Legal Clips, [September 2007]Washington’s Everett School District has reached an out-of-court settlement with student-newspaper editors last week, days before a First Amendment case was scheduled for trial in federal court. Both sides are claiming victory. The former student editors of the Everett High School Kodak, Claire Lueneburg and Sara Eccleston, conceded that school administrators have a right to review the school newspaper prior to publication, but they say the settlement ensures that the district can't censor articles unless they contain libel or otherwise violate district policy. The students originally had argued that the school principal could not review the newspaper because it was a public forum, which enjoys broad free-speech rights under the federal and state constitutions. A federal district court judge ruled against them in July, holding that the school district's policy that allows prior review is constitutional. But the judge said other issues, including whether Everett High Principal Catherine Matthews retaliated against the students for asserting their free-speech rights, would have to be settled at trial. The students say the settlement affirms that student editors, not administrators, control the content of the newspaper. But the attorney for the Everett School District says the settlement agreement reaffirms the district policy over which the students brought suit. The lawsuit received national attention and prompted student editors at the district's other high schools to publish off-campus to avoid administrative review.
Seattle Times By Lynn Thompson
[Editor’s Note: Oregon recently enacted legislation on student press freedom. See below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Oregon law