Source: http://www.splc.org/article/2010/06/liability-for-student-media?id=30
Timestamp: 2015-01-28 14:09:22
Document Index: 283147791

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6', '§ 48907', '§ 22', '§ 28022', '§ 72', '§ 82']

Liability for student media: Who's responsible in the event of a lawsuit - Student Press Law Center
One of the most common excuses school administrators employ to justify censorship of student publications is that in order to protect the school from liability for articles that are libelous, invade privacy or are otherwise illegal, they need to closely supervise the actions of the students. But this excuse makes little legal sense, as a growing body of law indicates that censorship is more likely to create, rather than counteract, a school's potential for liability.
The general theory of legal liability is that any person who could have and should have prevented an injury can be held responsible for it. Thus, in order to not be held liable, a school should not put itself in a position where it could have or should have prevented an injury. This general liability principle is applicable to any context, but the specifics of liability for the actions of the student media will depend on the type of school involved -- whether it is a college or a high school, whether it is public or private -- because courts may afford different protection to each.Public Colleges While libel suits against college publications are relatively rare, college administrators may still be concerned about their potential for liability. Libel plaintiffs would like to make the school responsible for the actions of the student media in order to reach the "deep pockets" of the school for paying damage awards.
The first theory is vicarious liability, or respondeat superior. In an agency relationship, one party acts as "principal" and the other as "agent." The principal has the right to control the agent in the performance of his duties. Thus, the principal is vicariously liable for the actions of its agent. Applying this relationship to a public college and its student publications simply does not work. A public university is constitutionally prohibited from exercising content control, court decisions indicate.
None of these factors were sufficient, however, "to overcome the university's lack of control over the newspaper.... Such accoutrements are nothing more than a form of financial aid to the newspaper which cannot be traded off in return for editorial control.
The court stated that "[t]here is overwhelming authority across the country in support of the position that a public university which does not censor or otherwise control the content of a school-sponsored newspaper is not liable for what is published by the students in the student-run newspaper."
Libel plaintiffs have also attempted to argue that the university is the publisher of a student publication and thus is liable for its actions as a commercial publisher would be. However, as one federal appellate court noted, "[t]he university is clearly an arm of the state and this single fact will always distinguish it from the purely private publisher as far as censorship rights are concerned."
The university as publisher analogy was advanced in a 1983 Louisiana case against the student newspaper at Southern University of New Orleans.
7 The court held that because the First Amendment bars state universities from exercising anything but advisory control over student publications, the university could not be held liable for defamatory articles printed in the paper.8
The issue of vicarious liability was recently confronted by a Minnesota state appellate court when a professor sued St. Cloud University for an allegedly defamatory article published in the student newspaper.
9 The court acknowledged the "plethora of connections"10 between the student newspaper and the university, which the professor pointed out, but rejected his claim that the university could be held liable based on either a "university as publisher" or agency theory. Of particular relevance to the Minnesota court in shielding the university from liability was a university system policy that prohibited school officials from exercising any control over student-funded publications.11
However, if school officials do ignore the First Amendment and engage in censorship or require prior review of content by an adviser or administrator, protection from liability would be lost. A public university that wants protection must allow editorial independence for student media.Private Schools
First, consent must be given to the agent newspaper to act on behalf of the principal university. The necessary consent may be evident in the university's establishment and funding of a student newspaper.
13 Next, the university must be shown to benefit from the presence of the newspaper. Finally, student editors must be acting within their granted scope of authority when they select content for publication.14 If these factors can be met, it would be possible for a private university to be found liable under a vicarious liability theory.
That assumption was recently challenged in a case involving Princeton University, where a court, for the first time, said a private university was protected from liability for material published by a student newspaper.
15 The potential significance of this case is unclear, however, because unlike most student publications, The Daily Princetonian is an independent, separately incorporated newspaper. The court never noted that fact in its decision, so it is difficult to determine how this holding might shield other private universities from liability for student publications that are not so independent.
This argument was advanced in a case against the University of Rochester, where the court expressly stated that a private school is not limited by the First Amendment like a public school.
16 While the case was ultimately settled out of court, the decision suggests the burden would be on the university to demonstrate that it had no power to exercise control over the newspaper. In some places, state law limiting censorship of expression by non-government agencies could provide this protection.
Above all, students and administrators at private schools should learn the law and employ good journalism and ethics. The more the school refrains from interfering with content decisions made by student publication staffs, the more likely it will remain free from liability.Public High Schools
After the Supreme Court's decision in Hazelwood School District. v. Kuhlmeier,17 public high schools have greater authority to legally exercise control over many school-sponsored student publications. However, those schools that censor probably put themselves at a greater risk of legal liability. If public schools establish written policies similar to those recommended for private schools, the schools are more likely to be shielded from liability.
Additionally, California, Massachusetts, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, have adopted laws or administrative agency regulations that limit the amount of control school officials have over the content of their student media.
