Hazelwood+v.+Kuhlmeier

Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier is a Supreme Court case agruing whether school newspapers should be granted protection under the First Amendment.

A Supreme Court decision stating that school newspapers were to be allowed less first amendment freedom.

The majority's opinion set a precedent that school-sponsored activities, including student newspapers and drama productions, are not normally protected by the First Amendment.

Associate Justice William J Brennan Jr. "The young men and women of Hazelwood East expected a civics lesson, but not the one the Court teaches them today...Such unthinking contempt for individual rights is intolerable from any state official. It is particularly insidious from (a school principal) to whom the public entrusts the task of inculcating in its youth an appreciation for the cherished democratic liberties that our constitution guarantees."

Associate Justice Byron White "A school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission, even though the government could not censor similar speech outside the school. ... (Judicial action to protect students' rights is justified) only when the decision to censor a school-sponsored publication, theatrical production or other vehicle of student expression has no valid educational purpose."