THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
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Freedom of Speech in a Private Law School Part - 1 While students in law school should be more aware than others of their legal rights as well as limitations, many happy-go-lucky souls fail to distinguish between their rights between public and private institutional settings.
The First Amendment does have the lure of being a
material standards of conduct laid down in the case are
catch-all, or a foolproof shield, behind which ‘almost’
still considered to be of first importance when it comes
anything may be allowed, but few realize that the
to the free speech rights of students. In that judgment,
protective powers of the First Amendment are severely
it was held that a student’s free-speech rights do
limited within the precincts of private institutions.
not extend to any activity, which “materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of
In fact, your First Amendment rights are designed to
the rights of others.”
protect you only from government censorship and not from private censorship.
The standards set down in the ‘Tinker’ case have come to be known as the Tinker test and usually
So, if you are studying in a private law school, be
applied by courts to find whether an action by a
very sure of your school policies regarding limits of
student was within or without the protection of the
expression applicable to students. As found in Ubriaco
First Amendment. The test was applied in Bethel
v. Albertus Magnus High School, No. 99 Civ. 11135
School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986)
(JSM) (S.D.N.Y. July 21, 2000), a student could be
to uphold the suspension of a high-school student
expelled under school policy for content posted on a
for “including the use of obscene, profane language
personal website, without any prejudice to the First
or gestures” during a students’ election nomination
Amendment.
speech.
So, if you are intent on airing your views on your
However, the Tinker case is also famous for recognizing
private law school, its staff, or anything at all bearing
that students have rights to on-campus free speech
upon your institution, you need to check any written
irrespective of whether they were minors or adults
policies in place regarding freedom of speech allowed
or whether they studied in a high school or college.
by the school. This does not mean that private
The case, where the court held that public high school
institutions restrict freedom of speech to an extent
students had a First Amendment right to wear black
which is narrower than that allowed by the First
armbands to class in symbolic protest of the Vietnam
Amendment. In fact, many states in the U.S. have
war mentioned, “Students in school as well as out of
passed legislation that allows speech protections
school are ‘persons’ under our Constitution … they are
beyond the First Amendment to private high school and
possessed of fundamental rights which the State must
college students.
respect …”
In the context of students and educational institutions
We would be continuing this series on freedom of speech applicable to students in law schools and
393 U.S. 503 (1969) is held to be seminal. The
PAGE
concerned limitations.
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