4
4.03 The Decision
Judicial Opinion Template
Instructions: Replace the information in parentheses with your own work according to the assessment instructions.
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
I, Richard Enerson, write this opinion to support the majority opinion on the case of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier.
I am in support of the majority opinion because I firmly believe the principal was not violating the student's first amendment rights by censoring the articles. While students do have the right to speech, it should be censored in certain circumstances, like the one in question. The principal felt it would be in the best interest of the school to eliminate these articles for publication because he considered them to be unethical and possibly libelous. I also think that if the school would have published the divorce article where a student had criticized another student's parents and had added to the article without the parent’s permission, it very well could have led to problems with the parents and students involved. It is also my opinion that the other article that referred to teen pregnancy was in danger of not properly protecting the rights of the individuals mentioned. While there names were not being published, it is obvious that it would not be very hard for other students to possibly identify them and this could have reached further disruption.
At first, I was in favor of protecting the First Amendment rights of the students who had written the articles. They have the right to express their opinions and speech in a public forum. Then I had to think of how it could affect those that the article was written about. While I still favor the protection of students’ rights, the more I read the details of case of all involved, it became a more loosely interpreted opinion. For some, the article is not seen as a public forum because it is only intended for the students who attend the school. However, it does make its way off campus and into private homes because the students are
Judicial Opinion Template
Instructions: Replace the information in parentheses with your own work according to the assessment instructions.
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
I, Richard Enerson, write this opinion to support the majority opinion on the case of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier.
I am in support of the majority opinion because I firmly believe the principal was not violating the student's first amendment rights by censoring the articles. While students do have the right to speech, it should be censored in certain circumstances, like the one in question. The principal felt it would be in the best interest of the school to eliminate these articles for publication because he considered them to be unethical and possibly libelous. I also think that if the school would have published the divorce article where a student had criticized another student's parents and had added to the article without the parent’s permission, it very well could have led to problems with the parents and students involved. It is also my opinion that the other article that referred to teen pregnancy was in danger of not properly protecting the rights of the individuals mentioned. While there names were not being published, it is obvious that it would not be very hard for other students to possibly identify them and this could have reached further disruption.
At first, I was in favor of protecting the First Amendment rights of the students who had written the articles. They have the right to express their opinions and speech in a public forum. Then I had to think of how it could affect those that the article was written about. While I still favor the protection of students’ rights, the more I read the details of case of all involved, it became a more loosely interpreted opinion. For some, the article is not seen as a public forum because it is only intended for the students who attend the school. However, it does make its way off campus and into private homes because the students are