Student speech has and continues to be a contested issue in schools. The Supreme Court ruled in "Tinker" that students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate; in the "Kuhlmeier" and "Fraser" decisions, however, the Court gave school officials greater latitude in regulating student speech, especially when it…

Presents a case study of the interpenetration of the paradigm discourses of science, religion, politics, and law and public motive structures as demonstrated by the controversy over scientific creationism. Argues that the discursive populist commitments of journalism indirectly legitimate the populist discourse of creationism. (RAE)

In 1989, some Springfield, Missouri residents demanded cancellation of the Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU) theater department's production of Larry Kramer's play, "The Normal Heart," which they alleged to be obscene. Opponents purchased newspaper advertisements which charged that the publicly funded production promoted a…

The United States Supreme Court case, Meese v. Keene, in which the justices narrowly defined the meaning of the term "political propaganda," failed to address adequately the complexities of the issue. In this case it is necessary to bring together divergent views about communications in the analysis of the legal problem, including…