropping the charges and suggesting do anything until Ibe furor dies down (Su ORACLE.page 34)

WInter 1993-94 SPlC Report31 SUNY backs down School had barred reporter from campus

NEW YORK - Banned from a college campus forwhat he called persistence and school offICials charged was harass­ ment, a fr eelancejournalist fo ught backand won. But Eric Coppolino, a former graduate srudent at State University of New York at New Paltz, is not satisfied. Al· though the school backed down just before a be#ing - rescinding the ban Sept 1 - Coppolinop lans 10 pursue the lawsuit seeking $125.000 in damages. "We're saying we neVel" wantthis to happen again here," he said. '''They have to Wlderstandthey that can't just go around kicking journalists off campus." The clash with SUNY offi cials grew out of Coppolino's investigation into the aftermath of a December 1991 trans­ fonner explosion. an accident that contaminated six campus buildings wilh toxic polychlorinated bipheyls.

Coppolino ' s muckraking reportso n the PCBcleanup eff ort, sporting headlineslike "Deep trouble" and"Af tergloW," have not done much to endear him to school administrators. At an editorial board meeting with The Times Herald­ Record, for example, SUNY Chancellor D. Bruce Johnstone said hewas in favor of barring Coppolino from the campus. "I really don't even consider Eric a journal ist," the Record quotedJoh nstone as saying. "He hasno interestin thetruth but Paper stops publishing has some other agenda." Coppolino's comments about the university are equally acrimonious. "AU they do istram ple 00people 's rights, almost after column on Jews without exception," he said. "They don't do much educating here." NEW YORK - Underrue 'The paper will consider May,Coppolino - who says officials notreturned for a column attackingJ ews, taking legal action if thead· Last had five the student ReWspapaat La ministration"in any way tries hisphone calls in months - turnedup the heatby enlisting GuardiaComm unityCollege tos top usfrom going topress acoUeague witha video cameraand confronting officials in the o u questioning has ceased publishing until after we have an adviser," lobby f the adm inistration b ilding, University Alice she stepped elevator. they can get a new adviser. Williams said. President Chandler as out of an The administrationand the Studentgovernmentmem­ Coppolino's lawyer. Alan Sussman, contends that theinci­ student governmenL"are try­ bets"barged in"on aBridge den t wassimply an attemptto get answers. Harassment would held her hostage or followed her home or called ing to take over," said The meetingrecently and triedto be if"he her of .. Bridge staff member Todd tell the staff how to run !.he in the middle the nighl.., Sussman said. o - Williams. who wrote a con­ paper, Williams added, and But Coppolin was simply "asking questions they didn't want but troversial opinion piece ac­ the dean of students called to answer," Sussman said. "He was persistent, that's cusingJews of killing Jesus thenewsletter "garbage." what reponers are supposed to be." and persecuting blacks. La Guardia President DavidEaton, me associatepresi vice dentfor student affairs, The newspaper's adviser, RaymoodBowen, in a letter disagreed. The next day, Eaton sent Coppolino a lelter deem­ - anadj unctJWOf essor. resigned released by a city council ing him "persona non grata" because he "interfered with and pedestrian traffic" and for another where he after the articleappeared in membu, promisedto assert harassed incident theSeptember edition. Staff­ greater supervision over the allegedly disrupted a campus tour. o ers were told they cannot paperby creating a new edi­ Thepersona n n grata status meantthat Cop polino wouldbe sub SUNY -New Paltz 's campus publish without a full-time torial board of faculty, ad­ ject to arrest if he set foot on fac ulty adviser. Williams ministrators and studenlS. without writtenauthorization from either Eaton or the deanfor student life. said. Although a dean says However, Williams said he "We believe he was kicked off campus because of what he she has a candidate, no one hasnot heard anymore about bad been appointedby mid­ that proposal. was pursuing," said Sussman. who is seeking - along with November. (Su COWMN,pag� 11) (See COPPOUNO, pa8� 14)

