Court decision may limit the freedom of the student press

The decision by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals -- which represents Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee -- upholds an earlier lower court ruling which held that KSU was within its rights to confiscate 2,000 copies of the yearbook for "failing to accomplish its intended purpose" and its "undisputed poor quality." The ruling is the first against student publications at the university level and its implications are a major step back for student journalists. "[Previous to the ruling] editors of the student publications were in charge of its content," said Mike Hiestland, staff attorney at the Student Press Law Center. "Period." The students at KSU plan to appeal to the entire 15-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit, and then will consider going to the U.S. Supreme Court. But doing that risks making the decision law across the country. The ruling only affects student publications inside the Sixth Circuit's jurisdiction, but First Amendment advocates say they are worried that the ruling could set a precedent for other courts to follow. Publications like The Daily Pennsylvanian, one of about 15 student newspapers nationally that are completely independent of their school, are unaffected by the ruling. The case began in 1994 when KSU Vice President for Student Affairs Betty Gibson confiscated 2,000 copies of the yearbook --Efor which students pay a mandatory yearly fee -- because the purple cover did not match the school's official colors. Gibson also did not approve of the book's theme or photograph selection. At the time, the faculty advisor to the student newspaper was also transferred to a secretarial position after refusing to censor material from the paper criticizing KSU's decision. Before the Kincaid v. Gibson ruling, college publications were generally considered to have all the same First Amendment rights as the professional press, according to Hiestland. But now, "no longer will we be able to tell [students] the case law is on your side," Hiestland said. The three-judge panel based its decision on the 1988 Supreme Court ruling in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, which held that censorship of high school publications is constitutional under certain circumstances since high school publications serve essentially as a learning tool. That case gave high school administrators the right to censor anything they find to be "ungrammatical," "poorly written," "inappropriate" or "inconsistent with the shared values of a civilized social order." But last week's decision marked the first time that ruling was extended to the college press. One factor in the court's decision was the question of whether or not KSU's yearbook was considered a public forum or a private university publication. The judges found the publication not to be public forum, marking a split from traditional thought. Previously, any student publications at state institutions were considered a public forum, freeing them from forms of censorship. But with this ruling, Hiestland said, the editorial freedom of publications in the Sixth Circuit's jurisdiction may now be abridged by school administrations. Hiestland said that the best thing for publications to do now to protect themselves against censorship is to have a clear written policy with the school stating that the students have complete control over content. However, Hiestland added, this agreement works only if the schools agree to it in the first place. In addition, they have the ability to change their mind. "You can't revoke the First Amendment, but you can revoke the policy statement," he said.