SDSU Editor Wins Right to Endorse Candidates

In a decision that could strengthen the independence of student editors throughout the California State University system, a federal judge ruled Monday that the editors of the San Diego State University Daily Aztec have an unfettered right to endorse political candidates and propositions.

U.S. District Judge Edward Schwartz said a state university policy requiring that editorial endorsements be signed by their authors infringes on the First Amendment free speech rights of college newspaper editors.

Editors at a dozen student newspapers in the state university system flouted the policy by publishing unsigned editorial endorsements before the November general election. But disciplinary action was taken only in the case of R. Andrew Rathbone, editor of the Daily Aztec, who was suspended from his editorial post for one day by SDSU President Thomas Day.

Schwartz ordered the suspension set aside and ruled that the university had no interest of its own that outweighed Rathbone’s First Amendment rights.

“For student newspapers at public colleges and universities in California, (the ruling) indicates they do have the basic speech and press rights that any other publication would have,” said Gregory Marshall, legal director of the San Diego chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Rathbone in the case. “The fact that the state contributes some of the financing to a college newspaper does not mean the state has control over the content of the newspaper.”

Attorneys for the state university contended that by requiring editorial endorsements to be signed, the university--without interfering with the content of the editorials--was assuring that readers would not mistakenly believe they reflected the opinions of the university or the state. Confusion about the source of an editorial endorsement, especially in smaller university communities, could improperly color public debate, Deputy Atty. Gen. Beth Faber said in a written argument.

“In communities where the economy is substantially connected with the state university, a member of the public reading an unsigned political editorial would easily construe the endorsement as that of the university or the state,” she said.

But Schwartz agreed with Rathbone and his ACLU lawyers, who argued that it typically is impossible to confuse student editors’ opinions with those of a university’s administration.

“I just wanted to see that the student newspapers have the same forums as a newspaper outside the campus community,” Rathbone said. “This opens up an important avenue of student voice which, up until this point, the California State University has been trying to suppress.”

The judge also rejected the university’s contention that its policy helped it comply with state law prohibiting the spending of state funds or student fees to support candidates or ballot propositions. Though the Daily Aztec in the main is self-supporting, it receives rent-free office space from SDSU, and the school’s Associated Students Inc. advances the paper start-up funds each fall.

University lawyers said they would have to review Schwartz’s decision before commenting on how it might apply to other campuses in the 19-school system or on whether the ruling will be appealed. A challenge to the endorsement policy by the Lumberjack newspaper at Humboldt State University, which is more dependent on student funds than the Aztec, still is pending in state court.

Marshall said he expects that the state will modify its policy systemwide in response to Schwartz’s ruling.