In a classic case of prior restraint, police and school officials in a suburban Pittsburgh high school warned students against saying anything on or off campus about an investigation of three teachers variously charged with sexual assault and victim intimidation. In an assembly, the principal warned students “against tweets, posts, text, emails, conversations or any other communications about any of the investigations involving our school.” (Student Press Law Center, April 27, 2015, by Mariana Viera)
In a letter to the American Civil Liberties Union after a student protest and an ACLU challenge, the superintendent of the Plum Borough School District said that students had the right to speak about the investigations so long as they did not disturb classes or the orderly operation of the school. He said the district respected the students’ First Amendment rights. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 27, 2015, by Jonathan D. Silver)
At an assembly at Plum High School the police chief warned students that it would be considered a criminal act for any of them to comment on any victim or witness and that if they did, they would be held accountable. (WTAE Pittsburgh, April 24, 2015, by Marcie Cipriani)
– See more at: https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2015/04/pennsylvania-high-school-students-resist-prior-restraint/#sthash.YZqHbi0T.dpuf