Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

A Few Definitions to Know

Banned: Describes expression, books, or other materials permanently or temporarily excluded or pulled from library collections, school curriculum, a public forum, or store shelves.

Challenged: Describes expression, books, or other materials that are the subject of a complaint against their value or place in the school curriculum, library collection, or society as a whole. Most challenges result in the material's return to public use. However, each individual challenge requires time for assessment and evaluation. As that assessment takes place, there is usually a temporary time during which the expression or materials are restricted from public use or view. The minimum negative result of each challenge is a temporary censorship. An exclusionary practice.

Censored: Describes expression, books, or other materials that have been challenged, restricted, altered, or banned from public use. An exclusionary practice.

Selection: An inclusive practice meant to provide the best and broadest range of materials for an audience. This process may be considered a subtle form of “censorship,” as selection decisions may be informed by economic constraints, socio-political biases of the collection developer, and community standards of material value.

Key Supreme Court Decisions Focusing
on First Amendment Rights in Schools

Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)

Recognized that teachers have a First Amendment right to voice their views on matters of public concern. Paved the way for the subsequent Tinker decision involving student speech rights.


Tinker v. Des Moines Schools (1969)

Landmark precedent protecting the freedom of speech of students and teachers in public schools. Established the oft-quoted statement of Judge Fortas: “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” Precedent also clarified “unprotected” speech: obscenity, hate speech, harassment, slander/libel, fighting words.


Island Trees Schools v. Pico (1982)

Imposed limitations on the ability of local school boards to remove library books from school collections.

Connick v. Myers (1983)

Narrowed the circumstances under which public employees (i.e., teachers) can depend upon free expression support. Case decision stated that form and context, as well as content, of the speech act should be considered in determining how it relates to public matters (then applied to Pickering case).


Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986)

Determined that the scope of student speech rights in public schools is not equal to adult freedoms in the society at large. Decision indicated that public schools have an ethical obligation to legislate and inculcate moral values. “Schools must teach by example the shared values of a civilized social order.”


Hazelwood Schools v. Kuhlmeier (1988)

Extended the right of educators and school officials to exercise editorial control (prior restraint) over school-sponsored publications, which the court deemed a non-public forum.


Waters v. Churchill (1994)

Further eroded public employee expression rights by granting the government employer the ability to reach conclusions about a speech act without the same evidentiary rules followed in other court situations or with a jury. If the employer investigates in good faith, an employee can be fired for remarks he/she is believed to have made, regardless of clarity of evidence to that fact.

Morse v. Frederick (2006 -- arguments pending)
The court could clarify whether public school administrators may bar students from speech acts promoting the use of illegal substances. Limits may apply to school-sponsored and supervised events away from campus. Decision may also determine school's authority to regulate other off-campus speech, such as by students on the Internet.