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Ocean County College students settle First Amendment lawsuit
Adviser Bosley's case still ongoing
June 15, 2007
Karen Bosley, who had served as
adviser to the Viking News at Ocean County College for 35 years until she
was removed, continues her lawsuit against the college for taking away
journalism classes she had taught at the college. Bosley is also a previous
board member of the Student Press Law Center.
According to an article
published in the June 7 issue of the Viking News, the settlement states the
college "supports the free speech rights of students and employees and a student
press free from prior review, prior restraint, or censorship as well as
recognizes all student media as limited public forums."
"I'm very happy
with being restored as adviser and extremely happy with the First Amendment
statement because it not only protects student journalists and student media
workers, but also students in general," Bosley said.
The settlement also
calls for the creation of a Student Media Advisory Board, composed of leaders of
campus media organizations and their advisers, representatives from the student
body and faculty, and a representative from the local media.
The board's
sole functions, according to the agreement, "are to approve budgets, select
editors in chief and radio station managers and act as a resource to the student
media." The agreement also states that the board will not exercise any editorial
or content control over the Viking News or other student
media.
Bosley was granted a preliminary injunction in July 2006 that
temporarily reinstated her to her former position as adviser. She has said she
thinks she was terminated as the newspaper's adviser because articles were
published in the Viking News criticizing the college president and his
administration.
School administration officials maintain she was not
removed in retaliation for what students had printed.
Bosley's lawsuit
came six weeks after three of her students — Alberto Morales, Scott
Coppola and Douglas Rush — filed a similar lawsuit in May 2006, which in
addition sought to bar the school administration from creating a new Student Media
Advisory Board with editorial oversight of student media, changing the newspaper's computer system and eliminating the
student media workshops that Bosley taught.
The students also asked that
OCC's director of student media, Joseph Adellizi, be barred from accessing the
Viking News office and from having prior review of the paper's articles
and editorials.
A copy of the settlement could not be obtained before
press time.
By Tim Hoffine, SPLC staff writer
© 2007 Student Press Law Center
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For More Information:
Coppola v. Larson, No. 06-2138 (D. N.J. dismissed pending settlement Mar. 13, 2007).
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