A Different Civics Lesson: Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier and Student Rights

Abstract

This dissertation is a historical and philosophical exploration of the Supreme Court case Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988), in which the Supreme Court ruled that a public high school principal could censor the school newspaper—categorized as a nonpublic forum—for any “legitimate pedagogical concern,” including to confirm that “participants learn whatever lessons the activity is designed to teach,” students are not exposed “to material that may be inappropriate for their level of maturity,” and the school would not be associated with the speaker’s view. The case gave rise to a number of questions: Did it cover teachers? Did it affect higher education? Did the ruling require viewpoint neutrality? What would not count as a “legitimate pedagogical concern?”

This dissertation looks at the law review articles and federal court cases that followed, as well as the amicus and amici briefs submitted by the Student Press Law Center, through the thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. The dissertation argues that the failure to consider journalism as a goal-directed practice has meant that school administrators have taken the form of bureaucratic managers and students must either perform or seek freedom in contributing to underground newspapers at which point they ironically cease to be students. Further, the case history reveals the presupposition that the curriculum reflects a “natural” social consensus that is channeled by teachers and must be protected from either disruptive viewpoints or subjects deemed controversial.

Finally, the dissertation proposes a way forward based on free speech as necessary to defend the integrity of practices, which both allows teachers and students to work and deliberate together towards common goods much like fishing crews and prevents the corrupting effect of external goods—money, status, prestige. It suggests a rereading of Justice William Brennan’s dissent in Hazelwood to emphasize the importance of academic goals and the role of the teacher, not least in extending care to students through the virtue of misericordia.