First Amendment:Students’ Free Speech Rights

Teacher In-Service

May 6th, 2009Presented by Mr. Dooley

First Amendment Review

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States declares that:

"Congress shall make no law…

abridging the freedom of speech.”

What exactly does this mean?

Question

Can school administrators censor students when it comes to their First Amendment right of free speech?

Before answering this question, we should discuss whether or not we have made bad decisions regarding student speech in the past.

The Landmark Case

Tinker v. Des Moines School District

• Facts of the Case

• Question

• Conclusion

Supporting Case #1

Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser

• Facts of the Case

• Question

• Conclusion

Supporting Case #2

Morse v. Frederick

• Facts of the Case

• Question

• Conclusion

Supporting Case #3

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier

• Facts of the Case

• Question

• Conclusion

Supporting Case #4

Board Of Education v. Pico

• Facts of the Case

• Question

• Conclusion

Conclusions from Cases

• Tinker– school administrators cannot censor students’

political speech even if it is symbolic in nature.• Bethel

– the school could prohibit such offensive or coarse language, as it is not aligned with the "fundamental values of public school education."

• Frederick– Justices held that Frederick’s message was

promoting the use of marijuana and that student speech rights in a public school setting are not equal to those normally afforded to adults.

• Kuhlmeier– school ultimately has the right to refuse to

publish speech that is askew from “the shared values of a civilized social order.”

Conclusions from Cases

Applied to our Mission

A school can only repress or discipline student speech if it "materially disrupts class work or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others."

A school district must prove that the discipline would prevent the speech interfering with schoolwork.

Additional Resources

• Please use the school wiki at:www.pbwiki.net/faith/free_speech

• Post questions, ideas, and comments• This presentation, along with additional

resources, will be posted there.

• Questions?