Senate Bill No. 2201 Summary

• Grants student journalists at public institutions of higher education and public schools the right to exercise freedom of speech and press in school-sponsored media without prior institutional censorship or control over news, opinion, feature, and advertising content.

• Protects student media advisers from dismissal, suspension, or discipline for acting to protect student journalists engaged in protected activity or for refusing to infringe on protected expression.

• Limits student expression protections by excluding content that is libelous, slanderous, obscene, invades privacy, violates federal or state law, or incites students to create clear and present danger of unlawful acts or material disruption of school operations.

• Requires school districts to adopt written student freedom of expression policies that include reasonable provisions for time, place, and manner of expression, and may include limitations on profane, harassing, threatening, or intimidating language.

• Shields schools, officials, employees, and parents or legal guardians from civil or criminal liability for student expression made under this section, except in cases of willful or wanton misconduct.