The supreme court case Hazelwood v. Kulhmeier was a landmark in deciding how to interpret the first amendments guarantee of the right to freedom of speech. In the case, students of Hazelwood East High School tried to publish two articles in their school's literary journal. The school did not approve of the content of the articles, and banned them from being published. The student protested, and brought the case to a lower court. The court ruled in favor of the students, but the school brought it to the supreme court and won. This ended the widespread belief that freedom of speech was an all-encompassing law that protected everything. Because it was a school-owned and operated literary journal, the school had the right to prevent what it viewed as inappropriate conduct from being published. The impact on society was subtle, but important. It re-established the boundaries of the first amendment, and determined that school-sponsored resources not specified as forums for students expression were not protected under first-amendment law to the full extent available.
