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>A Crosbyton High School student, who claims he must get approval from his superintendent before submitting letters to the community newspaper, has filed a lawsuit

Why didn't this kid just write letters to every editor he could think of, and then let his superintendent sue him ... That would have made for better press, I think.

Heck, way back when, when the Doors were on the Ed Sullivan show, they were told they must not sing the lyrics "Everybody love my baby/She gets high" (Drug refs weren't allowed on TV.) So, in rehearsal, they just sang something silly like "she gets by" or something. Then, when they went live, Morrison, in front of the cameras, sang "She gets high"

The world didn't end.

Kids today. Instead of defying authority, they file lawsuits. What would Thoreau say?!

Mark W.

Re: The Doors

"Light My Fire"

I thought the words were...."Girl We Couldn't Get Much Higher"

re: post #2. I think you are right on. When someone tries to expand their authority over you to areas that are either A) outside their authority or B) unconstitutional, it falls under the concept or spirit of the "unenforceable contract." Even if there was a contract between the school and the boy, signed by the boy, that he would not write letters to the paper, unless the boy had been offered some sort of compensation for not writing letters, he could write all he wanted because the contract would be unenforceable since there was nothing offered the boy in return for his lack of action.

Heck, I could even enter into a contract with a car dealer that if I missed a payment, they could cut off my middle finger. Even if I missed a payment, they still couldn't force me, even in court, to allow them to cut off my finger.

I agree with you that the boy should have sent all the letters he wanted and then when the superintendant took any punitive action, the boy could come down hard in the courts. Of course, if the superindendant tried to sue the boy, he wouldn't have a prayer

Along those lines, another major problem with this is that someone over the age of 18 is responsible for every minor. In this kids case, I assume it was his parents. Now, if you want to control what a minor writes to a newspaper, you must be the responsible adult. If you are not, then you must persuade the responsible adult to forbid the kid from writing the letters (only adults are fully protected by the constitution). The responsible adult is the one who is... Responsible, and can either agree with the superintendant or tell him to take a flying leap. Beyond that, all the super has the right to do is to try to reason with the kid and persuade him to cease writing letters on his own volition. And if the super attempts to use his position to strongarm the kid..., well, I have a legal problem with that as well.

The problem is, these days, defying the left-wing PC crowd will get you in a lot of trouble. The school can suspend you, and in some cases, they do not allow you to make upt he work, meaning you fail classes.

Failing classes kills your GPA, and that can keep you out of a good college.

and then let his superintendent sue him ...

Because, as we see so often, these petty beauracrats can exercise a considerable amount of power and cause irreparable harm by their actions. There would be no need for the beauracrat to sue. He can do his damage within the school system. The student could be expelled, forced to attend special classes, etc. and have his future in education jeopardized. We need more Justin Latimers and absolutely no one like Larry Morris.