SCOTUS Comparison Practice FRQ

Students at Hazelwood East High School in Missouri published a newspaper called the Spectrum. The Spectrum was written and edited by the Journalism II class and was published approximately every three weeks during the 1982–83 school year. More than 4,500 copies of the newspaper were distributed during that school year to students, school personnel, and members of the community. The board of education of the Hazelwood School District allocated funds from its annual budget for the printing of the Spectrum. Students who were members of the Journalism II class and the Spectrum’s staff wrote articles concerning student experiences with pregnancy and the impact of divorce on students at the school. The principal of Hazelwood East directed the teacher advisor of the Spectrum not to publish the articles on pregnancy and divorce. The students, whose articles were censored, claimed that this was a violation of their constitutional rights.

In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988), the Supreme Court of the United States in a 5–3 decision determined that school administrators could censor the publication of school-sponsored expression, such as curriculum-based student newspapers and assembly speeches, if the censorship is “reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical (educational) concerns.” The majority decision reasoned that school-sponsored student newspapers were not presumed to be operating as public forums for student expression unless there is evidence indicating otherwise. The Supreme Court ruled that the school’s censorship of the articles was not a violation of the students’ constitutional rights.

Identify the constitutional clause that is common to both Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) and Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969).

Based on the clause identified in part A, explain why the facts in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) and the facts in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) led to different rulings.

Describe an action that public school students who disagree with the holding in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier could take to limit its impact.