ACLU to Take Student Case in Fallbrook

The American Civil Liberties Union plans to defend two Fallbrook High School students who have been sued by the Fallbrook Union High School District for publishing an underground newspaper, ACLU officials said Friday.

Daniel Gluesenkamp and Phillip Tiso, both 16, were named as defendants in a suit that the school district filed Wednesday in Superior Court in Vista. The suit asks the court to direct the youths to comply with school policies and regulations regarding school newspapers.

Fallbrook High School Principal Henry Woessner suspended Gluesenkamp for five days shortly after the 12-page tabloid “Hatchet Job” appeared on the campus Sept. 24. Woessner said Gluesenkamp, the paper’s editor, and Tiso, the assistant editor, had violated policy by not letting administrators review the publication before its distribution on campus.

In January, Gluesenkamp sued the district for $9.6 million, claiming his First Amendment rights were violated when he was suspended for publishing “Hatchet Job.”