Papish v. Board of Curators of University of Missouri

Papish v. Board of Curators of University of Missouri is a court case that was heard and decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 19, 1973.[1][2]

Papish v. Board of Curators of University of Missouri
Decided 19 March, 1973
Full case namePapish v. Board of Curators of University of Missouri
Citations410 U.S. 667 (more)
Holding
Reaffirmed that public universities could not punish students for indecent or offensive speech that did not disrupt campus order or interfere with the rights of others.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William O. Douglas · William J. Brennan Jr.
Potter Stewart · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist
Case opinions
MajorityDouglas, joined by Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall, Powell
DissentRehnquist, joined by Burger, Blackmun

In 1969, Barbara Susan Papish, a graduate student at the University of Missouri, distributed a newspaper containing a political cartoon of policemen raping the Statue of Liberty and the Goddess of Justice with the caption "With Liberty and Justice for All." She and three of her classmates were arrested for "possessing and attempting to sell obscene literature".[3] The university tried to expel Papish for violating their student conduct code that prohibited "indecent conduct or speech" and the lower courts agreed.[4] In 1973, the Supreme Court overturned the lower ruling, rejecting the notion that such content-based discipline could be justified, and ruled that public universities couldn't punish students for offensive speech that didn't cause disruption or interfere with the rights of others. The Court held that the school's expulsion of Papish violated the First Amendment.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Webb, Robert (May 13, 1973). "Raping The Bill Of Rights". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. p. 140. Retrieved January 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Elsasser, Glen (March 20, 1973). "Supreme Court backs coed in obscenity case". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. p. 7. Retrieved January 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Gilbert, Hunter M. (February 13, 2019). Reed, Katherine (ed.). "The First Amendment Papish case is the topic of a talk Saturday". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  4. ^ Bruner, Darlene Y. (August 30, 2018). "Papish v. Board of Curators of the University of Missouri". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  5. ^ Park, Michael K. (2022). ""Stick to Sports"? First Amendment Values and Limitations to Student-Athlete Expression". Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 99 (2): 515–537. doi:10.1177/10776990211018757. ISSN 1077-6990. S2CID 236383636.