1st Amendment Rights Freedom of Expression

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1st Amendment RightsFreedom of Expression

• Presented by
• Elena Kirkendall and Lana Racine
• Legal/Ethical-2004

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Student Responsibilities

• To respect the rights of other individuals and to
  express disagreement in a manner which does not
  infringe upon the rights of others
• To act in a manner which preserves the dignity of
  patriotic observances
• To respect the religious beliefs of others
• To plan for, seek approval of, and conduct
  activities which are consistent with the
  educational objectives of the school

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Privacy and Property Rights

• To maintain privacy of personal possessions,
  unless appropriate school personnel have
  reasonable cause to believe a student possesses
  any object or material which is prohibited by law
  or School Board policy
• To attend school in an educational environment in
  which personal property, including electronic
  property, is respected.

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Privacy and Property Responsibilities

• To attend school and other School Board
  activities without bringing materials or objects
  prohibited by law or School Board policy, or
  other items that will detract from the
  educational process
• To respect the property rights of the
  public-at-large, as well as those of individuals,
  and to refrain from destruction or modification
  of, or damage to, such property

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Publications. Student Rights

• To participate in the development and
  distribution of publications as part of the
  educational process

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Student Responsibilities

• To refrain from publishing libelous and obscene
  materials, or materials inconsistent with the
  schools basic educational goals
• To seek full information on the topics about
  which they write
• To observe normally accepted rules for
  responsible journalism under guidance of the
  family advisor

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Code of Appearance

• Shoes without closed heels or back straps shall
  not be worn.
• Halter-tops, tank tops, backless tops, top with
  thin or no strap, or top that show midriff or
  expose the body are prohibited.
• See-through or mesh garments shall not be worn
  without appropriate undergarments.
• Form-fitting or overly tight clothing shall not
  be worn without appropriate outer garments.

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• Properly hemming outer garments such as shorts,
  divided skirts, and dresses may be worn, provided
  they are not disruptive or distractive.
• Clothing and accessories shall not be worn if
  they display profanity, violence, lewd, or
  obscene messages, sexually suggestive phrases, or
  advertisements, phrase or symbols of alcohol,
  tobacco, drugs, or other symbols phrases or
  advertisements that would be offensive to common
  property or decency.
• Head coverings, including, but not limited to,
  caps, hats, bandannas, hair curlers, and/or
  sunglasses, shall not be worn on school property,
  unless required by a physician or authorized by
  school personnel.
• The waistband of shorts, slacks, skirts, and
  similar garments shall not be worn below the
  hips. Underwear, midriff and back may be exposed.
  

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Disciplinary Actions

• 1st Offense- Phone call to the parents and
  parents will be sent a copy of the General Code
  of Appearance along with a letter about the code.
  
• 2nd Offense- Principal/designee assigned
  in-school suspension/detention and phone call to
  parents
• 3rd Offense- Parent/child dress code contract
  will be written.
• 4th Offense- Dress code contract violations may
  be defined as a class 2.23 offense and may
  warrant disciplinary action as outlined under
  Class II offenses.

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Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
After a school principal removed two pages
containing articles, among others, on teenage
pregnancy and the impact of divorce on students
from a newspaper produced as part of a high
school journalism class, the student staff filed
suit claiming violation of their First Amendment
rights. The principal defended his action on the
grounds that he was protecting the privacy of the
pregnant students described, protecting younger
students from inappropriate references to sexual
activity and birth control, and protecting the
school from a potential libel action. The Supreme
Court held that the principal acted reasonably
and did not violate the students' First Amendment
rights. A school need not tolerate student
speech, the Court declared, "that is inconsistent
with its 'basic educational mission,' even though
the government could not censor similar speech
outside the school." In addition, the Court found
the newspaper was part of the regular journalism
curriculum and subject to extensive control by a
faculty member.
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The Supreme Court held that the principal acted
reasonably and did not violate the students'
First Amendment rights. A school need not
tolerate student speech, the Court declared,
"that is inconsistent with its 'basic educational
mission,' even though the government could not
censor similar speech outside the school." In
addition, the Court found the newspaper was part
of the regular journalism curriculum and subject
to extensive control by a faculty member. The
school, thus, did not create a public forum for
the expression of ideas, but instead maintained
the newspaper "as supervised learning experience
for journalism students." The Court concluded
that "educators do not offend the First Amendment
by exercising editorial control over the style
and content of student speech in school-sponsored
expressive activities so long as their actions
are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical
concerns." The Court strongly suggested that
supervised student activities that "may fairly be
characterized as part of the school curriculum,"
including school-sponsored publications and
theatrical productions, were subject to the
authority of educators. The Court cautioned,
however, that this authority does not justify an
educator's attempt "to silence a student's
personal expression that happens to occur on the
school premises.
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Can students wear swastikas or other inflammatory
signs on their clothing?

• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School
  District (1969)
• Bivens v. Albuquerque Public Schools (1995)
• Castorina v. Madison County School Board( 2000)
• Boroff v. Van Wert City Board of Education (2000)
• Phillips v. Anderson County School District Five
  (1997)

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Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School
District

• The strongest argument made during the trial, on
  behalf of Tinker, was that the armbands caused no
  (substantial disruption or material interference)
  with the learning environment of others. (Fear)
  or (Apprehension) are not sufficient reasons for
  schools to be able to infringe on students
  rights to free speech. In addition, another
  important issue in the Tinker case was the
  (inconsistency) in which restrictions were
  applied to students. In other words, the black
  armbands were (prohibited) while other symbols,
  such as pins, were not.

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Bivens v. Albuquerque Public Schools

• The school in this case adopted their dress code
  in response to (gang activity). One reason Bivens
  gave for wearing the pants was (culture), but
  since his fellow students did not understand his
  message, the courts decided to (dismiss the
  case). Therefore, not all conduct, including
  ones style of clothing, can be labeled
  (protected speech).

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Castorina v. Madison County School Board

• After the students were suspended for wearing
  T-shirts with the confederate flag on them, they
  argued in court that first, the school had
  allowed other students to wear T-shirts with
  (symbols). Second, they argued that they did not
  cause a (disruption) in school and third, their
  speech could in no way be considered
  (school-sponsored). The court ordered the case be
  heard because if the school is to put a ban on
  racially divisive symbols, it has to apply the
  ban consistently).

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Boroff v. Van Wert City Board of Education

• Boroff claimed that the school violated his
  (First Amendment Rights) by not allowing him to
  wear Marilyn Manson T-shirts. The shirt primarily
  in question was said to go against the schools
  educational mission in two ways 1) (mocked the
  religious values of others) and 2) offended
  others).

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Phillips v. Anderson County School District

• School officials should not read this decision as
  a license to ban the wearing or display of
  symbolic clothing or jewelry by students simply
  because officials do not like the message
  conveyed by the symbol or because the symbol is
  controversial. The decision should be based on
  (caused disruption). Also, beware of situations
  where a symbol, even though it might cause
  disruption, should not be banned. If students
  harassed for wearing a symbol (such as the Star
  of David), then proper response would be to
  discipline the harassing students, not the
  student who wears the pendant. Finally, as the
  Supreme Court stressed in Tinker, school
  officials can regulate or ban expressive conduct
  by students only if their forecast of disruption
  rests on (substantive facts), not on mere
  speculative fear of disruption.

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Key Factors

• Substantial disruption or material interference
• Consistency
• Gang activity
• Protected speech
• Mocked the religious values of others
• Offended others

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• The First Amendment provides some, but not
  complete, protection for students in a school
  setting. The Supreme Court in Tinker stated that
  students do not abandon their right to expression
  at the schoolhouse gates, but that prohibition of
  expressive conduct is justifiable if the conduct
  would materially and substantially interfere with
  the requirements of appropriate discipline in the
  operation of the school.

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Suggestions for Dress Codes

• Consult your school districts dress code.
• Policy should focus child and school safety
  concerns.
• Consider including justifications in school dress
  code policy, such as decreasing criminal activity
  (gang wear), classroom discipline, peer pressure,
  etc.
• Allow some variety and flexibility in the dress
  code policy.
• Be able to justify the action by demonstrating
  the link between certain kind of disruptive
  behavior
• Provide students with notice of the dress code
  policy
• Strive to maintain empirical evidence, such as
  reduction in criminal activity and discipline
  reports, in order to establish the effectiveness
  of the dress code policy.
• Update school dress code on a consistent basis.

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References

• Student Dress Codes Constitutional Requirements
  and Policy Suggestions
• www.modrall.com
• Freedom of expression in schools and minors 1st
  Amendment Rights
• www.aclj.org/issues/sturght.asp
• American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland
• www.aclu-md.org
• The American School Board Journal August 1998
  School Law
• www.asbj.com/199808/0898schoollaw.html