High School Principal Confiscates Student Magazine

According to this article in the Orange County Register, the Principal of Orange County High confiscated all copies of a student-produced magazine that he complained contained a "gang like" picture and "offensive" companion article. This has caused a controversy not only amongst the students but from others who are advocates for the rights of the students' free speech. Also stated in the article, "California has the strongest set of laws protecting student speech and student publications in the nation." It goes on to say that California law "allows school administrators to restrict student speech that is obscene, libelous or slanderous. They can also prohibit material that creates a 'clear and present danger' of inciting students to break the law, violate school regulations, or cause "substantial disruption" of school operations.' Certainly shades of last week's guest speaker and the Hazelwood case. Although according to the article, it's fairly clear that what the students wanted to publish in the magazine is protected speech, and the principal overreacted in trying to project a certain image of his school. At this time, however, no lawsuits have been filed nor is anyone talking about filing them in the future.