Question

I really need help with this h

Case A:
The drama class at a middle school was preparing for their spring play in the school auditorium. One week before the performance, a parent complained to the school board that the play was inappropriate for middle school students. The school board agreed and contacted the principal, who then informed the classes that the show was canceled. Students were upset that their preparations were a waste. They believe they have the right to freedom of expression in performing the play. The school board said that students are minors and that it must approve decisions about what is presented in school by teachers or students. The students did not have time to plan a different show. A group of the students’ parents brought the case to court on their behalf, but they lost the case in state district court. The students’ parents appealed the district court’s decision to their state court of appeals. There the students and their parents won the case, but the school board appealed the decision to their state-level supreme court. The state supreme court ruled in favor of the school board. Unhappy with the state supreme court’s decision, the students’ parents are now appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Should the students be allowed to perform their school play? Why or why not? Give three reasons to support your decision. At least one of your reasons should be based on what you learned about the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case.

Answer 1

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier was a landmark decision enacted by the US Supreme Court in 1988 related to the applicability of the right of freedom of speech, granted by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, in curricular student newspapers in public schools. Lowers courts have sided unevenly with the students who sued claiming their right of freedom of speech and the school director who decided to remove two articles from the student's newspaper.

The US Supreme court ruled (and established the precedent for future cases) that school authorities could exercise prior-restraint in school-sponsored channels of expression, provided that it was justified by pedagogical reasons. Such student newspapers written in the schools are different from public forums for student expression where their constitutional right to freedom of speech should be guranteed with no limits.

Therefore, in the drama class described, and according to the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case detailed above, the principal of the school has the right to cancel the show if he considers it to be inappropiate for the children of that age (this would serve as the required pedagogical justification) as it would be part of school-sponsored channel of expression.