Censdorship of Student Internet Speech: The Effect of Dimishing Student Rights, Fear of the Internet and Columbine
![handle is hein.journals/mslr2000 and id is 209 raw text is: CENSORSHIP OF STUDENT INTERNET SPEECH:
THE EFFECT OF DIMINISHING STUDENT RIGHTS,
FEAR OF THE INTERNET AND COLUMBINE
David L. Hudson, Jr.*
2000 L. REV. M.S.U.-D.C.L. 199
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................................ 200
I. THE DECLINE OF STUDENT RIGHTS ........................ 201
A. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community
School D istrict .................................... 201
B. Chipping Away at Tinker ............................ 203
C. Off-Campus Student Conduct ........................ 205
II. FEAR OF THE INTERNET AND EFFECTS OF COLUMBINE ........ 206
A. Cyberphobia and Censorship ......................... 206
B. Responses to Columbine ............................ 207
Ill. OFF-CAMPUS INTERNET SPEECH CASES .................... 210
A. O'Brien v. Westlake City Schools Board of Education ...... 211
B. Beussink v. Woodland R-IV School District .............. 212
C. Emmett v. Kent School District No. 415 ................. 213
D. Beidler v. North Thurston School District No. 3 .......... 214
E. JS. v. Bethlehem Area School District .................. 216
IV. FACTORS SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SHOULD CONSIDER IN
REGULATING STUDENT INTERNET SPEECH .................. 219
CONCLUSION ............................................. 221
INTRODUCTION
Schools can and will adjust to the new challenges created by such students and the
internet, but not at the expense of the First Amendment.'
More than thirty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that [i]t can
hardly be argued that... students ... shed their ... rights to freedom of...
* J.D. Vanderbilt 1994; staff attorney with the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt
University. The author would like to thank the attorneys who discussed their cases with him
for sharing their time and expertise, particularly Kenneth Myers and Aaron Caplan. In addition,
thanks are extended to Ken Paulson, Executive Director of the First Amendment Center, and
John Seigenthaler, the Center's founder, for their support.
I. Beidler v. North Thurston Sch. Dist. No. 99-2-00236-6 (Wash. Super. Ct.) (July 18,
2000) (McPhee, J.), available at <http://www.aclu-wa.org/legaVBeidler-Court's0opinion. html>.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/mslr2000&div=23&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Censdorship of Student Internet Speech: The Effect of Dimishing Student Rights, Fear of the Internet and Columbine
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