[Source: _Law of the Student Press_ by the Student Press Law Center,
1985, 1988, p. 54:]
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[... P]rior review in public colleges is unconstitutional ...
[...]

Prior Review in Public Colleges

Only two court cases have ever dealt with the question of prior review
of college newspapers. Both cases ruled that such a practice is
unconstitutional in public colleges. The leading case is _Antonelli v.
Hammond_ [2], which involved the official, school-funded paper at
Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. After the editor tried to
publish an article by Eldridge Cleaver which contained numerous
four-letter words, the college president froze funding for the paper
and set up a publications board to review material prior to
publication. A federal court said such a system of prior review was a
violation of the First Amendment: "[Prior submission to the advisory
board of material ... (to) decide whether it complied with
'responsible freedom of the press' or is obscene, may not be
constitutional required."

In a latter case, _Trujillo v. Love [3], the new advisor to the
Southern Colorado State _Arrow_ imposed a rule requiring the staff to
obtain his approval prior to publishing any "controversial" material.
He deleted on page containing an editorial cartoon which had not be
submitted for prior review. The advisor subsequently refused to grant
the managing editor permission to publish an editorial he termed
libelous, and then suspended her. The court found that the advisor's
actions violated the First Amendment and ordered the student
reinstated to her former position with back pay.

Although not dealing specifically with prior review of a campus
newspaper, a more recent decision struck down as violative of the
First Amendment a university policy requiring students to obtain
written permission from school officials prior to selling literature
in the student union [4]. It is likely that the courts in other states
would follow these precedents and strike down any rule that permitted
public college officials to read a approve a public before it is
handed out on campus.

[...]

[2] _Antonelli v. Hammond_, 308 F.Supp. 1329 (D.Mass. 1970)
[3] _Trujullo v. Love_, 322 F.Supp. 1266 (D.Colo. 1971)
[4] _Spartacus Youth League v. Board of Trustees_, 502 F.Supp. 789
    (N.D.Ill. 1980)
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