School Paper's Editors Sue re Prepublication Review

School Paper's Editors Sue School District Over Prepublication Review
By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Published: December 15, 2005 10:10 AM ET
SEATTLE (AP)

The co-editors of a high school newspaper are suing their school district, claiming their free-speech rights are being violated by officials demanding to review editions of the paper before distribution.

Sara Michelle Eccleston, 17, and Claire Marie Lueneburg, 18, argue that the Kodak has long served as a public forum for students at Everett High School with no content oversight by school administrators. They have refused to submit to prior review.

But district spokeswoman Gay Campbell said that the district has an explicit policy allowing prepublication review.

"We've complied with the law in every way," she said. "We're sorry the students have decided to take this course of action."

The root of the controversy is that the Kodak reported on the hiring of the high school's new principal, Catherine Matthews, who took over this fall, said Mitch Cogdill, the students' lawyer. Matthews was the third choice of the students on the hiring committee, and the Kodak ran articles suggesting their voice was ignored.

In October, Matthews told the Kodak staff that the paper couldn't be published unless she approved it in advance. She also objected to the masthead, which says the Kodak is a "student forum," the lawsuit said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that school districts have very limited authority to exercise censorship in public forums. But school newspapers put together in a class, overseen by a faculty adviser and published using school resources are not considered a "public forum" unless the school district has set them up as one.