Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
Prezi by: Sarah Pierce
Works Cited
"Supreme Court Case Studies." Glencoe. Web. 20 September 2012.
"Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier." Wikipedia. September 13, 2012. Web. 20 September 2012.
"Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier." The Oyez Project. September 18, 2012. Web. 20 September 2012.
"Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier." Legal Information Institute. Web. 22 September 2012.
"Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier." Street Law, Inc. Web. 22 September 2012.
People are still working today to give youth a larger voice in society and help them be heard.
Teens must be viewed as people too. We are the next generation; we must be heard.
This case was very important to the school system. It is important for students to know that their opinions matter.
Knowing that someone is listening gives teens the confidence and maturity they need in order to become better thinkers.
The Supreme Court ruled 5:3 against the students.
The Supreme Court only had 8 justices at that time.
Many school officials also agreed with the Court's decision.
They believed it would give them more authority over what went on in their schools, as well as what was published in the newspaper.
The Court considered a similar case, Tinker v. Des Moines, while reasoning over this case. However, the Tinker case dealt with students' individual rights of personal expression.
The Court decided that the Hazelwood case was different, since the newspaper publicly reflected the opinion of the school and was school-sponsored.
Citizens across the nation also disagreed with the Court's decision.
Many people believed the decision unnecessarily diminished the rights of students.
Justice Byron R. White explained the majority opinion. They decided that schools had a responsibility to maintain authority over school-sponsored curriculum.
Justice William H. Brennan, along with Justices Marshall and Blackmun, disagreed with the Court's decision.
This case deals with the First Amendment of the Constitution. The First Amendment gives the citizens of the United States freedom of speech, among other things.
The students at Hazelwood High School believed the refusal to publish the articles in the newspaper was a violation of their right to freedom of speech.
Brennan argued that the decision discouraged youth from having their own opinion, and didn't allow students "to respect the diversity of ideas."
The majority reasoned that the ruling did not violate the First Amendment since the newspaper was published through the school and not a public forum. Since the Spectrum was part of a journalism class at the school and therefore used as a learning tool, the school could choose what was published.
In May of 1983, students at Hazelwood East High School wrote two articles for their school newspaper, the "Spectrum". The principal of the school refused to allow the articles to be published, because he believed that their content was not appropriate for the younger students.
Cathy Kuhlmeier and two of her former students who had worked on the articles brought the principal's decision to court. A federal district judge ruled against the students, but a federal appeals court overturned the ruling. Consequently, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.