Lessons In Censorship: How Schools And Courts Subvert Students’ First Amendment Rights
by Catherine J. Ross /
2015 / English / PDF
2.9 MB Download
American public schools often censor controversial student speech
that the Constitution protects.
American public schools often censor controversial student speech
that the Constitution protects.Lessons in Censorship
Lessons in Censorship
brings clarity to a bewildering array of court rulings that
define the speech rights of young citizens in the school setting.
Catherine J. Ross examines disputes that have erupted in our
schools and courts over the civil rights movement, war and peace,
rights for LGBTs, abortion, immigration, evangelical
proselytizing, and the Confederate flag. She argues that the
failure of schools to respect civil liberties betrays their
educational mission and threatens democracy.
brings clarity to a bewildering array of court rulings that
define the speech rights of young citizens in the school setting.
Catherine J. Ross examines disputes that have erupted in our
schools and courts over the civil rights movement, war and peace,
rights for LGBTs, abortion, immigration, evangelical
proselytizing, and the Confederate flag. She argues that the
failure of schools to respect civil liberties betrays their
educational mission and threatens democracy.
From the 1940s through the Warren years, the Supreme Court
celebrated free expression and emphasized the role of schools in
cultivating liberty. But the Burger, Rehnquist, and Roberts
courts retreated from that vision, curtailing certain categories
of student speech in the name of order and authority. Drawing on
hundreds of lower court decisions, Ross shows how some judges
either misunderstand the law or decline to rein in censorship
that is clearly unconstitutional, and she powerfully demonstrates
the continuing vitality of the Supreme Court’s initial
affirmation of students’ expressive rights. Placing these battles
in their social and historical context, Ross introduces us to the
young protesters, journalists, and artists at the center of these
stories.
From the 1940s through the Warren years, the Supreme Court
celebrated free expression and emphasized the role of schools in
cultivating liberty. But the Burger, Rehnquist, and Roberts
courts retreated from that vision, curtailing certain categories
of student speech in the name of order and authority. Drawing on
hundreds of lower court decisions, Ross shows how some judges
either misunderstand the law or decline to rein in censorship
that is clearly unconstitutional, and she powerfully demonstrates
the continuing vitality of the Supreme Court’s initial
affirmation of students’ expressive rights. Placing these battles
in their social and historical context, Ross introduces us to the
young protesters, journalists, and artists at the center of these
stories.Lessons in Censorship
Lessons in Censorship highlights the troubling and growing
tendency of schools to clamp down on off-campus speech such as
texting and sexting and reveals how well-intentioned measures to
counter verbal bullying and hate speech may impinge on free
speech. Throughout, Ross proposes ways to protect free expression
without disrupting education.
highlights the troubling and growing
tendency of schools to clamp down on off-campus speech such as
texting and sexting and reveals how well-intentioned measures to
counter verbal bullying and hate speech may impinge on free
speech. Throughout, Ross proposes ways to protect free expression
without disrupting education.