SPRING SEMESTER 2010 TERM PROJECT
Available online at: www.mattjduffy.com/students
Last modified January 4, 2010
Final Paper DUE at start of class on Monday, March 15, 2009
EVERY PAPER WILL BE DOCKED ONE LETTER GRADE FOR EACH DAY IT IS
LATE. IT WILL BE CONSIDERED LATE AT 1:31 P.M. ON MARCH 15.
A term project/paper is required of all students in JOUR/SPCH 3060, Communication Law &
Regulation (Professor Matt J. Duffy). The assignment has several purposes: One is to give the
student an opportunity to work in the law library and on the World Wide Web, as well as using
both federal and state statute books and case law reporters. Another purpose is to provide the
student with an opportunity to synthesize material from a variety of sources. A third is to provide
the student with an opportunity to demonstrate his/her analytical writing ability.
The paper topic and its title will be: “Was the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Morse vs. Frederick
Correct?” The assignment requires the student to read at least the following:

Morse v. Frederick, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 2618 (2007), available at:
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/06-278.html

Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), available at:
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/393/503.html

Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986), available at:
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/478/675.html

“Resolving the Hazelwood Conundrum: The First Amendment Rights of College
Students in Kincaid v. Gibson (6th Cir. 2001) and Beyond,” available at:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~jougcl/projects/yearbook/kincaidvgibson.pdf
NOTE: Some of these files may be Adobe Acrobat public document files (*.PDF). Adobe
Reader is necessary to view these files and is available to download free at:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html .
The final paper MUST consist of the following parts:
I. TITLE PAGE – The title will be: “Was the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Morse vs. Frederick
Correct?” The student’s name, class, section, and date MUST be included in the lower right
hand corner.
II. THE PAPER’S TEXT/SECTIONS/HEADINGS –
A) THE ISSUE – This is where the writer explains the legal issue/question. What’s at
stake here? How is the First Amendment implicated? The legal history of the issue may
also be included here.
(NOTE: This section should run about one page in length.)
B) THE HIGH SCHOOL’S SIDE – This is where the writer explains the high school’s
position and the legal arguments favoring the position that the principal’s restrictions on
the student’s speech were constitutional. Why does the high school believe it should win?
(NOTE: This section should run about one page in length.)
C) THE STUDENT’S SIDE – This is where the writer explains the student’s position and
the legal arguments favoring the position that the principal’s restrictions on the student’s
speech were inappropriate and unconstitutional. Why does the student believe he should
win?
(NOTE: This section should run about one page in length.)
D) CONCLUSION – With which side did the U.S. Supreme Court agree? Why? Was the
court’s ruling correct? Why or why not? This is where the student explains what he/she
believes the should have happened and why.
(NOTE: This section should run about one page in length.)
NOTE: An excellent paper will identify, define, and analyze the different types of public forums
being discussed here; explain how the different types may be regulated under the First
Amendment; and critically evaluate how the Supreme Court applied “public forum” analysis in
Morse vs. Frederick (including who won and why).
III. REFERENCES – Endnotes (other reference types, including, footnotes or parenthetical
citations, are NOT acceptable) are NOT necessary, UNLESS:
1) The student quotes from or includes ANY quoted material from ANY source;
2) The student cites or references any other court ruling, book, or periodical – except that
the student may refer to the Morse, Tinker, and Bethel rulings without citing them; or
3) The student relies so heavily on any source that not to cite it would constitute plagiarism.
Thus, references to ALL articles, books, other legal cases, etc., used must be included in the
endnotes. Cornell Legal Information Institute’s basic legal citation style (LII 2007 ed.) is the
legal reference style required; the Harvard bluebook (18th ed.), on which the online Cornell LII
style guide is based, is also acceptable. (NOTE: The student must NOT cite or quote from the
course textbook or any other text, lectures, or class notes; however, ALL quoted material must be
cited; and ALL material taken directly and exactly from another source must be quoted.)
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: 1) The paper MUST be typewritten, double-spaced on
standard-size typing paper. 2) The required font is: Courier New 12-point, or any other 12-point
non-proportional font. 3) All margins (top, bottom, left and right) must be set at 1 inch. 4) “Left
justification only” is required and is sometimes referred to as, “ragged right.” 5) No binders or
staples, please; one paper clip, upper left-hand corner, only. 6) The paper’s TEXT must run no
more than four (4) pages. It should be written as a long interpretative essay in a formal
journalistic style, similar to an “op-ed” piece in the New York Times. “First person singular” is
not an appropriate writing style. 7) Endnotes are not required; however, attribution and/or
reference of ALL quotations and non-paraphrased material is, according to basic legal citation
reference style (LII 2007 ed.), which is based on the Harvard bluebook (18th ed.), as well as
acknowledgment of ALL important source material. Failure to do this is plagiarism and will
result in the student’s receiving a “zero” on the assignment and being reported to the University
for disciplinary action. NOTE: All student work must be independent and the resulting paper
must NOT be a rehash or rewrite of any previously written paper.
