BILL ANALYSIS
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1370
Author: Yee (D), et al
Amended: 6/2/08 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/8/08
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Ackerman, Kuehl, Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 35-2, 4/21/08
AYES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Alquist, Ashburn, Cedillo,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, Ducheny, Dutton,
Florez, Harman, Kehoe, Kuehl, Lowenthal, Machado,
Maldonado, Margett, McClintock, Migden, Negrete McLeod,
Oropeza, Padilla, Perata, Ridley-Thomas, Romero, Runner,
Simitian, Steinberg, Torlakson, Vincent, Wiggins, Yee
NOES: Hollingsworth, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Battin, Calderon, Scott
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 67-6, 6/16/08 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Education: freedom of speech and of the press
SOURCE : California Newspaper Publishers Association
DIGEST : This bill prohibits a school employee from being
dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred,
or otherwise retaliated against for acting to protect a
pupil or student engaged in conduct authorized by state law
or refusing to infringe upon conduct that is protected
pursuant to the United States Constitution and the
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California Constitution.
Assembly Amendments (1) deleted tombstoning the bill "The
Journalism Teacher Protection Act", (2) specified the
authority and timeframe to commence a civil action, and (3)
added co-authors.
ANALYSIS : 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. A pupil enrolled in a school that has made
or enforced a rule in violation of this prohibition is
authorized to commence a civil action for injunctive and
declaratory relief.
This bill specifies that the authority to commence a civil
action applies to a pupil who is enrolled at the time the
postsecondary educational institution made or enforced a
rule in violation of the prohibition. This bill also
prohibits an employee from being dismissed, suspended,
disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise
retaliated against for acting to protect a pupil engaged in
conduct authorized by a specified provision of state law or
refusing to infringe upon conduct that is protected
pursuant to state law or those constitutional provisions.
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. A student
enrolled in an institution that has made or enforced a rule
in violation of this prohibition is authorized to commence
a civil action for injunctive and declaratory relief.
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This bill specifies that the authority to commence a civil
action applies to a student who is enrolled at the time the
school made or enforced a rule in violation of the
prohibition. This bill also prohibits an employee from
being dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned,
transferred, or otherwise retaliated against for acting to
protect a student engaged in conduct authorized by a
specified provision of state law or refusing to infringe
upon conduct that is protected pursuant to state law or
those constitutional provisions.
Existing law also prohibits a private postsecondary
educational institution from making or enforcing a rule
that subjects a student 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 or the California Constitution and
authorizes a student enrolled in an institution that has
made or enforced a rule in violation of this prohibition to
commence a civil action.
This bill specifies that the authority to commence a civil
action applies to a student who is enrolled at the time the
institution made or enforced a rule in violation of the
prohibition.
Prior legislation . AB 2581 (Yee), Chapter 158, Statutes of
2006, passed the Senate Floor with a vote of 31-2 (NOES:
Hollingsworth and Margett) on August 10, 2006. The bill
prohibited public college administrators from taking
disciplinary action against students solely on the basis of
speech that off campus would be considered constitutionally
protected speech.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/17/08)
California Newspaper Publishers Association (source)
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
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Employees, AFL-CIO (Local 3299)
Associated Students of the University of California (Davis)
California Faculty Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Labor Federation
California Nurses Association
California School Employees Association
California State Student Association
California State University Employees Union / SEIU 2579
California Teachers Association
Council of UC Faculty Associations
David Greene, Executive Director, First Amendment Project
(ID purposes)
Editorial - Auburn Journal
Editorial-California Aggie (UC Davis)
Editorial-Contra Costa Times
Editorial-Golden Gate Xpress (San Francisco State
University)
Editorial-Los Angeles Daily News
Editorial-San Francisco Chronicle
Editorial-San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Pasadena Star News/LA
Daily Breeze
Editorial-San Mateo Daily Journal
Editorial-Vacaville Reporter
Editorial-The San Matean (College of San Mateo)
Service Employees International Union, Local 1000
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/17/08)
Association of California School Administrators
California School Boards Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states:
"Students at California's public high schools and
colleges are specifically granted free speech rights,
including 'the right to exercise freedom of the press.'
In 2006, AB 2581 (Yee) specifically granted this
protection and prevented prior restraint or censorship by
college administrators. High school speech protections
were enacted in 1992. However, since passage of these
two laws, some administrators have tried to control
student speech by threatening, disciplining, demoting, or
even firing faculty members, including journalism
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advisors.
"The protections provided in current law become worthless
if administrators are allowed to continue to indirectly
control student speech through this loophole in the law."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Association of the
California School Administrators (ACSA) argues that this
bill is overly broad in that it protects all teachers, not
just journalism teachers. ACSA asserts that the bill could
lead to teachers using freedom of speech to get out of
discipline, transfer, or other reprimands.
Specifically, the opposition states "ACSA has heard of
numerous situations whereby a teacher has used poor
judgment under the guise of student freedom of speech. The
school principal must be able to utilize discretion when
coming in contact with these situations. Teachers are the
adults that must be held accountable for their students,
even in the case of a school newspaper, yearbook, or other
written materials. The protection of the students must be
a top priority at every school site."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Arambula, Beall, Benoit, Berg,
Berryhill, Brownley, Caballero, Carter, Cook, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Dymally,
Emmerson, Eng, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani,
Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Horton, Houston, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Keene,
Krekorian, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma,
Mendoza, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Niello, Parra, Plescia,
Portantino, Price, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer, Strickland, Swanson,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Walters, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Blakeslee, Gaines, Huff, La Malfa, Maze
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, De Leon, Evans,
Karnette, Nunez, Soto, Wolk
RJG:mw 6/17/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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