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First Amendment Press / Free Speech Timeline

Compiled by Joyce Gemperlein
Special to J-Ideas

1735 : A jury in New York ignored the instructions of the Governor's handpicked judges and returned a verdict of ?not guilty? against John Peter Zenger, printer of the New England Weekly Journal, for printing ?seditious libels? that attacked the governor's administration.

1968: Epperson v. Arkansas and Board of Education Island Trees Union Free School District vs. Pico

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held that even though the state is in charge of a public school, it cannot withdraw curriculum that is at odds with certain religious beliefs. This case stemmed from that of Susan Epperson, a tenth grade biology teacher in Little Rock , Ark. , who sought voiding a 40-year-old law forbidding the teaching of the evolution.

In the Island Trees case, an upstate New York school board removed nine books from a high school library, including Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Black Boy by Richard Wright, when it deemed they were inappropriate for young people. Several students and parents challenged the school board's decision and the high court ruled that the books could not be removed simply because some people found them objectionable.

1969: Tinker v. Des Moines School District

In Tinker, several students planned to wear black armbands at school in protest of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and mourn the dead on all sides. School officials quickly adopted established a ban against the armbands; even though other symbols were permitted. When the students wore the black armbands to school, they were suspended. The Supreme Court ruled that school officials may not censor student speech unless school officials reasonably forecast that the speech will cause a material and substantial disruption of school activities or collide with the rights of others. Mere apprehension of disturbance or an offense given is not enough.

1971: New York Times Company v. United States

In the "Pentagon Papers" case, the U.S. government attempted to permanently stop The New York Times  and the Washington Post from publishing classified documents concerning the Vietnam War. Applying the doctrine of prior restraint, the Supreme Court found that the claims that publication of the documents would hurt the country were too and could not overcome the strong presumption against prior restraints .

1986: Bethel School District vs. Fraser

The Bethel case involved a public high school student who delivered a nominating speech containing elaborate and immature sexual innuendo at a student assembly. He was suspended for violating the school's no-disruption rule, which prohibited ?obscene, profane language.? The student contended that the suspension violated his First Amendment rights because his speech caused no disruption of school activities (relying on the Tinker decision, above) The Supreme Court ruled that school officials may prohibit vulgar, lewd and offensive student speech before a student assembly.

1988: Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier

Students publishing a school newspaper as part of their journalism class wanted to include student-written articles about teen pregnancy and the impact of divorce on kids. The principal objected to the stories, believing they were inappropriate for the younger students and unfair to the pregnant students who might be identified from the text of the article and deleted the articles from the school newspaper. Three students sued, claiming a violation of their First Amendment rights under the Tinker standard. By a 5-3 vote, the Court held that school officials may censor school-sponsored student publications when they are reasonably related to legitimate educational concerns.

1988: Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell

Hustler  Magazine published a parody of a liquor advertisement in which Rev. Jerry Falwell was depicted in a very lewd manner. A unanimous Supreme Court held that a public figure had to show that actual malice was committed by a publication in order to recover money for intentional infliction of emotional distress as a result of a parody. The Court held that political cartoons and satire "have played a prominent role in public and political debate,? and no matter how lewd or outrageous they are, the First Amendment covers them.

1991: Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of New York State Crime Victims Board

The Supreme Court struck down New York 's "Son of Sam Law," which required book publishers to turn over to the state, any proceeds from a book written by any person convicted of a crime, related to or about that crime.

2004 : Dean v. Utica Community Schools

A Federal District Court judge in Detroit ruled that student journalists "must be allowed to publish viewpoints contrary to those of state authorities without intervention or censorship by the authorities themselves." The Nov. 17 opinion affirms an earlier bench ruling, in which he called Utica school officials' censorship of Katy Dean's 2002 story in the Utica ( Mich. ) High School Arrow "indefensible." Dean's story was about a lawsuit filed against Utica Community Schools by Utica residents Rey and Joanne Frances. The Frances ' maintained that diesel exhaust from a school bus garage, owned by the district and located near their home, exacerbated Rey's lung cancer. The judge wrote that the Arrow constitutes a limited public forum, which means that restrictive standards established by the Supreme Court in its 1988 Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier decision do not apply. ?This is a huge case,? John Bowen, a student press law expert at Kent State University , said. ?In many ways, he shreds the Hazlewood case point by point.?

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