Lizzy Hermosilla ’23

The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom to petition the government, and freedom of press. A cornerstone of American democracy is the free press that informs the public as well as acts as a watchdog for the public to hold the government accountable. High school newspaper publications are in theory given the same protections as a free press; however, as an organization supported and funded by their school and district, school newspapers are not wholly independent. To ensure that a high school newspaper will not be unfairly censored by its school administration or district officials, Maryland is one of ten states that have passed legislation protecting student-journalists’ rights.

Freedom of press for school newspapers was significantly hindered by the Supreme Court case Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) that ruled school newspapers are not “public forums” and therefore not covered in the previous Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) decision that stated high school students have many freedom of speech protections. Over the next thirty years after Hazelwood, there have been a number of publicized incidents in which school administrations censored articles or even stopped the distribution of a newspaper issue. This led to the New Voices campaign which advocates for free press among student-led papers.

Governor Larry Hogan signed Maryland’s New Voices Bill into law on April 26, 2016 and took effect on October 1, 2016. Under New Voices students may exercise freedom of speech and press granted under the First Amendment. Students are also granted the responsibility to determine the news, opinions, feature, and advertising content of school-sponsored and student-led newspapers without fear of repercussion or influence from advisors, administrators, or the school board. Along with protecting students, New Voices protects newspaper advisors from repercussions like dismissal, suspension, or reassignment as a direct consequence of protecting students’ right to establish newsworthiness and exercise their freedom of speech.

Under the law, school newspapers still must follow many of the same guidelines that national media outlets follow, which include speech that is not protected by the First Amendment like libelous content, content which invades the privacy of another, content that violates federal or state laws, as well content that incites “clear and present danger” or disrupts the orderly conduct of society [public schools]. School boards across Maryland are required to adopt the policy outlined in New Voices, but maintain discretion to attach clauses that will allow the censorship of “language that may be defined as profane, vulgar, lewd, or obscene, or language that has intent to harass, threaten, or intimidate.”