Mahanoy School District v. B.L. decision bolsters democracy’s roots, future

While words shared in anger in off-campus speech by an unhappy student might not seem to have lasting democratic value, they do. Expressing them and other views provides foundation for our marketplace of ideas, and reaffirms protection for unpopular and unpleasant ideas. In Mahanoy School District v. B.L., The U. S. Supreme Court decided 8-1…

B.L. v. Mahanoy: A New Case in Scholastic Journalism Law

WATCH ORAL ARGUMENTS OF THIS CASE ON C-SPAN APRIL 28, 2021. In what may be the most pivotal case regarding student free expression in more than a decade, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided in B.L. v. Mahanoy Area School District that administrators may not regulate off-campus speech by students if it does not cause disruption of…

Part 3: Students in the forefront during #Tinkerversary

When anyone tells Mary Beth Tinker that students are the future, she firmly but politely corrects them: “No, they’re the present.” If the students participating in the #Tinkerversary events this week are typical – and it would seem they are –, the present is in good hands. These included: Marjory Stoneman Douglas students from Parkland, Florida,…

Part 2: Now things are different in Des Moines

Des Moines schools, how you have changed since early winter 1965. That’s when a high school principal got wind of a pending Vietnam War protest – reportedly when his school’s newspaper adviser showed him a story about it for the next issue. He and his fellow principals decided suspensions would be the punishment for anyone…

Part 1: Let’s celebrate a #tinkerversary

“I had no idea our small action would lead to something so consequential,” Mary Beth Tinker told Smithsonian.com recently. Now, 50 years after the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines students and teachers don’t “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” it’s clear Mary Beth, her brother…

Bringing light to relevant issues, past and present, defines journalistic leadership

“I’d rather be a hammer than a nail” “Blowing in the Wind“ “Find the Cost of Freedom” “Ohio” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” How do these lyrics and titles relate to scholastic journalism? They all came at a time when people questioned the media, its role and its leadership. They all came at a…