Iowa Court Decision Protects Student Journalism

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By Eric Stidman

Story Created: Nov 9, 2011 at 12:28 PM CDT

Story Updated: Nov 9, 2011 at 12:28 PM CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — In a victory for student journalism, an Iowa court says a school district cannot discipline a newspaper adviser for allowing students to publish parody content that upset the administration.

The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday ordered the Allamakee Community School District to withdraw reprimands issued to Ben Lange for letting students publish articles in two issues the principal found inappropriate.

One of them was an April Fool's edition and had articles meant to be funny. The other featured an altered picture of a baby smoking with an article about school tobacco policy. The court says the reprimands must be removed "to protect the free speech rights of Iowa students."

The Arlington, Va.-based Student Press Law Center says the decision is the first of its kind in the nation.

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