32 SPlC I?eport Winter lQ93-94 School's punishment of adviser upheld LOUISIANA - Without afflfl1ling a scindedthe orderafter the ACLU inter­ behalf offor theirstudents violationsof lower court'season r ing, the U.S. Court vened,Moody was reprimanded for fail­ the students' rights. of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld ure to supervise studentthe project and In its decision, the Appellate Court thedismissal of a history teacher's suit transferred to a junior high school. saidthe schoolboard's motion for sum­ over censorshipof a class newspaper. Judge Marcel LivaudaisJr. dismissed mary judgment was properly granted The court ruled Sept 24 in Moody Y. because Moody fa iled to present evi- . Jefferson Parish School Board. 3 F.3d dencerebutting the school board's stated 604 (5th Cir. 1993), that Geraldine reasons - inadequate supervision of Moody's academic freedom case was students,willful negIect and vioIationof properly dismissed, but added thatthe theschoo l's financialpolicy - for rep­ district court's opinion cannot be cited rimanding andtransf erring her. asan authority "because there may have "It shattersone's beliefin thejudicial been flaws in the reasoning ...on the system," saidRonald Wilson,Mood y's issues of standing.jurisdiction, and the attorney,adding that it was"to WIy un­ reach ofacadem ic freedom." fair" of the Courtto baseits decision on Moody waspunished after a group of reasons differentfrom district the court herstudents published a 14-page news­ judge's. paper as part of a lesson on the First "I think the Courrof Appeals hit the Amendment. Along with poetry and nailright on the head,"said IawyerOlden campus fa shion photos, Yo ur Side in­ Moody's suit in October 1992 before it Toups, who represented the J effersoo cluded criticismof the counseling office went to trial, citingseveral reason s. Since Parish schoolboard. "This wasthe kids' and horoscopesadvi sing students to use she played only a supervisoryrole in the newspaper. It wasn'thers ....Her ox birth control pills and snortcocaine. newspaper, he said, Moody wasassert­ wasn't being gored." The lesson on freedom of the press ing her students' -not her own -First Moodysaid she plans to appeal tothe came to an abrupt end, however, when Amendmentrights and lacked the third­ U.S . Supreme CourL "No matter wlWit theprincipal orderedthe students to stop partystanding necessaryto do so. Other takes,we'r e going to getjustice at some distributing the paper. Although he re- courts have allowed advisers to sue on level," shesaid •

Column Admissions staffdumped paper 'Conlinuedfrompage 32) "The entire La Guardia community to hide stories on flasher, feces was appalledby the anti-Semiticarticle TENNESSEE- Front page stories report that she had been flashed at that appeared in the latest edition of on flashers and feces did not project the student center, and the Sept 14 'Bridge'," Bowen wrote. "Not only was a rosy image, so staff in Vanderbilt issue was discarded becausean ar­ :hearticle filled with inaccuracies,but it University's admissions office ticle described how library books :arnished the image of one of the most trashed copies of the campus news­ werefound smeared with feces. :aciallyand ethnically incl usi ve colleges paper to keep the articles from pr0- Hustlernews editor Bryant Palmer in the nation." spective students. was delivering the Aug. 31 issue to The opinion piece, entitled "Who's A new policy mandating the dis­ theadmissions office when,he said, the problreal em?", stands up for Mayor play of The Va nderbilJ Hustler and the receptionistasked "there if was David Dinkins and blames Jews for the three othernewspapers was adopted anything bad" in thepaper . A pho­ city's problems."Their race was almost by the dean of admissions at the tographer captured lr$hed copies extinct Now they are trying to 'extinct' Nashvilleschool in September, soon of the Sept 14issue on film and the blacksoutof everything including exist­ afterhe was toldthe paperwas being Hustler ran a story. ence," it readin part. dumped. Sanderspromptly apologizedand Williams contends that he had cor­ "I had never thought that there adopted the fonnal policy, Palmer rectedmistakes in the piece, but a com­ needed to be a policy," said Dean said."I've beenin the off'lCea couple puter error resulted in an older version Neill Sanders. "The Hustler should of times since then," he added, and being printed. But he also defends his have never been pitched." theHustler hasbeen on display. The article."Everything I put in there, I have TheAug. 31 issuewas thrown away offICe receives about 100copies of fac ts," he said, citing books and the becauseof a story detailing a woman's each issue .• Bible as his sources.•

Winter 1993-94 SPLC Report 33 R.]@lil·]4$'i�i" '" Student triuDlphs in struggle over tape Reporters privilege protects student's taped interview, judge decides

