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Sixth Circuit Revisits Kincaid Ruling
By Hans Johnson
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has opted for its entire panel of thirteen judges to reconsider a widely criticized ruling issued by a three-judge panel of the court last September in Kincaid v. Gibson. The case involves the student yearbook at Kentucky State University, copies of which administrators confiscated amid objections over the content and the color of its cover. The AAUP filed a friend-of-the-court brief before the initial three-judge panel on behalf of the plaintiffs, who are former members of the yearbook staff. The case has implications not just for freedom of speech in student publications, but also for some faculty writings and university press offerings as well, since it tests the legal authority of administrations to censor college and university publications.
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