TEXAS -- The newspaper adviser at Big Spring High School
resigned May 28 after the principal pulled the last issue of the paper, which
included an editorial advocating the legalization of marijuana.
Bill Riggs told Midland, Texas, television station
KWES that he resigned as the
adviser for
The Corral because of a difference of opinion with
administrators and that he did not want the journalism program to suffer.
Steven Saldivar, superintendent of the Big Spring Independent School
District, said the editorial conflicted with the district's policy of
discouraging illegal drug use.
"We talk to our kids all the time about the dangers of drugs and we
felt that it was contrary to the positive message of staying away from
drugs," Saldivar said.
Principal Mike Ritchey said he usually reviews the newspaper before it is
printed but he did not get a chance to do that for this issue. When
administrators saw the editorial, they decided to remove all copies of the
newspaper from the classrooms.
"We certainly try to stay within the framework of the expectations of
the community that we live in," Ritchey said. "Court cases support
school censorship of articles. And we feel like that's necessary for us to
censor editorials in the best interest of our program and the best interest of
our school and community."
Ritchey said schools have to censor students to stay within state laws and
their student codes of conduct.
"So I feel like censorship is very important," he said.
"There's a very fine line between censorship and taking away the
creativity of students to write."
Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said
that courts have ruled that the First Amendment protects political speech even
in schools.
"A political opinion urging a change in the law is absolutely the
highest and most protected First Amendment speech," he said.
LoMonte pointed to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Morse v.
Frederick that specifically said that encouraging the legalization of drugs
was protected free speech for students.
"Someone at the school district needs to reread the
Constitution," he said.
The Corral editor-in-chief Marisa Nieto told
KWES that she was surprised by
the administration's reaction to the editorial.
"I just couldn't believe that someone was making a big deal out of
such a little -- to me, in my eyes -- a very little thing," she
said.
Nieto said she was concerned about the future of The Corral now that
Riggs has resigned, but Ritchey said there will "absolutely" be a
newspaper next year.
"I think we consider that a very important program for our
school," he said.
Riggs could not be reached by press time.
By Josh Moore, SPLC staff writer