GRADING: The paper is DUE at the start of class on Thursday, February 26, 2009. (It may be
turned in early. Papers may not be turned in via e-mail or fax.) Late papers turned in after the
start of class but during the remainder of the class time that day will be penalized one letter
grade; other late papers turned in later the same day will be penalized one additional letter grade
beginning with the end of class, and one additional letter grade the next day and for each
subsequent class day late. (Do not forget that there is no “excused absence” available for late
papers. Please see the syllabus for further clarification of this policy.) The paper may not be
returned. (The professor will not “pre-grade” papers nor will he read student papers in advance
of the deadline; he will, however, advise students in any way he can.) The student’s grade will be
based on evidence of his/her understanding of the topic and legal analysis of the controversy,
after deductions for both substantive and technical errors. In addition, the student’s grade will
also be based on: 1) clarity, succinctness and completeness; 2) evidence of independent, selfsufficient work; 3) technical inaccuracies (including grammar, sentence structure, use of
language, writing style, etc.); 4) page length requirements; 5) source citations; and 6) quality and
quantity of sources used, if additional sources are used.
OTHER ASPECTS: To facilitate this project, this assignment will be broken into parts and each
student will also be required to submit the following at the start of class:
1) A completed research assignment about the requirements of the term paper assignment.
2) A completed grammar research assignment, due Tuesday
3) A completed research assignment about the proper requirements for references, due
Tuesday
4) A completed research assignment about the Tinker and Bethel rulings, due Tuesday
5) A completed research assignment about public forums and how they may be regulated,
according to “public forum” analysis
6) The completed final draft of the paper.
The overall 35% term paper portion of the final grade in the course will be broken so that each
research assignment will be worth 4% and the completed final draft of the paper will be worth
15% (4% + 4% + 4% + 4% + 4% + 15% = 35%). As with the paper itself, students must work
alone and independently on the research assignments, though they may consult any written
library source.
The research assignments follow, in order, on subsequent pages. Students should print each
assignment page, complete it and turn it into the professor by the due date and time.
Research Assignment #1 – Paper Requirements
NAME________________________
DUE at the start of class, Wednesday, January 20.
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following questions below, fully and exactly.
1) A. If references are used, what type of references are required? B. What is the difference
between an endnote and a footnote? C. What is the difference between an endnote and a
parenthetical citation? D. Is a bibliography or works cited page required when using endnotes?
2) A. What reference/citation style is required? B. What alternate reference style (published in
book form, on which the first is based) is also acceptable?
3) A. What word processing font is required? B. What font size is required? C. What margins
(left, right, top, bottom) are required? D. What kind of text justification is required?
4) A. What is the difference between a proportional and a non-proportional type font? B. What
type of font is Times Roman, sometimes known as Times New Roman, the type font most
commonly used in word processing?
5) A. How many double-spaced lines per page will result from the settings required for this term
paper? (Full credit is available only if the student turns in evidence demonstrating how the
answer was determined.) B. What is the paper’s maximum acceptable page limit?
Research Assignment #2 – Grammar Quiz
DUE at the start of class, Monday, February 1.
INSTRUCTIONS: Circle the correct word(s).
NAME _______________________
01. The timing of these student protests ( WAS / WERE ) poorly planned.
02. There ( IS / ARE ) another ( THOUGHT / THOUGHTS ) that ( COME / COMES ) to mind.
03. The leading man often ( FORGET / FORGETS ) his lines.
04. A small percentage of the grain ( WAS / WERE ) ruined by the prolonged rain.
05. Most parents think that measles ( HAS / HAVE ) been eliminated as a childhood disease.
06. Our college should change ( OUR / ITS / THEIR ) policy about hardship withdrawals.
07. Each of these companies had ( ITS / THEIR ) books audited.
08. It is important that students pick up ( THEY’RE / THEIR / THERE ) packages at the front
office.