NEW YORK- When Daniel Harris mer meetingwith his lawyers and going journalistis irrelevant." the judge wrote madepomise, a hewas prepared 10 go to the hearing. in Blumv.SchJegel. lSOF.RD.42(W'o. to COllrt lOkeepU. Blum argued that because Harris ­ N.Y. 1993). '1'be question is bow the The effort paid off in July when a who writesfoe TN Opinion asa volun­ person asserting lheprivilege infl'nclW Districtjudge Court decided Harris, a teeT - is not a professionaljou:mal.ist, to use theinformation gathered. .. third-year Jaw student at StateUniver­ heis notprote.ctedby New Yark ' s shield Because theinformation was DOt re.­ sity of New York at Buffalo, could not law. That law says people working as ceived uLUldet a cloak of confideotial­ beforced to tum aover taperecor ding of journalists "'for gain or livelihood" will ity." the decision continued, Harris' an interview be had donefor the law be protectedagainst subpoenas seek mg privilegewas not absolute. schoolnewspaper. The associaledeaninterviewed hehad "was uncomfortable with the tape re­ c:otding bot r assured him that no one elsewould hear tape," the Harris said. 1<1 was convinced that r had to keep my word." Jeffrey Bhun, a former professor at the law school, sent Harris a subpoena seeking thetape in April. He believed therecor ding wouldsupport his allega­ tions thatthe school terminated him to fo rcethem toreveal sources or infor­ becausehe advocated controversial p0- mation they have gathered. sitions. Buton July 19. thecourtf OWldthat the Unfortunarclyfor Harris, the subpoena case was governed by federal common But since Blum had not "made all came during final exams. "It was a big law ratherth than e statestatute because reasonable attempts 10 obtain informa­ headache,"he said. Blwnwas claiming violation of his rights tion from non-press sources" - he had But with thelaw school's trial tech­ under the federal constitution, giving not questioned thelmOCiate dean undo' nique inS1IUCtors as counsel, Harris Harrisqualified a journalist' s privilege. oath - didHarris nothave to rum over sum- fo ught back. He spent partf o his .. [W]hethera person is a professional I.he.• tape Oracle Coppolino professionallegalistic language said, 'Ha! '" (C OIIJinuedfrom pagel}) page (COfIIUwnl/rom 32) A changeo f heartwas not enough, h.H damageJ andlegal fees - a declara­ said. He wants speec Coppolino theschool The Oracle received S2OO,OOO from tionfrom tbecourt that the four -month to mey were admit wrong. "I think: student fees last year to cover printing ban violated Coppolino 's First incredible day and it's that in this costs, a third of the newspaper'8 total Amendmentrights. age you need to go toOOUI1 lO have budget In his memo to Nguyen, John­ University spokesman Kenneth access 10 your civil rights. I worry son proposed that the student govern­ Burdasaid officials aIthe school can­ about the people who don't have ment continueto pay for printingand the notcomm enton a case in litigation. fJ.tS ( rate civil rights lawyers." Oracle in exchange agree to provide A hearingon a preliminaryinjunc­ With the access issuemoot now spacefor freeclassified and or­student tion was scheduled for Aug. 20, but that Coppolino isfree 10 roam the g�tion ads. But Nguyen said the 47 hoursbefore thecoon dale school SUNY Sussman campus, said he paperalready devotes a fullpage to free officials uncle" by faxing "said expects thecase for da.magesto go 10 announcements every day. Coppolinoa letteradrniUing him back trialin March. On Oct. 26. Johnson sent Nguyen onlO thecampus, he said. Meanwhile. Coppolino said the another memo.I< After consulta tion with Offered a negotiated settlement PCB cleanupstory "moving is along University officials,other experts in the where the university would dropthe just fine. Oncegot I back OIl campus, fieldof law,and close friends, I hereby if ban be and Sussman would aban­ it was much easier to talk to stu­ dropthe chargesagainst the Or acle," he don the lawsu.it, he "We added, in dents."• wrote..

34 SPlC Report WInter 1993-94 Absence of Malice

Legal protections can help newspapers beat libel lawsuits

hilea libelsuit canat strike thefllWlCes of 8 CLEVE.U.ND, page 36.) school oewspaper. court rulings prolCCting A police officerfiled !.he suit aafI.er newspaperedi toriJJ W opinion and criticism of public officials can accused him of brutality and discrimin.aLion. "'f'Ilc judge often provide the antidote to the lawsuit's venom. dismissedcase !he afterdeciding !beofficer was a pu!llic Victorieshave beenw oo recentlyi n several libel cases official. That·caseis undClappeal against college papers as judges recognize opinion and While manylibel suits are won or losl on thequesLion satire or find that police officer plainLiffs arc public of wbetbetperson the claiming injury isit public oJ1iriai. officials. public figure01 priv81.e lodi·vidual. coutts arc DOl always In September, a judge dismissed a case in California. coosisttot in imaking, thedel:mninatioo.

