Henerey v. City of St. Charles, 200 F.3d 1128 (8th Cir. 1999)

Facts:

A high school student campaigned for junior class president. He passed out condoms to accompany his slogan "Adam Henerey, The Safe Choice." School rules provided that students must obtain prior approval for their campaign materials. The student did not obtain prior approval before passing out the condoms. School officials disqualified him from the election even though he had received a majority of the votes. The student claimed a violation of his First Amendment rights. After a district court rejected his claim, he appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Issue:

Whether school officials can require students to submit campaign materials for prior approval.

Holding:

In a 2-1 decision, an Eighth Circuit panel held that school officials can require students to obtain prior approval for campaign slogans during school-sponsored elections.

Reasoning:

The student election was operated under the control of the school. Thus, the speech during the student election was a form of school-sponsored student speech. Under Hazelwood, the school can censor school-sponsored student speech if it has a legitimate educational reason. The school has a "legitimate interest in divorcing its extracurricular programs from controversial and sensitive topics, such as teenage sex." The student's actions in distributing the condoms "ran counter to the District's pedagogical concern and its educational mission."

Majority:

"School districts have an interest in maintaining decorum and in preventing the creation of an environment in which learning may be impeded, an interest that was particularly strong in the present case because the condom distribution occurred within the context of a school-sponsored election." (Judge Roger L. Wollman)

Dissent:

The majority should not have dismissed Henerey's First Amendment claim. "I disagree with the suggestion that safe sex among high school students is such a controversial topic that school officials may squelch its discussion in a school-sponsored school election contest." (Judge Charles R. Wolle)

Last updated: Thursday, September 9, 2010 | 00:14:25