How often are student media organizations sued?
Libel and other content-based lawsuits against student newspapers generally – and high school newspapers specifically – are extremely rare. In fact, to date, there is not a single, reported court decision where a school district has ever been held liable for material published by its high school student media. (If a school district were worried about liability, they would be much better served by ending their football program than worrying about their student media programs.) Still, because school officials frequently cite concern for liability as a primary reason for wanting to retain censorship authority, HB 1307 contains specific provisions that limit a school or college’s liability for student media.
