Posted on 09/13/2007 1:15:15 PM PDT by republicpictures
Former Novato High School student journalist Andrew Smith won a conclusive victory for freedom of inquiry in the educational arena today when the California Supreme Court declined to review a court ruling against censorship of “politically incorrect” opinions that Smith penned in a school newspaper. The High Court left intact a landmark May, 2007, lower court ruling that said the Novato Unified School District broke state law when it condemned an article, opposing illegal immigration, that Smith wrote in his student newspaper. The lower court held that California law “mandates that a school may not prohibit student speech simply because it presents controversial ideas and opponents of the speech are likely to cause disruption.”
“By allowing Andrew Smith’s victory to stand, the state Supreme Court has delivered a powerful blow against ‘politically correct’ censorship in California public schools,” said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney, Paul J. Beard II, who represents Andrew. “There is no question now that thought codes cannot be imposed on student journalists in this state.”
In 2001, while he was a high school senior, Smith submitted a commentary piece criticizing illegal immigration to the school paper. Prospective citizens should “have to comply with a few very reasonable requirements,” he wrote. “The first and most obvious is that you have to speak, write, and understand simple English. Second, you cannot have any felony convictions. ... You must pass a test on American history and culture, and you must be patriotic. ... There should be no tolerance for anyone to be an illegal immigrant. If you can’t comply with our requirements, then stay out of our country.”
Controversial, certainly. But inciteful? No, Smith insists. “The only reason why I wrote the article and the way I wrote it ... was to get people to read it and to think about the topic I was presenting,” he told the Fox News Channel. Indeed, the article was approved for publication in The Buzz by the principal and the journalism faculty adviser. As the Court of Appeal noted, the article did not urge or provoke disruption on campus, and it was not designed to incite.
Nevertheless, the school changed its tune when Smith’s editorial drew more jeers than cheers. The day after the piece ran, as many as 150 teens and adults showed up on campus and called on students to leave class and protest Smith’s message. Instead of defending a student’s exercise of free speech, school officials responded by turning on him. They ordered that the remaining issues of the paper be pulled from circulation, and sent a letter to parents stating that the article never should have been published.
The May, 2007 decision by the First District Court of Appeal – allowed to stand, today, by the state Supreme Court – gave Andrew the relief he sought: A declaration that his article was protected speech and that his rights were violated, along with nominal monetary damages.
“Free and open intellectual inquiry and expression are essential for genuine learning, especially for student journalists,” said PLF’s Beard. “The idea that student opinions must conform to an ideological thought code dictated by the school administration, or by political activists, is totally at odds with the educational mission of our schools. Therefore, Andrew Smith’s victory is a victory for integrity in public education, as well as for freedom of conscience.”
Good for the kid!
One small step back toward sanity.
as many as 150 teens and adults showed up on campusI hope those adults were arrested for trespassing. Schools have an obligation to protect students from unauthorized intruders. Who knows how many pedophiles were among their ranks.
I don’t believe it! In CALIFORNIA.....! WOW
I’m surprised the Caleefornya supreme court ruled this way.
[What an apt name, Andrew Smith:]
Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands,
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black, and long;
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.
He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter’s voice
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.
It sounds to him like her mother’s voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.
Sounds like a Freeper, and a polite one at that. Good for him.
as many as 150 teens and adults showed up on campus and called on students to leave class and protest Smith’s message. Instead of defending a student’s exercise of free speech, school officials responded by turning on him.
Thanks for posting this. It’s going to be the first reading of the day in tomorrow’s high school journalism class.
Opposing illegal immigration is a “controversial view” in California. That’s just sad.
And he wrote that in 2001! Let’s get that kid into office!
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