Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Another weird First Amendment case of student newspaper  

With all the Supreme Court rulings out there driving folks around the bend, one that's fallen through the cracks is the Seventh Court of Appeals' decision that even college newspapers can be censored. John Wilson of Inside Higher Ed is quite concerned. The court's majority opinion includes this whopper:
Let us not forget that academic freedom includes the authority of the university to manage an academic community and evaluate teaching and scholarship free from interference by other units of government, including the courts.
Sounds like quite a license to run amok in the hallowed halls. One wonders if the ruling has any bearing on the case of former dean Richard Lewis here at SCSU, who was denied the opportunity to sue the university for libelous claims in its student newspaper.

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