Since the 1974 Supreme Court dicta in "Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.," many courts have held that statement of opinion is constitutionally protected. However, statements that appear to be opinion based on undisclosed facts or knowledge not generally known to the public can be an exception. For instance, courts have protected specific…

The press and public should have access to pretrial discovery documents in civil litigation when matters of public concern are at issue. Recently, the Supreme Court expanded the public's First Amendment right of access to criminal proceedings, and based on that, some lower courts have granted access to civil trials. In its decisions establishing…

Since 1939, legal recognition of the public forum concept has been gradually extended to include the public schools. This expansion of the free speech right has been accompanied by a movement of similar intensity aimed at narrowing the scope of regulatory action that might inhibit First Amendment freedoms. Ultimately, recognition of the public…

After a unique court decision forbidding prior restraint in public high school publications in three states, a study was devised based on the responses to individual questionnaires sent to principals, faculty advisers, and student editors in each of the schools in the judicial district involved in the decision. Respondents answered questions…