BILL NUMBER: SB 1370	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 24, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Yee
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Romero
  ) 
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Brownley   and Portantino   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2008

   An act to amend Sections 48907, 48950, and 66301 of the Education
Code, relating to education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1370, as amended, Yee. Education: Journalism Teacher Protection
Act.
   (1) Existing law grants to public school pupils the right to
exercise freedom of speech and of the press, as specified. Existing
law also prohibits school districts operating one or more high
schools and private secondary schools from making or enforcing a rule
that subjects a high school pupil to disciplinary sanctions solely
on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that is
protected by specified provisions of the United States Constitution
and the California Constitution.
   This bill would prohibit an employee from being dismissed,
suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise
retaliated against for acting to protect a  pupil's conduct
authorized or   pupil engaged in conduct authorized by a
specified   provision of state law or refusing to abridge
or infringe upon conduct that is  protected pursuant to those
 constitutional  provisions.
   (2) Existing law prohibits the Regents of the University of
California, the Trustees of the California State University, and the
governing board of a community college district from making or
enforcing a rule subjecting a student to disciplinary sanction solely
on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that
is protected by specified provisions of the United States
Constitution and the California Constitution.
   This bill would prohibit an employee from being dismissed,
suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise
retaliated against for acting to protect a  student's conduct
  student engaged in conduct authorized by a specified
provision of state law or refusing to abridge or infringe upon
conduct that is  protected pursuant to those  constitutional
 provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the
Journalism Teacher Protection Act.
  SEC. 2.  Section 48907 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   48907.  (a) Pupils of the public schools shall have the right to
exercise freedom of speech and of the press including, but not
limited to, the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed
materials or petitions, the wearing of buttons, badges, and other
insignia, and the right of expression in official publications,
whether or not the publications or other means of expression are
supported financially by the school or by use of school facilities,
except that expression shall be prohibited which is obscene,
libelous, or slanderous. Also prohibited shall be material which so
incites pupils as to create a clear and present danger of the
commission of unlawful acts on school premises or the violation of
lawful school regulations, or the substantial disruption of the
orderly operation of the school.
   (b) Each governing board of a school district and each county
board of education shall adopt rules and regulations in the form of a
written publications code, which shall include reasonable provisions
for the time, place, and manner of conducting such activities within
its respective jurisdiction.
   (c) Pupil editors of official school publications shall be
responsible for assigning and editing the news, editorial, and
feature content of their publications subject to the limitations of
this section. However, it shall be the responsibility of a journalism
adviser or advisers of pupil publications within each school to
supervise the production of the pupil staff, to maintain professional
standards of English and journalism, and to maintain the provisions
of this section.
   (d) There shall be no prior restraint of material prepared for
official school publications except insofar as it violates this
section. School officials shall have the burden of showing
justification without undue delay prior to a limitation of pupil
expression under this section.
   (e) "Official school publications" refers to material produced by
pupils in the journalism, newspaper, yearbook, or writing classes and
distributed to the student body either free or for a fee.
   (f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit or prevent the
governing board of a school district from adopting otherwise valid
rules and regulations relating to oral communication by pupils upon
the premises of each school.
   (g) An employee shall not be dismissed, suspended, disciplined,
reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against for acting
to protect a pupil engaged in the conduct authorized under this
section, or  refusing to abridge or infringe upon  conduct
that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California
Constitution.
  SEC. 3.  Section 48950 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   48950.  (a) School districts operating one or more high schools
and private secondary schools shall not make or enforce a rule
subjecting a high school pupil to disciplinary sanctions solely on
the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when
engaged in outside of the campus, is protected from governmental
restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.
   (b) A pupil who is enrolled in a school that has made or enforced
a rule in violation of subdivision (a) may commence a civil action to
obtain appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief as determined
by the court. Upon motion, a court may award attorney's fees to a
prevailing plaintiff in a civil action pursuant to this section.
   (c) This section does not apply to a private secondary school that
is controlled by a religious organization, to the extent that the
application of this section would not be consistent with the
religious tenets of the organization.
   (d) Nothing in this section prohibits the imposition of discipline
for harassment, threats, or intimidation, unless constitutionally
protected.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede, or
otherwise limit or modify, the provisions of Section 48907.
   (f) The Legislature finds and declares that free speech rights are
subject to reasonable time, place, and manner regulations.
   (g) An employee shall not be dismissed, suspended, disciplined,
reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against for acting
to protect a pupil engaged in conduct authorized under this section,
or conduct that is protected by the First Amendment to the United
States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California
Constitution.
  SEC. 4.  Section 66301 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   66301.  (a) Neither the Regents of the University of California,
the Trustees of the California State University, the governing board
of a community college district, nor an administrator of any campus
of those institutions, shall make or enforce a rule subjecting a
student to disciplinary sanction solely on the basis of conduct that
is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside a
campus of those institutions, is protected from governmental
restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.
   (b) A student enrolled in an institution, as specified in
subdivision (a), that has made or enforced a rule in violation of
subdivision (a) may commence a civil action to obtain appropriate
injunctive and declaratory relief as determined by the court. Upon a
motion, a court may award attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff
in a civil action pursuant to this section.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize a
prior restraint of student speech or the student press.
   (d) Nothing in this section prohibits the imposition of discipline
for harassment, threats, or intimidation, unless constitutionally
protected.
   (e) Nothing in this section prohibits an institution from adopting
rules and regulations that are designed to prevent hate violence, as
defined in subdivision (a) of Section 4 of Chapter 1363 of the
Statutes of 1992, from being directed at students in a manner that
denies them their full participation in the educational process, if
the rules and regulations conform to standards established by the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 2 of
Article I of the California Constitution for citizens generally.
   (f) An employee shall not be dismissed, suspended, disciplined,
reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against for acting
to protect a student engaged in conduct authorized under this
section, or  refusing to abridge or infringe upon  conduct
that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California
Constitution.