Re: First Ammendment Vindication?

["Peter F. Ferris" <pferris@domain.elided>]

At 02:14 on 12/30/98   MikeIIDC@domain.elided (Joseph M. Shaw, II) uttered the
following:

: Peter-
: 
: Well, you built up to the thing, and then the URL wouldn't work!!!  I
: saw the "Happy Ending" part, and had read something about the case, but
: would like to have read more.
: Thanks for the tip.

Hmmm, sorry to hear that.  You can access the latest from Excite for the "Happy
Ending" - the court ruled that what that kid did in his own time, own equipment
was HIS business.  

Here's an alternative URL that may work for you. 

http://cnn.com:80/US/9812/29/web.lawsuit.ap/index.html

And just in case, here goes:

: Critical student wins ruling
: <Picture: ZDNet>By Michael Fitzgerald
: 12/29/98 01:50:00 PM
: 
: Judge says Missouri school district can't punish a student for posting
unflattering comments.
: 
: A high school student who used his personal Web site to post unflattering
comments about his school was within his rights to do so, a federal judge ruled
today.
: 
: It may be the first time a court has made a ruling involving students and free
speech on the Internet.
: 
: The student, Brandon Beussink, was suspended from Woodland High School in
Marble Hill, Mo. for 10 days after school officials found out about the Web
site. The suspension caused him to miss enough days that he failed an entire
semester, and would not have graduated on time with his class.
: 
: The judge's preliminary injunction in the case prevents the school from using
the suspension when factoring in grades and attendance, from punishing him or
keeping him from posting his Web site. "School administrators need to accept
that they have no more right to censor what students do on the Internet than
they do what students write in their journals or in underground papers," said
Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union's
Eastern Missouri District. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of Beussink.
: 
: Jacobs said she knew of two other cases involving students and free speech on
the Internet, but both of those were settled before they went to court.
: 
: More details to follow.


Thanks for your interest!

Cheers,

--Pete
--

pferrisATwebzoneDOTnet

"Driving a stock car is like dancing with a chain saw..."
                                     - Cale Yarborough