Recounts the case of a high school drama teacher in North Carolina who was disciplined after she chose a play for her students to perform, Lee Blessing's "Independence," which contained characters and language a parent found objectionable. Discusses the legal case that ensued and implications for academic freedom and the First Amendment.…

Seven suggestions are made in response to the question, "What kind of speech communication research can one do in the area of First Amendment rights?": (1) that rhetoricians reexamine loyalty-oath cases and examine lines of argument, reasoning, and language of the attorneys and judges; (2) that experts in language and style lead research…

Reviews the "Seyfried v. Walton" court decision involving the cancellation of a school play by the superintendent. Compares decision with decisions in other First Amendment cases involving school censorship. Points out that a complex constitutional issue has left a dangerous theory that could be adapted to other issues with this…

Disagreements over teachers' First Amendment, academic-freedom rights in curricular contexts are again receiving judicial attention. Two federal cases involving termination of exemplary high-school drama and creative-writing teachers have upheld school boards' authority to control curriculum context in disagreements over permissable subject matter…