Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier

This decision was seen as restricting students' First Amendment rights by giving school officials wide latitude to control student expression that might be seen as sponsored by the school.

The Journalism II students at Hazelwood East High School were proud of their school paper, Spectrum. In the 1982-1983 school year, the paper had a circulation of over 4,500, which included students, school personnel, and members of the community. According to the Curriculum Guide, Journalism II and the publishing of the paper itself was supposed to teach "the legal, moral and ethical restrictions imposed on journalists within the school community" and the "responsibility and acceptance of criticism for articles of opinion." Students worked under the supervision of a faculty member, and they received grades and credit for completing the course.

Just as the 13 May 1983 issue was about to come out, Principal Robert Eugene Reynolds pulled two pages from the paper. As was usual, the faculty advisor, Howard Emerson, had shown Reynolds the paper before it came out. Reynolds was concerned about two articles. One described three Hazelwood East students' experiences with pregnancy. The other discussed the impact of divorce on Hazelwood students.