C o u rts
California Studen t Denied Rights of an A dult By Jeff Truesdell
shed t h e m at the sc h o o l house gate, " the m aj o r i ty o p i n io n sa i d . " H o weve r ,
A
i t m u st be recog n i zed that a student may be s u bject to far m o re s t r i n g ent reg u l a t i o n s than a n ad u l t outside a
Cal ifornia
appel late c o u rt has
ruled t h a t a L a r k s p u r h i g h school student does not have the rig h t to wear a " F - - the D raft" b u tt o n on his SChool c a m p u s .
I n a 2 - 1 d e c i s i o n , t h e C o u rt of A p pea l s , F i rst A p p e l l a te D i s t r i c t . u p h e l d t h e a c t i o n s o f Redwood H i g h S c h o o l a d m i n i s t r ators w h o s u s pende d s t u d e n t S p i ros H i nze for wea r i n g the b u tt o n in A p r i l 1980 . The
e n v i ro n s for h i s u n l i m i t e d e x p ress i ve p u r p ose . " The case was heard on a p peal from the Supe r i o r C o u rt of M a r i n C o u n ty , wh ich had ref used to issue
'A s t u d e n t m a y be s u bj e c t to fa r m o re
s t ri n g e n t re g u l a t i o n s t h a n a n a d u l t . . . d u e t o h i s i m m a t u ri ty a n d sta t u s a s a student . . .'
appe l l a te court determ i n ed the su spe n s i o n d i d not v io l ate H i nze's F i rst A me ndment right of f r ee express i o n . Ci t i n g a n earl i e r Ca l if o r n i a a ppeals court d e c is i o n , the court rejected H i nze's c o nt e n t i o n that the F i rst
sc h o o l
e n v i ro n m e n t
Ame n d m e n t protected h i s r i g h t to wear t h e b a d g e , and that as a stude n t , he was e n t i t l e d to t h e same
due
to
his
a
stu
of the sc h o o l , the c o u rt stated that
an i n j u nction a l l owi n g H i nze to wea r h i s b u tton d u r i n g t h e re m a i n d e r of the 1979-80 school yea r. W i t h the h e l p of the American C i v i l L i berties U n i o n , H i nze sued the s c h o o l d i s t r i c t i n May 1980 aft e r a d m i n istrators s u s p e n d ed him for wea r i n g h i s b a d g e . School offi c i a l s s a i d H i nze's
neither " s t u dents, teac h e rs ( n or) a nyone e l se has an a b so l u te c o ns t i t u t i o n a l r i g h t to u s e a l l pa rts of a s c h o o l b u i l d i n g or its i m m e d iate
action v i o l ated two sections of the C a l i f o r n i a State Ed u c a t i o n Code; one sect i o n authorized the suspen sion o f students who e n g aged in
i m m atu r i ty dent . . . . "
and
stat us
as
I n a d d ressi ng the " c ru c ia l " q ues tion of whether the m a n n e r of e x p ress i o n c h osen by H i nze was com pat i b l e with the n o r m a l activity
rights g ra n te d a n ad u l t o u t s i d e the schoo l e n v i r o n m e n t . " I t i s . . . c l e a r that s t u d e n ts d o have r i g h ts w h i c h a re p rotected by the fed e ra l and Ca l i forn i a state cons t i t u t i o n s a n d that they d o not
Expel led E dito r.....
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
take h i s f i rst Western High
p l u m m e ted f r o m 3 . 8 to 2 . 7 5 .
O r tega f i l e d s u i t I n Jan uary, se e k i n g a te m p o ra ry res t ra i n i n g order e n a b l i n g h i m to ret u r n to Sava n n a f o r t h e rema i n d e r of the year The l ower court d e n ied O rtega ' s filed a n
" I t i s i r o n i c that they throw me out
semester f i n a l s at Schoo l . H i s G PA
re q ue s t , a n d h e p ro m p t l y a p pea l . "We c o u l d h a ve
asked f o r a t r i a l on the m e r i t s of the case. but we d e c i ded the i m po rtant t h i n g was to get Tony back in sc h o o l , " ACLU atto r n e y G a ry W i l l i a m s sa i d . Afte r e i g h t wee ks at Weste r n , Tony
of school f o r ye l l ow j o u r n a l i s m and h e re I a m g o i n g to C o l u m b i a , ' O rtega to l d reporters. O rtega s t i l l awa its a f u l l d e c i s i o n o n h i s c a s e by the co u rt of ap pea l s , w h i c h wi l l dete r m i ne w h e t h er t he Sava n na H i g h Sc hool ad m i n istration v i o l a ted
his
right
to
free d o m
of
won
two
other
v i c to ries.