• NW1garay v. Cuesta College.after deciding thata safety A publicofficial is generallydefined as one who ha.". or officerwas a public appears to thepu b­ official. (See lic to have. a sub­ NUNGARAY. page stantiaJ rc.sponsi­ 36.) Courts have bility for or control held mal public of­ ovecthe conL! llt: [ of ficials and public government af­ figures must show ram. Court., have "acwal malice" (0 divided on we is­ make a succcssf u.I sue of whether p0- libel claim, mean­ lice officers are ing they must show pub lic officials, that the paper knew Kaufman said. the staJ.ement was Another protec­ falseor hadreckl ess tionthe courts ha.\'.; disregard for deter­ given journali�h mining its truth. deals with Ill.! dis­ The distinction tinction belween comes from a U.S. opinion and fBeL Supreme Courl ThatdisLinction [cd

case. New York Tunes Co . .... SulliWlll . It would "put too a judge to rule in November Ihat a leuer to the editor much of a chill" on expression. acconling (0 Libel De­ published by Indiana University of Pennsylvania'. stu­ fenseResource Center gcnentl counsel Hcnry Kaufman. dentpaper was notdefamatory becausecause it contained if "'you had to prove the ultimatc lrulh of what you only opinion based on facts theauthor had stated in the publlsh." lCllCr. (SeePENN. page 37).

Thejudge also decided in the case againstC uc:stathat The Supreme Court decision in Mi/kbvich v. UJrain the cartoon in question - which showed the officer JO/UTUl1 Co. determined that opinion based on a dc�crip­ ignoringa burningcar chaseto a cyclistricliog outside !.he tioo of libelous facts was no less libelous. But pure

bike lane- was clearlya caricature. .The U.S. Supreme opinion addressing maucrs of public concern "which Court has said sUtements which no reasonable pctSOI1 docs not contain a provably false fscrua! connOIat.ionro is would believe.to be staling actual facLS. such assatir e.. are still fullprot.ecLcd. Y

protected by the Constitution. WithMi.lit.o ... ich, Kaufman said, thecoun. moved away The differe� between a public official and a private fromthe idea thato pinion is alwaysa defc.n.sc. "Theywill

indi vidual alsointo came play in thecase against a sLUdenl not necessarily protect someth ngi becausey ou wrote. 'J n Ohio. newspaper al Clcvcland SLBte UniversilY in (Sec my opinion.. .' .... .

