Gretna East High Censors 17-Year-Old's Anti-ICE Cartoon and Op-Ed After 48 Hours

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 4

Within 48 hours of publication, Gretna East High ordered student journalist Aidan McClaren’s anti-ICE cartoon removed after complaints flooded administrators and secretaries, he said.
McClaren then wrote an op-ed accusing the school of teaching that journalism should shield the powerful, but administrators also blocked that piece, citing their claimed right of prior review.
The Student Press Law Center and FIRE told the Nebraska district the censorship appeared unconstitutional even under the Hazelwood standard; the school said it is drafting new policies for handling hot-button coverage.
The dispute fits a wider rise in student-press censorship: SPLC said active editorial-censorship requests climbed 17% in the last academic year, with anti-ICE coverage among the most commonly targeted stories.
McClaren, 17, is now working with advisers and SPLC on a ballot measure to expand press protections in Nebraska, which lacks a New Voices law.

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