Col u m b i a U n i ve rS i ty, where h e w i l l e n ro l l th i s fa l l , awa rded h i m a J o h n
u n const i t u t i o n a l l y
beca use
N ie l sen
flye r, a l t h o u g h i t cont a i n ed n o t h i ng l i be l o u s , o b scene or l i k e l y to cause s u b s t a n t i a l d i s r u p t i o n of s c h o o l . " T h e re a re two q ue s t i o n s h e re, " W i l l i a m s sa i d . " Fi rst, is t h e p r i o r s u b m iss i o n req u i re m e n t l e g a l at a l l ? Seco n d , i s i t l e g a l a s a p p l i e d ? " W i l l i a m s contended sc h o o l off i c i
A m e r i c a n S t u d e n t P ress Assoc i a t i o n
r i g h ts . " D u ring the p roceed i n g s , N ie l sen
the con troversy.
22
F A L L 198 1
In
add i t i o n ,
the
O r te g a
req u e s t e d
S 1 0 , 000
in
he and Wi l l i a m s m u st dec i d e whet h e r o r not to a m e n d t he s u i t
a warded i t s h i g hest rat i n g to t h e i ssue o f t h e Disp a tch w h i c h spa r ked
fe l l O W S h i p .
i n d icated t h a t i f O rtega a p o l og i zed t o t h e p r i n c i p a l , she m ig h t reverse her d ec i s i o n to revoke his t ra n fe r .
u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l because i t does n o t i n c l u d e " c l e a r a n d p rec i se sta n d a rd s for rev i e w . "
a l s d i sc i p l i n ed O rteg a i n " reta l ia t i o n f o r h is exerc ise o f F i rst A m e n d m e n t
Jay
told
s p e n d at Wester n . The s c h o o l board rej ected O rtega's req ue<;t, and now
sa id he w o u l d not have a p p roved the
also
N i e lsen
W i l l i a m s a rg u ed before the c o u rt
o rder o f t h e Co u rt of Appea l s , Fo u rth A p pe l l a t e D i s t r i c t . H o weve r , the
A t t h e s a m e t i m e that O rteg a won
to O rteg a ,
h i m that F ran k s had taken perso n a l l y h i s object i ons t o h e r a c t i o n s a n d
that the set of reg u l at i o n s req u i r i n g p r i o r rev i e w of student l i terat u re i s
He a l so s a i d t h e r u l e s we re a p p l ied
h i s b a t t l e to ret u rn to Sava n n a , he
Acco r d i n g
d a m a g e s from the s c h o o l board to com pensate for the t i m e he had to
e x p ress i o n a n d d ue process.
re t u r n e d to Savanna in A p r i l u n d e r
c o u rt d e n ie d O rte g a 's req uest to be rei nstated a s Dispatch editor. O rtega g ra d u a t e d f r o m S a vanna i n J u n e .
c o n f l i c ts t hey had h a d w i t h Ortega ove r the content of the Dispatc r. .
mad e
S P L C R EPO R T
fre q u e n t
d i s c i p l i n a ry a n d F ra n ks
references
to
past
pe n d i n g before t h e c o u rt to i n c l u d e a req uest for damages ' ' I ' m not s u re i t's w o rt h i t , " W i l l ia m s sa i d . Acc o r d i n g to W i l l i a m s . t h e m a i n a i m s of the s u i t a re "to get the d i sc i p l i n a ry action off Tony's record a n d to get a favo r a b l e J u d i c i a l action with reg ard to sch o o l c o n t ro l of the pa pe r . " Wi l l ia m s sa i d h e b e l ieves that a l t h o u g h the sc hool w i l l a rg u e that O rteg a's g raduat i o n re n d e red the case moot, the s u i t w i l l s u rv i ve even i f they d o n ' t ask for d a m a g es . " Fac u l ty res p o n s i b i l i ty with rega r d to s t u d e n t p u b l i ca t i o n s is a n i ss u e t h a t w i l l rec u r , " h e said.