Winter \993-9.4 SPLC Report 35 Officer accused of racism Judge: Cartoon appeals dismissal of suit wasn't libelous CALIFORNIA - A libel case omo - A retired police offlCCt is Quarles attributed quotes calling ovez a comicstrip was dismissed in appealing the dismissal of his libel Waterson an "extremist" who makes September afterjudge the decided chargesagainst C1eveland StateUniver­ others "W1COI1lfortable" to anonymous 8 CuestaCollege safety officerwas sity, charges he filed after a campus sources within thepolice departmenL a public official andthe cartoon news magazinesaid he had reputationa In the ne�t issueof The Vi ndicaJor. was clearly8 caricature. for "excessiveuse off orce,brutality and Quarles wrote an explanation at OfflcezTom Nungsrayfiled the discrimination." Waterson's request and reprintedth e lawsuit in April 1992 asking for Officer Bill Waterson's case. which editorial with minor changes. "In no $50,000 damagesin afiec TN. Gov. revolvedaround aneditorial astudent in way was theedilDriaI to be takenas ifit a student govemmeotnewslener. publication for the black community were following an investigation by au­ printed a comic strip depicting calledThe Vindicator, was arguedat the thorities but as allegations from coo­ Nungaray as ignoring 8 burning end of August cerned employees within the depart­ car to chase down a cyclistriding The state's motion for dismissal of ment," shewrote. ou�ide thebike lane. Waurson \I. C/�elaNiStale Uniwrsity, Quarles was a graduate student who "It was 8 cartoon. It wasdone in No. 93-API-OOl348 (OhioCt App. 10th has leftschool the and notdid testify at (un ," said Gov adviser Karen DiSl. Sept 14. 1993) was granledafter the trial,said, Cola although school ad· Bergher. "I was very eoocemed thejudge detenninedthat Waterson was ministrators submitteddepositions. about whatthis was going to doas a public official and must prove acrual In the appeal, Kuebler argues that far as Cree speech. .. malice,according to AssistantAttorney Waterson was not a public figure and The suit charges thatcomic the General Catherine Cola. who defended "thestatements so were outrageous that strip caused Nungaray to suffer thepaper. no individual,whether engaging in rea� "loss ofrusreputation. shame, mor ­ "We gOt hammered,"admitted Chris­ sonable inquiryor otherwise,could pos­ tificationand hurtfeel ings,H injur­ topher Kuebler, Waterson 's attorney. sibly believe t.hal. theaccusations were ing himin hisocc upationbyaccus­ But a 41-page appeal was not long in true.". ing himof incompetence. coming. ''The inkof the de- In ungarayN v. CuestaCollege , cisionwas noteven dJ)' when el. aJ., No. CV71542(Cal. Saper. we ftled an appeal." CL SanLuis Obispo County , SepL The lawsuit, medwith the 24, 1993),the judge granted a mo­ Ohio Court of Claims in tion for summary judgment after March 1991, asks (or fm ding Nungaraythai: is a pablic $300,000 in compensatory offICial and "failed to come for­ damages. Because only a ward with anyevidence of actual state agency can be sued in malice let aloneclear and convinc­ the Court of Claims, claims ing evidence thereof." against TheVindicato r'sedi­ o Even assuming Nungaray was lOr, the adviser anda police o not a public official, the judge officer who allegedly pr0- added, "thea verage readerwould vided false information for easilyrecognize the subjectpubli­ theeditorial were dismissed. Cationas acaricature co in mic strip' The editorial, written by (orm." Vindicator editor Zina . "It wasa closecall, but I think:it Quarles, was headlined was8 goodone," said Cuesta attor­ "DoesBigotry wino verstu­ ney ClaytOn Hall. dent safety? " and alleged WilliamMcKenzie, Nungaray 's that, among other things, au.omey, saiddoubts he there will Waterson "held a gun to bean appealin thecase, but healso someone he assumed to be criticizedthe decision. gay and made him walk--::::;;L-.!;;:Drr��:;���IA�\.�'Si�1�-L��( 4'0 saysomeone who handsout across a fro7.en pond" and parking tickets is a public official "has been known to choke is really stretching it," he said.• e o st.:..._ude_n_LS_W1_Li_llh_.�y� p,-ass__u_t._"______.. ___ . ______�======:==� .36 SPlC Report Winter 1993-94 '·':)a· Libel suit against The Penn disIDissed

Letter to the editoraccusing professorof favoritismruled not defamatory

PENNSYL V ANlA - A IeUer pu� "students concerned with retaining the closedfacts - it didnot imply me exist­ lisbed by Indiana University of respectabilitycarun of in higbttedu­ e.oce of undisclosedjustifying 6K:ts the Pennsylvania's student paper cootaiood cation."butabo wrongly 1isIod names the author's opinion. only opinionand was notdefamstory. a of theuniversity �dent and the dean Thejudge also decided that the letter's statejudge decided in dismissing libel a of the school.graduate headline, the fact that the deanand suit Nov. 3. "It istrue thatletter the at issue ques­ president'sname were mislakenIy signed "We'd contende4all along that there tionsthe emical and professionalinteg­ to the Jettt.:ra and correctionnoting tha1 was no basis for thelawsuit. .. said The rity of Professor Sedwick." Judge Pl. mistBke could POi be del'amatory be­ Penn', lawyer, RobertDonham. 1'his Ruddock wrote inSedwick v. P�rrinI!. causetetter the was not iIetamatory. is asatisfying victory because we felt the , No. 515 C.D. 1992 (Ind. Cty. CP., AmyCasino, direaor' publj. ofSbJdent law was pretty clear and the court Nov. 3, 1993),'"however, it is important c:aticmatlhe mivmlty and an adviser 10 agreed. .. to notethat thewas letter published a in � POIIL, said she was exciced by the Professor Thomas Sedwick and his 'Lettersto the Editors'format 1'hi!for­ decisioo."It's been a longtwo yeanand son- a studentassignodto be bisfaaber's mat alerts readet'sthatthe letters pub­ we're happyturned things way;'" Out!hi! assistant -suedTkl onlyteaching Penn lished therein areopinions." she said. inApril after the paper published a � While being in a letterssection does BUlDunham warnedcase thatthe may to the editorthey thought nepo­alleged not automatic.ally mean the statements notbe over, since Sedwick! the may still tism. are not defamatory,die coon ruled tha1 appeal" Theletter was signed by nrudentifaed the wasIeU.er an opinion based on dis-

