Hazelwood+v.+Kuhlmeier+(1988)

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier The Facts of the Case In a Missouri High School, a student paper was the cause of a very major court case. The student paper was called "The Spectrum" and the last edition of the school year (1982-1983) was to be denied publication unless the last two pages were taken out. The principal decided that the last two pages contained material not appropriate for school. One article discussed students and their experiences with teen pregnancy. Another article talked about the impact of divorce on some students in the school. When the principal decided that the last two pages would not be ran, some students were extremely upset and angry. They felt that their First Amendment rights were being violated. They took their case to the District Courts who ruled in favor of the school. The students appealed and the case went to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals found in favor of the students. Since there was a split decision between the two courts, the case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The Court ruled in favor of Hazelwood High School with a 5 to 3 with 1 undecided vote. The Supreme court felt that the First Amedment rights of the students had not been violated, because the First Amendment protection that was described in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) does not force a school to sponsor speech that conflicts with its "legitimate pedagogical goals."

Connection to Malden People may not think so but this case had an impact on the entire United States, including Malden, Massachusetts. The First Amendment rights were clearly outlined. School newspapers know their place. They know that they can't post whatever they want, because the principal has the authority to take out what s/he may not deem fit for school. Malden High School's newspaper, "The Blue and Gold," has been running for over 90 years and is the country's second oldest public high school newspaper. "The Blue and Gold" is important to a lot of students and is a major tradition at Malden High. The kids who run the paper now that they can't put whatever they want in their paper.