The Nation - News from July 8, 1986

A federal court ruled that school officials in suburban St. Louis violated students’ rights to free speech and a free press when they deleted articles about divorce and teen-age pregnancy from their school newspaper. In doing so, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the finding of U.S. District Judge John F. Nangle, who decided last year that the Spectrum, published at Hazelwood East High School, was an educational exercise exempt from constitutional guarantees. The three-judge appellate panel said that the paper is a public forum for the expression of student opinion and, as such, is protected by the First Amendment.