The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines
Independent Community School District (1969) was the standard
governing censorship of student publications for almost 20
years. It remains the controlling decision in some instances.
Tinker established that a student may express personal opinions,
"even on controversial subjects," unless the student's conduct
"materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder
or invasion of the rights of others." The Supreme Court's
decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kulhmeier (1988) looked
more specifically at student publications and allowed school
officials greater opportunity to censor than under Tinker. The
student newspaper in this case was part of a high school
journalism class. As such, the Court decided it was sponsored by
the school and legitimately subject to school control over its
content and style, as long as that control served a valid
educational purpose. Under Hazelwood, a publication would likely
be considered school-sponsored if it i