Iowa Court of Appeals upholds journalist's free speech

November 25, 2011

Iowa: A 1989 Iowa law was interpreted by the state's Court of Appeals for the first time in November of 2011. The Iowa Student Free Expression Law gives journalists at public high schools add protection from censorship.

Ben Lange, who is a journalism teacher and newspaper advisor for Waukon High School, was reprimanded by the principal two years ago for allowing objectionable material in the school paper. The incident involved an April Fool's Day spoof issue, which included fake stories the school administration found offensive. A year later, Lange was reprimanded again for the content of the paper, which included a picture of a baby smoking a cigarette and a student wearing clothes that were against the school dress code.

Lange, however, sued the principal and the school district. After a district court ruled in favor of the school district, the case went to the Court of Appeals. There, the lower court's decision was reversed by a three-judge panel made up of Chief Judge Rosemary Sackett and Judges Anuradha Vaitheswaran and Mary Tabor. The judges stated, "Publishing articles on controversial topics or expressing a viewpoint counter to that of the school administration are not prohibited by the Student Free Expression Law." They explained that the paper did not encourage unlawful behavior, so it could not be censored.