18 Like public college administrators, officials at schools in these states are legally prohibited from interfering with editorial content except in narrow circumstances specified by law. In such cases -- again, just like at a public college -- it will be more difficult to show that student journalists act as "agents" for the school so as to justify imposing institutional liability.19 The issue is clearer in Massachusetts, Iowa, Kansas, and Colorado, where the states' laws explicitly limit liability of school officials for material printed in student publications unless the school has interfered with content decisions of student editors.
High school administrators in particular may attempt to use the potential for liability as an excuse to control content, but that justification is not supported by court decisions. Despite the millions (perhaps billions) of pages published by American student newspapers, yearbooks, literary magazines and other student media over the last century-plus, the Student Press Law Center is aware of no reported court decision where a high school has been found liable for the content of its student media. The best protection a school can take is not to censor but to hire competent publication advisers who can teach students about their legal responsibilities and to distance itself as much as possible from the content decisions made by student editors.Libel Insurance
In choosing an insurance plan, there are several things publication should consider. One of the most important is who decides on retractions or corrections. Many editors believe that the newspaper itself, not the insurance company's lawyer, should make that type of decision.
Other factors to consider include: whether to buy errors and omissions coverage, whether there are discounts for no losses in a five-year period, whether the policy covers intentional or malicious acts, whether the insurers will pay attorney's fees in addition to the policy limit on judgment costs, and whether the policy covers punitive damages.
Although it does depend mainly on circulation, libel insurance may be a costly proposition and out of reach for many schools. Additionally, some believe it may invite lawsuits that would otherwise not be filed against poor students. But, for those that can afford insurance, it is a protection worth looking into. The question of legal responsibility ultimately turns on who has control over the printed material. The general test is that when a school exercises control over the content of the paper, it takes on a greatly increased potential for liability. Schools should then not employ the misguided excuse that content review of a paper will reduce the likelihood of liability. Obviously the best protection against being sued is to engage in careful, accurate reporting. Everyone involved, from the administrators to the student journalists, wants to avoid liability. The first step in doing so is promoting awareness of the law and the legal constraints that apply to student media.Endnotes
441 N.Y.S.2d. 600 (1981).	Id. at 606.	Lentz v. Clemson University, No. 95-CP-39-66 (S. Car. Ct. of Common Pleas, 1995).	Id. at 6.	663 N.Y.S.2d. 4 (1995).	Bazaar v. Fortune, 476 F.2d. 570, 574, aff1d en banc with modification, 489 F.2d 225 (5th Cir. 1973)(per curiam), cert. denied, 416 U.S. 995 (1974).	Milliner v. Turner, 436 So.2d. 1300 (La. App. 1983).	Id. at 1302.	Lewis v. St. Cloud State Univ., 693 N.W.2d 466 (Minn. App. 2005).	The court noted: "[I]t is undisputed that SCSU plays a role in selection of the Chronicle's editor, business manager, and faculty advisor; provides start-up operating funds at the beginning of each year; requires the Chronicle to undergo a certification process each year; allows the use of SCSU's trademarked logo; provides equipment, services, and facilities free of charge; provides a full-time faculty advisor employed by SCSU whose role is to represent and protect the interests of SCSU; requires the Chronicle to have a constitution and bylaws, which state that it exists for the benefit of, and concerning, the students, faculty, staff, administration, and St. Cloud community; and requires the Chronicle to submit an annual recognition form listing officers and pledging its compliance with all SCSU policies and procedures in the code of conduct and student organization manual." Id. at 472, n.1.	The policy read, in part: "[s]tudent-funded publications shall be free of censorship and advance approval of copy, and their editors and managers shall be free to develop their own editorial and news coverage policies." Id. at 469.	Mazart at 607.	Wallace v. Weiss, 372 N.Y.S.2d. 416 (Sup. Ct. 1975).	Ruth Walden, The University's Liability for Libel and Privacy Invasion by Student Press, 2 in Journalism Quarterly 702, 707 (Fall 1988).	Gallo v. Princeton University, 656 A.2d. 1267 (N.J. Super. A.D. 1995).	Wallace at 422.	484 U.S. 260 (1988).	Ark. Stat. Ann. §§ 6-18-1201-1204 (Supp. 1995); Cal. Educ. Code § 48907 (Deering Supp. 1991); Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-1-120 (1990); Iowa Code § 28022 (Supp. 1996); Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 72.1504-72.1506 (1992); Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 71, § 82 (1991).	See, e.g., Owasso Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Falvo, 534 U.S. 426 (2000) (finding that high school students do not "act for" teachers or other school officials when grading classmate's work); Yeo v. Town of Lexington, 131 F.3d 241 (1st Cir. 1997) (finding that high school student journalists, unlike publication advisers and other school officials, were not "state actors" when they rejected advertisement submitted to student yearbook).