Thomas C. Leaf
Summary
During the 2004-2005 school year Clifford Collins, a 12th grader in a large New Haven Public School, wrote a poem that contained violent imagery and connotations which he submitted to the school’s literary magazine. The magazine’s editorial staff approved the poem for publication citing it for complex and vivid imagery. Upon review, the magazine’s faculty advisor found the poem to be distressing and did not want the poem included into the final copy of the magazine. The issue went before the principal who sided with the advisor. The principal cited the following reasons for the poem’s removal from magazine: 1) violent imagery/language 2) the poem could potentially cause distress among the student body 3) the poem could pose as a possible threat to the welfare of the student body based on the language within the poem.
The poem’s author, Clifford Collins, has a long disciplinary record with the school. He has actually been expelled from another high school for publicly threatening another student. He has a criminal record for assault. Clifford also is diagnosed with clinical depression and does not regularly self medicate however this last aspect of Clifford’s personal history has been kept private. The first two parts of Clifford’s history are well known to faculty and students.
In response to the principal’s actions Clifford’s family brought a suit into court based on the premise that Clifford’s poem should not be censored from the magazine because it is a form of protected free speech and that Clifford’s Constitutional Rights were being infringed upon based on his history and reputation rather than the poem’s content.
The Poem
“Time Bomb Ticking”
By: Clifford Collins, Class of ‘05
You see me everyday
But do not know I am there.
You don’t even know you hate me
Even when I am here.
Right behind you.
Waiting.
Watching.
I could be me.
The next one
To bring a gun
To finish what they begun
Just because it’s fun to see you run
Away from the barrel of my gun.
I should be the next one.
Just because you laugh and point and stare
At my clothes, my music my style
While I bide my time
Waiting…
For the right time.
Clifford’s Argument
Clifford Collins does have a past of violent behavior but a person’s past cannot necessarily determine a person’s future. A child has the ability to evolve into an adult and part of that evolution is self expression. Self expression and the freedom to do so in print is a Constitutional Right guaranteed by the First Amendment. Written expression, as in a poem, can be a form of protest against an unjust or intolerant climate which Clifford found himself in. His means of dealing with an inhospitable climate was to write a poem that expressed his frustrations. There was no imminent threat to the student body or community and no violent act of illegal action accompanied the submission or performance of the poem Clifford wrote.
According to Tinker vs. Des Moines, the Supreme Court upheld the students’ right to protest and thus freely express themselves so long as the expression or act did not interfere with the daily proceedings of the school. Clifford’s poem would not have interfered with the daily proceedings of class or inhibited a faculty member’s ability to conduct class or any other school function. Furthermore, Clifford’s poem does not indicate or threaten any particular individual or group of students therefore it cannot be inferred that there is a clear and imminent threat to any of the students or faculty members.
New Haven Board of Education’s Argument
Clifford Collins is a student who has displayed in and out a school a penchant for violent behavior. His disciplinary record reflects that he has threatened violence against another student so severely that it warranted expulsion. He also has a prior criminal record that includes assaulting another minor which resulted in minor injuries to that child.
The language Clifford sues in his poem alludes to an act of violence which could be committed within the near future. It is a school’s duty to protect its students even if it means protecting students from themselves. There is no room for interpretation or poetic license in this regard. If a faculty member feels that a student is endangering the student body than sufficient and appropriate action must be taken. In this case the poem was removed from the school’s literary magazine because the faculty advisor, a duly appointed professional educator, and the school’s principal felt that Clifford’s poem was a general threat of violence towards the student body if not towards a particular student.
In the case of Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier the Supreme Court found that a school publication can be rightfully censored because a school published literary magazine is not a private publication. If the advisor or principal feels it is appropriate to remove an article or poem from the publication than it is not only an appropriate action but a perfectly legal one as well. In this regard the school’s actions are an infringement upon Clifford’s Constitutional Rights since this is not a form of protected free speech.