Tomorrow’s Voices in Action

Here are a few SPLC success stories:

• For years, college and universities around the country refused to release campus police logs and incident reports claiming they were “education records” protected by federal law. By arranging for a free attorney for a student editor in Missouri and by bringing a lawsuit directly against the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., the SPLC was able to persuade the courts that campus police and security department records are not confidential education records. As a result, Congress amended a federal law to prevent schools from making such claims in the future. College and university students across the United States now have access to important safety information.
  
• Tina Reed, co-editor in chief of The Squall, a high school newspaper in Dexter, Michigan, made a choice. When directed by her school’s administration not to print an article in the school paper about sexual misconduct involving a teacher, she chose to stand by her obligation as a journalist to inform her readers and defuse widespread rumors about the incident. Armed with information and resources from the SPLC, Tina met with school officials and spoke with a clear understanding of and confidence about where she stood legally. After the meeting, the administration agreed to allow the story to be published. Each year hundreds of high school and college students receive information and resources from the SPLC, allowing them successfully to challenge their school administrations’ attempts to censor or stifle their work.
  
• Pinchas Shapiro, editor of Yeshiva University’s The Commentator, turned to the SPLC when he received a subpoena demanding that he reveal confidential sources. Shapiro had interviews corroborating discrimination allegations in a suit brought against the school by a former administrator. SPLC provided Shapiro with legal documentation and a free attorney from its Attorney Referral Network, who persuaded a federal court that the First Amendment protected the journalist/source relationship. Court rulings resulting from student press cases like this create protections that help all journalists do their jobs better.
  
• When Jan Ewell was asked to revive the student newspaper at her Southern California high school, she saw her mission as teaching a diverse group of students to produce accurate, hard-hitting journalism. But after her students published news stories and editorials about the condition of the school bathrooms and cafeteria, urging readers to contact school board members to complain, Ewell found her job threatened. With advice and assistance from the SPLC, Ewell was able to persuade school officials to reconsider their decision. Many vulnerable advisers from around the country who struggle to defend journalistic standards to school officials more interested in good public relations than in truthful reporting rely on the SPLC for support and counsel.

The Student Press Law Center provides free legal advice, information, low-cost educational materials and resources for more than 2,000 students and advisers each year. Whether educating a high school student about the specifics of copyright law or helping a college editor get access to public records, the SPLC gives young journalists the tools they need to produce high quality journalism. The beneficiaries of that assistance learn lessons they take into their adult lives and careers.