Up the Right Grove

By Shawn Healy

Representative Dave Upthegrove, a Washington state legislator, has sponsored legislation enhancing student's First Amendment rights in public schools. The bill received its first hearing today, and First Amendment activists everywhere are keeping their eyes in the proverbial ball. The Supreme Court's Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) decision was seen as a major setback for students' expressive rights, and six states acted in the aftermath to essentially overturn this standard and revert back to the Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) "material and substanial disruption" limitation on student speech. If this bill succeeds, Washington would be the seventh state in what will hopefully become part of a pendulum shift back to students.

The bill allows administrative scrutiny over student publications for content that is obscene, defamatory, or disruptive, but places all liability on the students themselves. Educators must play a prominent role in teaching students journalistic responsibility and ethics, but at the same time prepare them for the realities of the real world. This bill reflects these two values.

I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with Rep. Upthegrove earlier this month while attending a conference sponsored by J-Ideas in Tampa at the Poynter Institute. His passion for the legislation is admirable, and his efforts were spurred over a cup of coffee he shared with his constituent Brian Schraum, a journalism student at Washington State University. Brian was also in Tampa and spoke eloquently about the need for such legislation based on his experiences as a student journalist at both the high school and college level.

For more information on these developments in Washington State check out the J-Ideas web site. I will keep you posted on the bill's fate, and encourage you to visit the Freedom Museum from February 3rd through March 25th as we debut a special exhibit in the same spirit titled "Speech at the Schoolhouse Gate: Students' Use of First Amendment Freedoms." For those of you who live outside the Chicagoland area, portions of the exhibit will be featured on the Freedom Museum web site.