In 2006 the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the Seventh Circuit's decision in Hosty vs. Carter, meaning that college administrators in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana can legally censor student speech. Six state legislatures have responded by passing laws protecting college student speech; Wisconsin is not one of them.
The latest move to protect student speech is in the state of Washington, where Democratic Rep. Dave Upthegrove has brought forward House Bill 1307. The Bill would protect college and high school students against censorship, and would make it illegal for administrations to fire a media adviser who refused to censor students. A spokesperson for the Student Press Law Center told the Associated Press that Upthegrove's bill "would be the most comprehensive student-press bill in the country at this point."
Recently elected 54th district state representative Gordon Hintz was appointed to the Assembly's Committee on Colleges and Universities. Especially since he represents a university town and received substantial student support in the 2006 elections, Hintz is in a great position to initiate legislation to protect student speech and restore Wisconsin's reputation for guarding civil liberties. Gordon can be emailed at Rep.Hintz@legis.wisconsin.gov.
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1 comment:
My goodness, you certainly are helpful!
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