Officials to Appeal Ruling on Student’s Editorial About AIDS

Huntington Beach Union High School District officials said Wednesday they will appeal a judge’s ruling last week ordering them to publish a school newspaper editorial about AIDS.

The action means that the article by Michael Shindler, editor of Westminster High School’s student newspaper, will not appear in The Scroll while the appeal is pending.

“As a student, I’m not surprised,” Shindler, 17, said of the appeal. “As a taxpayer, I am outraged. Because I’d much rather see the thousands of dollars they are wasting on this spent on education.”

Court Order Sought

Shindler, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California, filed a lawsuit Nov. 16 seeking a court order allowing him to print the editorial. Orange County Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ryan last Friday ordered the district to publish the article on the grounds that school officials failed to prove that the editorial was libelous.

The article lambastes the media for sensationalizing acquired immune deficiency syndrome, criticizes the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) for allegedly spreading misinformation about AIDS and criticizes the congressman for hiring anti-gay psychologist-researcher Paul Cameron.

Shindler’s principal, newspaper adviser and the district superintendent said they found parts of the editorial potentially libelous.

Learning Is Called Purpose

“The reason we have (school) newspapers is so students learn what good journalism is,” district Supt. Marie Otto said of the appeal. “And if we can’t do that, I don’t know that there’s any reason to have (student) newspapers. . . . If I’m supposed to publish anything someone wants to publish in the paper, I can’t afford to publish the paper at all.”

According to Shindler’s attorney, Susan Borges, the ACLU intends to pursue the lawsuit on the grounds that the state Education Code, which allows districts to exercise prior restraint over student publications, is unconstitutional.