Three recent cases at the local, state and national level all protected First Amendment rights.

Locally, Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill. terminated prior review of their school newspaper, the Statesman.

Additionally, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Naperville District 204 in a case dealing with a student’s protest of homosexuality.

On the national level, the Supreme Court ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church has a protected right to protest at military funerals.

Previously, an administrative committee oversaw the production of Stevenston High School’s paper, said Principal John Carter and Joseph Flanagan, Communication Arts Department coordinator. The school put the committee in place after a controversial article was published in 2009 regarding pre-marital sex.

This year, the committee disbanded on the belief that the paper has run successfully and appropriately, according to The Daily Herald.

The U.S. Court of Appeals also ruled in favor of First Amendment rights in schools when they decided that District 204 could not restrict a student’s negative message towards homosexuality.

The Court’s released statement says that “a school that permits advocacy of the rights of homosexual students cannot be allowed to stifle criticism of homosexuality.”

At Neuqua Valley High School in 2006, then-junior Heidi Zamecnik wore a T-shirt that read, “Be Happy, Not Gay” the day following the “Day of Silence” campaign. The school’s dean had a counselor cross out the words “Not Gay,” leaving the shirt to read only “Be Happy,” according to The Naperville Sun.

Zamecnik, along with one other student, filed a civil rights lawsuit against the district, resulting in the court’s decision to protect their First Amendment rights on March 1.

The Supreme Court also ruled in an 8-1 vote in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church’s right to protest at military funerals.

The controversial church often pickets at funerals of soldiers, carrying signs that contain messages like, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.”

The father of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder sued the church. He claimed infliction of emotional distress, intrusion upon seclusion and civil conspiracy.

This decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court on March 2.

“As a nation we have chosen a course to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. That choice requires that we shield Westboro from tort liability for its picketing in this case,” said Chief Justice John Roberts.