Chapter 3: The First Amendment Contemporary Problems

Question 1

What was decided in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)?

Answer 1

• That students retain their Constitutional rights at schools unless the exercise of those rights can be proven to likely produce a substantial disruption.

Question 2

What was decided in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988)?

Answer 2

• Schools can censor school sponsored publications when there is a legitimate pedagogical concern at play. (Students must learn the lessons the programs are designed to teach and so control can be exercised by the school to those ends.)
• The stories in these cases were about teen pregnancy and the affects of divorce on children.
• It cannot be viewpoint based discrimination.

Question 3

What was decided in Bethel v. Fraser (1986)?

Answer 3

• Schools can censor speech that is vulgar or sexually offensive insofar as it is not viewpoint based discrimination.

Question 4

What content are public schools allowed to censor?

Answer 4

1) Material that would substantially interfere with school order/discipline.
2) Material that interferes with the rights of other students.
3) Material that fails to meet standards of academic propriety.
4) Material that generates health or welfare concerns.
5) Material that is obscene, indecent, or vulgar.

Question 5

What are the two questions raised by the Court when addressing college publications?

Answer 5

1) Who pays for the publication? - If the school pays for the publication, it is more likely to be able to be regulated under Hosty.
2) The Degree of Independence the paper has? - If the paper is traditionally operated as independent of the administration, then it is more likely that administrative attempts at regulation will be struck down.

Question 6

What did the Court decide in Board of Education v. Pico (1982)?

Answer 6

• The case dealt with books being pulled from the shelves of a school library and had no majority opinion.
• The Court held that a book cannot be removed because of content/viewpoint related disagreement.
• However, a book can be removed because it is vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. The censor’s motivation determines the legitimacy/constitutionality of the removal.

Question 7

What are the four standards for Time, Place, and Manner restrictions? These are also the criteria for intermediate scrutiny.

Answer 7

1) The restrictions must be neutral to content both on its face and as applied.
2) The restrictions must not constitute a complete ban on communication.
3) The restrictions must be justified by a substantial state interest.
4) The restrictions must be narrowly tailored.

Question 8

What are the four different types of forums and the restrictions that can be applied to each?

Answer 8

1) Traditional public forums - These are areas that have been long held as places where speech occurs, like the town square. These areas receive the highest level of First Amendment Protection.
2) Designated Public Forum - These are places created by the government that is to be used for expressive activities. Once these are designated, they operate under the same rules that govern traditional forums.
3) Public Property That Is Not A Public Forum - These are areas that are not by tradition or designation meant for public communication. Think of things like prisons and military bases. Regulations regarding these spaces are reviewed under a more lenient standard of judicial scrutiny.
4) Private Property - Owners of private property are free to regulate who uses their property for expressive activity. The First Amendment does not extend to Freedom of Expression on Public Property.

Question 9

What are Son of Sam Laws?

Answer 9

• A form of prior restraint law that prevents felons from making money off of speech related to their crime.

Question 10

What is the Fighting Words Doctrine?

Answer 10

• The Government can punish fighting words, which is speech that, by its very utterance, inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.