Law and Ethics

- Speech
- press
- religion
- assembly
- petitioning

"congress shall make no law..."

The Tinker Standard
Tinker vs. Desmoins School District 1969
Black armbands in 1965
Student speech cannot be censored as long as it does not "materially disrupt class work or involve substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others"

The Fraser Standard
Bethel School District vs. Fraser
Inappropriate speech for class president
Because school officials have an "interest in teaching students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior, "they can censor student speech that is vulgar or indecent, even if it does not cause a 'material or substantial disruption'"

The Hazelwood Standard
Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier (1988)
Censor stories in student newspaper about teen pregnancy and divorce
Censorship of school-sponsored student expression is permissible when school officials can show that it is "reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns"

Elements of Libel:
1. Defames someone's character/ruins reputation
2. Has to be published (spoken is slander)
3. False statement