Upthegrove says he'll introduce '08 bill, says principals continue to abuse authority

By Warren Watson

A state effort to give students strong First Amendment protection failed in late April in the Washington state Senate, but has served to revive a national campaign to counter a generation of setbacks against student media. 

House Bill 1307, which would have given high school and college students greater First Amendment protection, passed Washington’s state House of Representatives, 58-37, in March but lost momentum in the Senate.  The Senate’s Judiciary Committee eliminated the protection for high schoolers, and the amended bill never reached the Senate floor for a vote. 

While the bill, introduced by Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, coursed through Olympia’s legislative channels in the first four months of the year, legislators in Oregon and Michigan introduced similar bills, and lawmakers are considering the introduction of bills in Vermont and North Carolina – and Indiana could be close behind.  Six other states have laws protecting First Amendment rights of high school students. 

“We will organize and strategize and be back next legislative session with a new proposal,” said Upthegrove, in a statement  “Our effort has resulted in legislation being introduced in Oregon and Michigan.  We have brought attention to the flaws in the current law that allow principals to abuse their authority and get away with it.” 

Upthegrove said he will introduce a new bill in January 2008, when the Washington legislature convenes again. 

Ken Bunting, the associate publisher of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and a strong proponent for the bill, said he was surprised at the bill’s demise in the Senate.  But he said that bill supporters should take solace in the fact that legislative efforts sometimes take several years to succeed. 

He pointed to the successful passage this session of a reporter’s shield law, which guarantees the right of reporters to protect their confidential sources. 

“The legislature,” said Bunting, former longtime editor of the PI,  “works sometimes in mysterious ways.  “The reverse fortunes of our reporter’s shield bill this session, as opposed to last, is one example.”

Upthegrove agreed, telling his supporters in mid-April that fortitude will be important in 2008.

“Like many of you, I became emotionally attached to this issue and this bill,” he said. “I know how disappointed and frustrated you are because I am too. The legislative process takes patience and persistence. We all need to continue to champion the cause of student press freedom.”

He added, “You can count on my continued support.”

Brian Schraum, the Washington State University student who instigated the bill with Upthegrove,” said supporters already are planning for another round.  “We need to spend the next several months looking at what went wrong and how to fix it the next time. And there will be a next time,” he said.

Meanwhile, efforts are still under way in the Oregon and Michigan legislatures to pass related legislation this spring. 

And in North Carolina, a small group of college students are making plans for a bill to be introduced later in 2007.  A Vermont legislator is contemplating an effort there.

In Indiana, Diana Hadley, the executive director of the Indiana High School Press Association, said her board has had talks with other Indiana student journalism and civic education parties and has begun a study as to the feasibility of legislation in Indiana.  A similar effort was unsuccessful in Indianapolis in 1992.

Since 1988, upon the release of the Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision, principals have had the right to censor publications if they can demonstrate a legitimate educational reason for doing so. Scholastic journalism experts say that principals often overstep their bounds and censor material that is simply controversial in nature or would reflect poorly on the school.

Six states – California, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Massachusetts and Arkansas – have laws that override the Hazelwood decision and allow enhanced press rights to students.

More coverage of HB 1307

Additional information on Oregon and Illinois:

•States of Oregon and Illinois introduce similar bills (see Student Press Law Center for more on Oregon's bill, and read the bill here. To read journalism adviser Rob Melton's testimony, click here and read Statesman Journal story here.