Student Press Freedom (H 7677, S 2899)

The General Assembly considered, but did not act on, legislation ensuring that student newspapers share the same press freedom as other newspapers. Introduced following work by the Providence Student Union, the legislation restricted the ability of schools to censor the content of student-run newspapers, except in certain narrowly-tailored circumstances. In March and May, the ACLU testified before the House and Senate Judiciary committees, respectively, in support of this legislation. The ACLU has, over the years, defended the rights of a number of students whose work was censored. Unfortunately, neither committee took action on the legislation before the session ended, and the bills died.