Unfortunately, last week’s Ninth Circuit ruling did nothing to answer our concerns.

FIRE reports.

Disappointing Student Speech Ruling from Ninth Circuit Threatens Student Journalism

On April 7, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit handed down its opinion in O’Brien v. Welty, ruling against California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) student Neil O’Brien’s First Amendment challenge to the university’s harassment policy. The decision is a disappointing setback for student speech rights, and may have particularly negative ramifications for student journalists asking hard questions.

In May 2011, O’Brien, a conservative activist and the founder of Fresno State’s chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, visited the offices of two professors to complain about a poem printed in “La Voz de Aztlan,” a section of the student newspaper published by the school’s Chicano and Latin American Studies department. With his camera rolling, O’Brien asked the professors through their open office doors whether they had approved the poem’s publication. Both professors refused to answer and called the police.