In the News
Chicago Tribune, June 7, 2007
College journalists across Illinois could see greater free press protections under a new measure passed by the Illinois legislature this week.
The Illinois House voted 112-2 and the Senate unanimously approved the College Campus Press Act, which would allow college student journalists to write articles without fear that college officials could sensor or bar publication of their work.
State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) was approached by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois about the issue and became the Senate bill's sponsor.
"It just made sense to me that college journalists should have the same types of opportunities to present their material as journalists in the professional media," she said. ". . . They shouldn't be subjected to prior review by public university administrations, because that really stifles free speech."
The measure is currently under review by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a spokesman for the governor said Thursday.
The act was prompted in part by a case involving student journalists at Governors State University in University Park. Three GSU students sued the university in June 2001 when a dean blocked the student paper from being printed after several stories critical of the university administration were published.
Patricia Carter, then dean of student affairs, told the printing company not to print the student paper, The Innovator, before she reviewed and approved it, according to court documents. That paper hasn't been published since and was replaced by a new student paper, The Phoenix.
In February 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the former student journalists, Margaret Hosty, Jeni Porche and Steven Barba. The court let stand a lower court ruling that found Carter should not be held liable for her decision because the case law involving student publications was murky enough that she couldn't be expected to know what was legally permissible.
That decision, known as the Hosty vs. Carter case, caused concern on college campuses throughout the country, said Mike Hiestand, an attorney and the legal consultant to the national Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va.
"Certainly not in my lifetime I didn't think we'd have to argue that students have a right to say things they think are important to say on an American college or university campus," Hiestand said. "But Hosty has potentially altered the balance, and it's a pretty frightening thing."
Hiestand said the California legislature has already passed a law similar to Illinois' measure in an attempt to reverse the negative impact of Hosty, and other states are considering legislation as well.
Margaret Hosty, the GSU student who helped bring this issue into the public debate and took it all the way to the Supreme Court, said Thursday she was encouraged by the Illinois measure. "This is basically what I wanted all along; I wanted this right to be asserted. . . . But the personal cost of this whole debate has been tremendous for me."
Hosty said GSU denied her the master's degree in English she was pursuing shortly after she filed the initial lawsuit. She now has a civil case pending against the university.