Abstract:
In 2001, three students from Governors State University in Illinois sued the university after administrators demanded prior review of the Innovator, the student newspaper. Patricia Carter, the school of communication's dean, had told the newspaper's printer to hold future issues of the paper pending approval of its content.In 2005, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided in Hosty v. Carter said that the Supreme Court's 1988 Hazelwood decision limiting high school student free expression rights could extend to student media on college and university campuses. The Supreme Court refused to rule on the case in 2006.During the 2007-08 school year, the Indiana Collegiate Press Association attempted to pass a Student Free Press Act in Indiana, similar to those already enacted in Illinois, Oregon and California. The act would have given First Amendment free press rights back to the students of public universities in Indiana, making the Hosty v. Carter decision inapplicable.This thesis documents the steps taken by the ICPA committee in their efforts — and the opposition that eventually led to the demise of "Dave's Law." It also includes a booklet that could be sent to other states in order to encourage them to join our fight; the booklet provides the basic information they would need to start the process.
