A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit filed by collegiate journalists who claim administrators at a Chicago-area university censored the student newspaper.
The ruling issued on Monday has opened the door for administrators to censor any school-subsidized activity, Mark Goodman, Student Press Law Center executive director, said.
Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center, said it was a sad day for those who believe in a free press.
"Universities exist to have diverse views," he said. "To extend the power of the state to suppress views is to me a great concern."
The students filed the federal lawsuit against several members of the Governors State University administration after the dean of student affairs tried in 2000 to prevent the newspaper, the Innovator, from being published until its contents had been reviewed.
Governors State University is located in University Park, which is roughly 30 miles south of Chicago and has an enrollment of about 6,000.
The newspaper's editor-in-chief, Jeni Porche, and reporters Margaret Hosty and Steven Barba claimed their First Amendment rights were violated when the university's dean of student affairs, Patricia Carter, insisted on reviewing the paper before publication.
The lower courts previously had dismissed claims against everyone except Carter, and in a 7-4 decision, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday dismissed the lawsuit against the dean. The court said Carter should not be liable for ''constitutional uncertainties'' when she told the printer not to print the newspaper until a school official approved its content.
The court also ruled that the university had a right to reasonably regulate the paper's contents because it is published under the auspices of Governors State.
''Let us not forget that academic freedom includes the authority of the university to manage an academic community and evaluate teaching and scholarship free from interference by other units of government, including the courts,'' Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote for the majority.
However, Judge Terence Evans, who wrote in dissent, said the free speech restrictions ''have no place in the world of college and graduate school.''
Hosty said she and Porche would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Hosty and Porche have 90 days to petition the Supreme Court, which typically only considers a small number of the cases petitioned.
''It's disastrous,'' she said. ''This isn't limited to journalists.''
Ball State University Professor Emeritus Louis Ingelhart said he believes the ruling will be overturned by the Supreme Court.
"They're a conservative court, and they cause a great deal of difficulty," Ingelhart said about the Seventh Circuit.
Goodman said he wasn't sure if the court would even hear the case.
"I think it's far from clear what the Supreme Court will do," he said.
The Illinois attorney general's office, which defended Carter, was happy with the court's decision.
''We're in favor of press freedom for college students,'' Solicitor General Gary Feinerman said. ''But the law was so unclear.''
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