Opinion ID: 2418950
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: ICSD's Censorship of the Stick-Figure Cartoon

Text: In late December 2004 or early January 2005, Faculty Advisor Stephanie Vinch (Vinch) received a pre-publication draft, or proof set, of the January issue of The Tattler. The proof set included a cartoon created to accompany an article written by a former IHS student entitled: Alumni Advice: Sex is fun! The cartoon depicted a doorway with the phrase Health 101 written over the door. Near the doorway, a teacher pointed to a blackboard that contained eight drawings of stick figures in various sexual positions, with the phrase Test on Monday written on the blackboard underneath the drawings. After reviewing the cartoon and article, Vinch deemed them to be inappropriate for publication in a high school newspaper. Accordingly, she crossed out the cartoon and the accompanying article on the proof set. The January 2005 issue of The Tattler was printed without the cartoon and accompanying article. The student editors did not appeal Vinch's decision. Also during December 2004 or January 2005, Vinch met with the IHS Principal, Joseph Wilson (Wilson), and the ICSD Assistant Superintendent, William Russell (Russell), to discuss her possible resignation as Faculty Advisor. She explained that she perceived increasing resistance by the staff of The Tattler to [her] role as Faculty Advisor and proposed implementing a set of guidelines to more clearly define her responsibilities and those of the student editors. Vinch subsequently provided a set of proposed guidelines to Russell, who, in turn, discussed them with ICSD Superintendent Judith Pastel (Pastel) and with ICSD's lawyers. On January 21, 2005, Vinch, Wilson, and Russell met with The Tattler editors and distributed a document setting forth Guidelines for The Tattler Advisor and Editors, as follows:  The Tattler is an Ithaca High School-sponsored publication of the Ithaca City School District . . . [intended] to inform the school community about matters of news and interest, to serve as a forum for student views and opinion, and to impart journalist skills to Ithaca High School Students.  The faculty advisor to The Tattler will be given a list of story ideas before story assignments are distributed to writers. The advisor must approve all stories before they are assigned.  The advisor to The Tattler shall read, edit and approve all articles prior to publication. No issue of The Tattler may be sent to the printer without final approval of the adviser.  In a manner that is consistent with the standards established by the Supreme Court in Tinker and Hazelwood, the advisor has the right to change, edit or remove content that[:]  would substantially interfere with the District's work or impinge upon the rights of other students; or  is inconsistent with the legitimate pedagogical concerns of the District (for example, content that is ungrammatical, poorly written, inadequately researched, inaccurate, libelous, biased or prejudiced, unethical, vulgar or profane, or is not suitable for immature audiences). In the February 2005 issue of the newspaper, The Tattler editors sought to print the same stick-figure cartoon that Vinch had previously rejected. This time, the editors proposed that the cartoon accompany a more serious article entitled: How is Sex Being Taught In Our Health Class? Once again, Vinch refused to allow the cartoon to be published in the newspaper. However, Vinch permitted the accompanying article (without the cartoon) to appear in the February issue of The Tattler. On January 31, 2005, plaintiff R.O. sent a letter to Principal Wilson formally appealing Vinch's decision. R.O. claimed that his First Amendment rights had been violated by Vinch's censorship of the cartoon; he further claimed that the Guidelines for The Tattler were unconstitutional. On February 3, 2005, Vinch resigned as Faculty Advisor of The Tattler. As a result of the lack of an appointed Faculty Advisor, The Tattler did not publish any issues during the months of March, April, or May 2005. On February 9, 2005, Principal Wilson denied R.O.'s appeal of Vinch's decision to censor the cartoon. He also refused to rescind the Guidelines. Wilson explained his decision as follows: We believe that the nature of the cartoon, which depicts stick figures in various sexual positions, was obscene and not suitable for immature audiences, and consequently, was inconsistent with the educational mission and concerns of the District. . . . [T]he cartoons provided sufficient graphic detail, which may potentially force immature students to be confronted with difficult adult issues prematurely. On February 15, 2005, R.O. sent a letter to Superintendent Pastel appealing Principal Wilson's denial of his appeal. Pastel upheld the decisions of Vinch and Wilson, stating: The stick figures are explicitly shown in various positions of sexual intercourse. As such, they appeal to the prurient interest in sex. . . . Further, they are patently offensive in that they depict the ultimate sex act. . . . [U]nder Hazelwood or Tinker, the right of the District to control what is published in the school newspaper is not limited to material that is obscene. The cartoon will substantially interfere with the work of the school and impinge upon the rights of other students. Distribution of this offensive cartoon to all students would clearly offend many students. Please recall that the high school includes ninth graders. The mockery made of sexual intercourse in the stick figures would raise inappropriate questions in the minds of many immature students and interfere with what is being taught in the health curriculum regarding both responsibility and abstinence. On March 3, 2005, R.O. requested permission from Assistant Superintendent Russell to distribute The March Issue, an independent student publication ( i.e., one not subsidized by the school) that had been newly created by The Tattler 's editors. The second page of The March Issue contained the same stick-figure cartoon, this time accompanying an article that discussed ICSD's censorship of The Tattler. On March 8, 2005, Superintendent Pastel sent a letter to R.O. denying permission to distribute The March Issue on ICSD grounds, explaining: As you are aware, [ The March Issue ] includes the cartoon that is the subject of The Tattler 's current appeal. I have concluded that distribution of this cartoon would cause material and substantial interference with the educational operation of Ithaca High School. The cartoon is unfit for distribution to students in the High School. On March 9, 2005, in response to a second challenge by R.O., Pastel reconfirmed her decision not to allow distribution of The March Issue, stating: I believe that the cartoon at issue is obscene, and further that its distribution would be offensive to many students and confusing to others, particularly immature students whose understanding of and views about sexual relations are not fully formed. Further, its distribution would interfere with teaching of the current health curriculum, in particular that sexual relations is a matter to be taken seriously. The student editors of The March Issue subsequently created two more independent newspapers entitled The April Issue and The May Issue, neither of which contained the stick-figure cartoon. The editors received permission to distribute both publications on ICSD grounds. On May 11, 2005, a new Faculty Advisor was appointed to oversee The Tattler. Thereafter, publication of The Tattler proceeded normally; there were no further efforts to publish the stick-figure cartoon.