Administrators at the Orange County High School of the Arts censored the school newspaper for reporting that the cafeteria service provider was a Christian company, but legal experts say under state law that would not be sufficient reason for suspending publication. -DB
September 11, 2009
By Scott Martindale
SANTA ANA – Two leading authorities on the First Amendment rights of student journalists say that administrators at the Orange County High School of the Arts crossed a legal line when they halted publication of the school’s newspaper this week.
Attorney Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Arlington, Va.-based Student Press Law Center advocacy group, and Rick Pullen, dean of Cal State Fullerton’s communications school, told the Register that Principal Sue Vaughn appeared to have no legally justifiable reason to stop the newspaper’s publication and should be ordered to receive training in First Amendment law.
“The principal needs a civics lesson and should be more aware of what (California) Education Code provides,” Pullen said. “California is one of the few states that still provide high school journalists the freedom to express themselves without restraint.”
Vaughn defended her decision to temporarily halt the printing of 1,500 copies of the student-run “Evolution” newspaper Wednesday, saying she wanted to discuss her concerns with the students prior to publication. In an interview Thursday, she said she never intended to censor the students or permanently stop the paper from being published.
But legal experts say the students’ First Amendment rights were violated at the moment administrators ordered the paper to stop printing.
“Under state and federal law, their rights were violated when they wanted to distribute the paper and were stopped from doing so,” LoMonte said. “This is one of the more flagrant violations we’ve seen.”
PRIOR RESTRAINT ATTEMPTED
The paper’s editor, senior Taylor Erickson, 17, said Vaughn and Assistant Principal Michael Ciecek had primarily objected to an article reporting that the school’s new cafeteria services provider, Long Beach-based Alegre Foods, is a Christian company that makes it a mission to “serve God,” according to the company’s Web site.
Vaughn confirmed Thursday that Alegre’s religious affiliation was one of the factors that led her to authorize the printing delay, noting she believed the information was irrelevant and should not have been included in the article.
But Vaughn also said a school official had been misquoted in that article and that she was concerned about the accuracy of a second article characterizing the faculty as having “an attitude filled with boldness and spiciness.” Vaughn, however, said she hadn’t requested any changes to the second article.
“This administrator’s conduct is a textbook illustration of why prior review shouldn’t be allowed,” LoMonte said. “Administrators will always claim that they are just looking for libelous or destructive content, but they can never keep themselves from trying to get rid of embarrassing or negative information.”
California Education Code Section 48907 states that student have full rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press unless the material is “obscene, libelous or slanderous” or incites students to “create a clear and present danger” on the campus or “substantial disruption” to school operations.
None of these exceptions applied when school administrators postponed publication and asked for changes to content, LoMonte and Pullen said.
“They’re not teaching the students a good lesson about what free expression and free press means in America, in addition to not teaching students the free-speech rights of all Americans,” said Pullen, who serves on the California First Amendment Coalition’s board of directors.
PUBLIC OPINION MIXED
While LoMonte and Pullen emphasized the law was clearly on the students’ side, they said public opinion was often not.
Many adults don’t believe students should have constitutionally protected First Amendment rights on campus, LoMonte and Pullen said, or feel that students should defer to the judgment of school administrators who are tasked with ensuring the students’ safety and well-being.
“I’m always alarmed when I find people supporting restraint or censorship of the media, even if they don’t support what they’re reading,” Pullen said. “There’s a reason we have a First Amendment.”
Indeed, an unscientific Web poll today of more than 700 Register readers shows that opinion is mixed, with only about one-third of respondents saying prior restraint of student publications should never be allowed. The other two-thirds of respondents said prior restraint was appropriate in at least some circumstances.
LoMonte and Pullen said that moving forward, the O.C. High School of the Arts student journalists should continue to hold their ground and not allow administrators to see or discuss their articles prior to publication. They added that litigation is not necessary.
In a written statement to the Register on Friday, journalism professor Susan Paterno, the parent of the student who wrote about the cafeteria services vendor, said she expected to reach an amicable resolution with the principal.
“Ms. Vaughn is a fair-minded principal,” said Paterno, director of Chapman University’s journalism program, “and though the delay in publishing the story is unfortunate, I expect it will be published promptly, and good journalism will prevail. The journalism program at OCHSA is worthwhile and important, and I feel confident Ms. Vaughn supports it.”
“Evolution,” a six-page paper and the first issue of the school year, is scheduled to be printed next week. Erickson, the student editor, said she’s scheduled to meet with the principal on Tuesday.
“What the students (at the O.C. High School of the Arts) have accomplished illustrates why journalism is important – letting the public know something they would otherwise not have known,” LoMonte said.
“If you let the government decide how and why the government is criticized, you get Soviet Russia.”
Copyright © 2009 Orange County Register Communications