Judge won't order school district to lift restrictions on editorial

By The Associated Press

05.10.02

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Editor's note: Andrew Smith's opinion piece was published May 14, but Smith will pursue his lawsuit against the school district seeking declamatory relief and damages. Smith's lawyer, Cynthia Cook, said journalism students' decision to print "Reverse Racism" alongside a counterpoint piece caused the editorial to be pulled from one edition of The Buzz, and delayed its publication for months. She said by allowing a condition to be put on the publication of the editorial, the district violated Smith's free-speech rights.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The high school student who wrote a controversial editorial will continue his lawsuit against the school district although he lost an initial round in court this week.

Andrew Smith, 18, and his father, Dale Smith, tried to lift restrictions the Novato Unified School District placed on the publication of the editorial titled "Reverse Racism."

On May 6, Marin County Superior Court Judge Vernon Smith refused to issue an order to lift the restrictions, saying Andrew and Dale Smith's attorney failed to prove the district or journalism students planned to ban the editorial's publication.

Also, the San Francisco Chronicle reported May 7 that the judge said he saw no reason to issue the order because school district officials had agreed to allow the article to run in the May issue of The Buzz, with a counterpoint editorial by another student.

The editorial would have run in the March issue of The Buzz had the entire issue not been canceled, the judge said.

The lawsuit alleges the school district violated Andrew Smith's right to free speech with public reprimands and restraints, and that he was discriminated against because of his opinions. Anne Hayes, the Smiths' lawyer, contends school officials unlawfully delayed the editorial's publication when they said it could only be run with an article presenting a competing point of view.

Previous

High school journalist sues school for blocking controversial editorial
Lawyer tells newspaper: 'They stifled Andrew's voice because he had an unpopular viewpoint.'  05.06.02

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