Censorship supported by Illinois Attorney General

This fall, First Amendment rights for college students in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin will go before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Students are taking administrative officials at Governors State University, located 30 miles south of downtown Chicago, to court.\nThree students allege the administration at Governors State enacted prior restraint in its attempt to control content of the student-run newspaper, The Innovator.\nCarolyn Dennis, a Governors State spokeswoman, disagreed. Although a faculty adviser provides guidance to the editors and writers and ensures that the publication meets all journalistic standards, the adviser is not considered a part of the administration, playing a pure advisory role, she said.\n"We don't support censorship in any fashion," Dennis said. "It appears the previous editors felt that the university was censoring the newspaper, but it did not."\nJim Ryan, Attorney General of Illinois, up for reelection this fall, filed a brief on behalf of a Governors State official, citing the U.S. Supreme Court case of Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier as the precedent for this case. Ryan argues the decision, which allowed censorship of high school newspapers, should also apply to college newspapers.\nThis would mean that college newspapers could require approval from university administrators before circulation.\nRyan is creating a dangerous situation for students, said Mark Goodman, executive director for Student Law Services.\n"The argument he made is novel enough, but it's surprising that it was made so lightly," Goodman said. "Sooner or later at virtually every school, someone will be inclined to censor student media."\nStudents may believe this situation will have no individual affect, but the detrimental consequences could grow beyond the student media. Speakers on campus, student debate, and even student government would fall under the control of the administration, Goodman said.\n"What the university is arguing is that they should have the authority to review all student expression, and then censor that expression before it goes forward," Goodman said.\nStudent Law Services is filing an amicus brief in support of student press freedom and Goodman hopes other organizations around the three states affected by this case will join in the argument.\nThe IU School of Journalism is one program that intends to lend support, said Trevor Brown, the school's dean.\n"The ability of an administration to control the content of college newspapers is worrying to us who believe the college press should be free and independent," Brown said.\nAlthough the issue raises concern for student newspapers around the country, Brown said a charter established in the late 1960s, which separated a publication from the school of journalism and University administration, protects the Indiana Daily Student.\nEven with the power to control student expression, the administration at IU doesn't want to use censorship, Brown said.\n"I'm not concerned with an imminent threat to the freedom of speech and press at IU," Brown said. "It's the principle of an administration's ability to control student media"