On the most general level, we start with this statement: "There is no such thing as a false idea." This statement comes from a 1974 Supreme Court case and basically means people can publish and share incredibly wacky ideas without any sanctions from government.
The First Amendment only applies to government censoring or limiting expression, though this fact often confuses students and adults alike. Twitter, for instance, is not bound by First Amendment rulings and traditions, and CAN ban users who consistently publish false ideas. Hence, the defeated former president being removed permanently from the platform. He can shout and complain about his "rights" being taken away, but he has no leverage to use to be reinstated.
Student free expression rights do not extend to private/parochial schools, which is relevant in our abortion commentary case. In Colorado, for instance, we not only have a state statute protecting student expression but a recent amendment to the law that protects teachers from sanctions when they are simply supporting student free expression rights.
I mention this because Regis Jesuit fired the two teachers who advised the magazine but did not sanction the student writer. Those teachers enjoy no protection in this particular instance. A cynic might note that the student's parents pay $20K to the school each year for tuition, so booting her from school carries a clear cost for the school. Losing two well-liked and well-respected teachers also carries a cost... and very mixed publicity.
The school may have been given an ultimatum by the archbishop: fire those teachers or lose Catholic school accreditation. Even a relatively progressive Jesuit school can't afford that. The teachers may have stood their ground and refused to resign, thus forcing the firing actions. There may have been other incidents that preceded this one that play into the termination decisions.
We likely will never know.
Had this mediocre commentary (in terms of writing and thinking quality) been published in a public high school in Colorado, the story would be quite different. First Amendment protections would apply, as the school is part of government and cannot violate free expression rights. The advisers might face some criticism from parents or even administrators, but their jobs would not be at risk (unless the school could prove negligence or failure to educate).
Regis Jesuit as an institution is now in the uncomfortable position of not being able to live up to what it hoped was a fairly extensive respect for student expression (and there is a written media policy, developed by advisers, students, and administration).
Regis now looks a bit hypocritical, evidently afraid of what one poorly argued opinion article might do to the school community and to the Catholic faith. Again, the pressure may come from the reactionary local archbishop, who is quite up front about wanting to remove the current Pope.
Journalism students may protest, of course, but they and their families chose to NOT be covered by free expression rights when they opted out of public schools.
A parochial school like Regis tends to respond to parent protests -- after all, without all those tuition dollars, the school can't exist. This is not all that different from how customers can influence King Soopers management over the strike which commences tomorrow.
If customers refuse to cross the picket lines, the grocery behemoth will lose enough money that some sort of deal will be struck. Government won't have anything to do with that.
I see that Canada has had remarkable success in raising Covid vaccination rates by instituting a law that you can't enter a liquor store without proof of vaccination. Vaccinations have quadrupled over the past week, after this went into effect.
It all comes down to who has the leverage. The advisers of the magazine at Regis had none. A large group of parents might have some. The Canadian government found a powerful lever to use.
Tomorrow, I plan to discuss what a good informal essay (personal commentary) looks like as a way to wrap up analysis of this issue.
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