State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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90_SB1881

      105 ILCS 5/27-23.5 new
          Amends the School Code.  Provides that public high school
      students have the right to exercise freedom of the press  and
      that expressions contained in a high school newspaper are not
      subject  to  prior  restraint except for expressions that are
      libelous,  obscene  or  harmful  to  minors,  constitute   an
      unwarranted  invasion  of  privacy,  or  incite  students  to
      imminent  lawless  action.  Provides that the governing board
      of a school district that publishes a high  school  newspaper
      shall  adopt  a  student  freedom of expression policy.  Adds
      provisions relative to the responsibility of student  editors
      of   high  school  newspapers  and  of  journalism  advisors.
      Authorizes  injunctive  or  declaratory  relief  actions   to
      enforce  rights provided by the amendatory Act, provides that
      school districts are not required to have a student newspaper
      and are not prohibited from adopting  otherwise  valid  rules
      relating  to certain oral or other written student materials,
      and adds a severability clause.
                                                     LRB9011246THpk
                                               LRB9011246THpk
 1        AN ACT  to  amend  the  School  Code  by  adding  Section
 2    27-23.5.
 3        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:
 5        Section 5.  The School Code is amended by adding  Section
 6    27-23.5 as follows:
 7        (105 ILCS 5/27-23.5 new)
 8        Sec. 27-23.5.  Student publications.
 9        (a)  The  General  Assembly  declares  that  public  high
10    school  students  shall have the right to exercise freedom of
11    the press, and no  expression  contained  in  a  high  school
12    student  newspaper, whether or not such high school newspaper
13    is school-sponsored, is supported financially by  the  school
14    or  by  the  use  of  school  facilities,  or  is produced in
15    conjunction with a class, shall be subject to prior restraint
16    except for the types of expression  described  in  subsection
17    (c) of this Section.
18        (b)  Each  governing  board  of  a  school  district that
19    publishes a high school student newspaper shall  adopt  rules
20    and  regulations  in the form of a written student freedom of
21    expression policy in accordance with this Section that  shall
22    include reasonable provisions for the time, place, and manner
23    of student expression and that shall be made available to all
24    students.
25        (c)  Student   freedom   of   expression  policies  shall
26    recognize  that  truth,  fairness,  accuracy,  research,  and
27    responsibility are essential to the practice  of  journalism.
28    Nothing in this Section shall be interpreted to authorize the
29    publication by students of the following:
30             (1)  expression  which  is  libelous  as  defined by
31        State law;
                            -2-                LRB9011246THpk
 1             (2)  expression  which  is  obscene  or  harmful  to
 2        minors;
 3             (3)  expression  which  constitutes  an  unwarranted
 4        invasion of privacy;
 5             (4)  expression which  so  incites  students  as  to
 6        cause imminent lawless action, including the violation of
 7        lawful  school  regulations  or  the  disruption  of  the
 8        orderly operation of the school.
 9        (d)  Student  editors  of  school-sponsored  high  school
10    student  newspapers  shall be responsible for determining the
11    news, opinion, and advertising content of their  publications
12    subject   to   the   limitations   of   this   Section.   The
13    responsibilities  of  a   journalism   advisor   of   student
14    publications  shall include but not be limited to supervising
15    the production of the school-sponsored  high  school  student
16    newspaper,  maintaining professional standards of English and
17    journalism, and maintaining the provisions of this Section.
18        (e)  Any student,  through  a  parent  or  guardian,  may
19    institute proceedings for injunctive or declaratory relief in
20    the  circuit  court  to  enforce  the rights provided in this
21    Section.
22        (f)  Nothing  in  this  Section  shall  be  construed  to
23    require a  school  district  to  have  a  student  newspaper.
24    Further,  the  provisions  of  this Section do not prohibit a
25    board of directors of a public school from adopting otherwise
26    valid rules relating to oral communications  or  distribution
27    of  leaflets or other materials by students upon the premises
28    of each school.
29        (g)  If any provision of this Section or the  application
30    thereof  to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such
31    invalidity shall not affect other provisions or  applications
32    of  the Section which can be given effect without the invalid
33    provision or application, and to this end the  provisions  of
34    this Section are declared to be severable.

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