09. One has to live with ( THEMSELVES / ONESELF ).
10. General Motors will probably recall most of ( ITS / THEIR ) four-wheel-drive vehicles.
11. Cobb County reviews and revises ( THEIR / ITS ) regulations and ordinances annually.
12. Napster asked the court not to force ( THEM / IT ) to name ( ITS / THEIR ) customers.
13. The courts ruled that the plaintiff may continue to run ( HIS / THEIR ) business.
14. The movie was reviewed by Cynthia and ( I / ME ).
15. A man or a woman has a duty to follow ( THEIR / HIS OR HER ) conscience.
16. MGM Studios ( CLAIM / CLAIMS ) ( ITS / THEIR ) copyrighted materials have been taken.
17. Not only the jurors but also the judge found ( HIS / THEIR ) attention wandering after the
lengthy summation by the defense.
18. Every aged person ( REMIND / REMINDS ) us of ( HIS OR HER / OUR ) own death.
19. Macaroni and cheese ( IS / ARE ) my favorite dish.
20. Neither the letters or the package had reached ( THEIR / ITS ) destination.
Research Assignment #3 – Requirements for References NAME _______________________
DUE at the start of class, Monday, February 8.
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following questions below, fully and exactly.
1) As a rule, legal research requires that reference citations be provided whenever a court ruling
is mentioned or discussed in the text. A. Must the Frederick, Tinker or Bethel cases be cited or
referenced in this paper? B. When must the Frederick, Tinker and Bethel cases themselves be
cited in this paper?
2) A. What is the proper legal citation or reference (in the correct format) for the U.S. Supreme
Court’s Morse v. Frederick ruling – the case itself – as it appears online in findlaw.com? (Use the
legal citation sheet on uLearn to help.)
3) The general rule for references is that readers must be able to find the exact source of the
quoted material. What is the proper legal reference (in the correct format) from the online source,
findlaw.com, for the following quotation – “whether a principal may, consistent with the First
Amendment, restrict student speech at a school event, when that speech is reasonably viewed as
promoting illegal drug use” – from Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion?
Research Assignment #4 – Tinker & Bethel QuestionnaireNAME _______________________
DUE at the start of class, Monday, February 15.
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following questions below, fully and exactly.
1) A. Speech without words is legally known as what kind of speech? B. What two-part test
helps us determine whether/when conduct may legally be considered as speech protected by the
First Amendment? (Names the two parts of the test.)
2) A. What did the Tinkers do to protest the Vietnam war? Be specific. B. What is the form (the
container) in which their speech was disseminated? C. Topically, what type of speech (the
contents of the container) is this? D. On what grounds did the Supreme Court conclude that the
Tinkers’ speech was fully protected by the First Amendment?
3) A. What did Fraser do? Be specific. B. What is the form (the container) in which his speech
was disseminated? C. Topically, what type of speech (the contents of the container) is this?
(Either of two answers is correct here, depending upon one’s view of Frederick’s intent.) D. On
what grounds did the Supreme Court concluded that Fraser’s speech was not fully protected by
the First Amendment?
4) A. Define the legal concept, in loco parentis. B. Geographically, where were the Tinkers and
Fraser communicating? C. What type of forum did the U.S. Supreme Court conclude each was?
D. Why did the Tinkers win and Fraser lose?
Research Assignment #5 – Forum Analysis
NAME
_______________________
DUE at the start of class, Monday, March 1.
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following questions below, fully and exactly.
Don’t forget to read this article: http://www2.gsu.edu/~jougcl/projects/yearbook/kincaid.htm
1) A. What are the three basic types of government property? B. Specifically, when discussing
the type providing the fullest protections for free speech, what three geographic locations are
most illustrative of this type historically? Be specific. C. Where did Frederick’s speech occur?
2) A. Why is speech in a location that is not deemed to be any type of a public forum not
constitutionally protected by the First Amendment? B. Any/all regulation of speech must
originate where/with what entity for the regulation to be subject to forum analysis?
3) A. What types of judicial scrutiny/review are applied to the regulation of speech protected by
the First Amendment? B. What are the different types of public forums? C. Which type/level of
judicial scrutiny is applied to each of the types of public forums?
4) A. Which type of judicial scrutiny requires that regulation of speech be content neutral?
B. Which type of judicial scrutiny requires that regulation of speech be viewpoint neutral?
C. Explain the difference between the two concepts. D. Which type of judicial scrutiny allows
for the most regulation of constitutionally protected speech?
Final, Completed Term Paper
Due at the start of class, Monday, March 15, 2009.