Newspaper sued Charges against student dropped, for personal ads

university seeking a settlement NEWYORK - Personalads accusi ng a student of being promiscuous and D..LINOIS- A formercollege year­ for students,"reponed Grissom's ar­ claiming she might have AIDS are the book writeris off the hook in a libel restand said herstorywasa hoaxthaI basis of a $300,000libel suitagainst the suit,but the university'sboard of gov­ "fell apart. .. State University of New York at ernors isstill struggling lO work out a A month after the yearbook came Brockportnewspaper. student deal in theseparate case against the out in April 1990, however, Grissom AdoraMasci filed suit OcL t3 against school. , was cleared of the charge and flieda theeditor of TheStylus, the university, a Chargesagainst Warblerstaffmem­ $15,000 suit against both Cruse and communkalionprof essorand herfooner herStephanie Cruse weredropped in theBoard of Governors. roo� whopl.aced theads. June, but Eastem illinois University's 101m David Reed, chairof thejour­ The threeran ads in theOcL 14, 1992, board of governors is hoping for a nalism department'aI Eastern Illinois editionoiTM S tylusandidentifled Masci settlement "Discussionsbetween the Univenity.said believes be the lawsuit by her fIrSt name. according to court aaaneysare taking place ... said Board againstthe Board of Governors '"'should documents. "All guys who are looting spolceswomanMichelle Brazell "otr be tossed out· Because thestudent for a show... Ask She'Adora. U mastur­ viously, Ihe issue is money." ediIorshave the f'mal say 00 what goes bate inof fran youfor only $30 what a Stephanie Cruse. one of the in the yearbook. he said, theuniver­ deal!"one ad read. Another said. .. AftJ::r yearbook's editors,had wri11enan ar­ sity is not responsible for damages. . 21 guys she probably has A- - -/" ticleswing that then-freshmanCorina Grissom and her lawyer "should Stylus editor Eric Cokerdeclined 10 Grissom lied to police when she re­ havesued the editoror the yearbook, .. comment on the case, as did Masci's portedthat a man had attacked herin Reedsaid, "and they didn't do that." au.omey. Edward Kiley. Ian Mackler, hercampus apartment At the timeof Thesuit, Gris.sbrn v. Cruse,charged the lawyerrepresenting The Stylus, did theslOry. Grissom had beenfonn ally that Grissom's "reputatioo and good notre.tum phonecaIls. charged with disorderlyconduct. name" were damaged by the story, The suit alleges that commwlic:aOOn The feature on campus security, and addedshe that haS"been caused professor titled "Fearing the Unknown: Fabri­ grievous mental suffering and Albert Skaggs told his class thatin sucha situationthey should prom­ cated thefLSassaultsancl prompts safety humiliation.... isea retraction butnever publiMt it.II

Winter I Q9�4 SPlC RepOrt37 The Student Press Law Center grate­ r fu Uyac1cnowledgesthe generous contri­ buuons of the following institutions and A .' individuals who make our work p0s­ sible. (Contributions fr om July 30 ewof the throughNov. 29, 1993.) book - SIUdent P --res. Benefactors ($500 or more) College Media Advisers BonaDillon (CA) vvorth Rorida Scholastic PressAssociation Freedom Forum Iowa High School Press Association reading. Winois College Press Association Kansas AssociatedC ollegiate Press Division, Law Association for Educa- Now includes tion inJournalism and MassCommu­ Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier nication supplement. Minnesota High School Press Associa- tion \ National Scholastic Press Association! , AssociatedCollegia� Press L.twor the Student �. .. four-yeor project o{the SWdent Pre&

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