Student fee case project links journalism, law students

Journalism and law students have joined forces to generate in-depth coverage and analysis of the university’s student fee lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Southworth Project is a one-of-a-kind collaboration with the Daily Cardinal student newspaper, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and the Law School. It takes its name from the lawsuit’s main plaintiff.

More information Southworth Project web site

“There has always been a close, but not always cordial, relationship between practitioners of journalism and law,” says Robert Drechsel, professor of journalism and mass communication and a project adviser. “It’s a useful exercise to get them together and expose them to what each other does before they graduate, and the Southworth case seemed like the ideal vehicle.”

Former law student Scott Southworth and two other law students sued the university in 1996, objecting to the use of student fees to finance campus groups they disagree with on ideological, political or religious grounds. They claim the mandatory student fee system violates their First Amendment protection of freedom of belief.

The university and its student government leaders maintain that fee-supported student groups are a necessary and vital part of the educational experience, and that student fees are constitutional because they support a forum for free speech.

After a federal judge ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision, the UW System Board of Regents appealed the case to the Supreme Court. The court will hear oral arguments on the case Tuesday, Nov. 9, and is expected to issue a ruling in early 2000. Its decision will affect all public colleges and universities.

“The Southworth Project will help students and faculty at universities around the country understand what the stakes and the principles are in this case because it will affect every campus,” says Brady Williamson, a project adviser who teaches constitutional law at the UW Law School and has argued before the Supreme Court. “The law students have expertise in understanding and researching the legal principles involved, and they are working with the journalism students to synthesize and communicate them to the whole country.”

Thirteen students from the journalism and law schools were selected for the Southworth Project this spring and will receive two credits for their work. They spent the summer researching the issues and have begun producing news articles on the case.

The articles are published in the Daily Cardinal and are planned to be distributed to media outlets around the country, especially in Minnesota and Oregon, where similar lawsuits have been filed.

A highlight for the Southworth Project team will be its trip to Washington, D.C. to cover the oral arguments before the Supreme Court. On Monday, Nov. 8, the team will receive a private tour of the Supreme Court’s permanent exhibitions. On Tuesday, Nov. 9, team members will meet with New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse, cover the oral arguments and write deadline news stories for the Daily Cardinal and other media.

Second-year law student Amy Kasper says she was drawn to the project because of her interest in the First Amendment.

“This case is very interesting, because both sides are claiming First Amendment rights in their arguments,” Kasper says. “Because the case has local and national significance, it definitely has been a worthwhile project to get involved in so I can learn more about the impact it will have on public universities.”

The Southworth Project is also sponsoring educational events to inform the campus community about the case. A panel discussion last week brought together Southworth; professor Donald Downs, a First Amendment expert; Susan Ullman, Wisconsin assistant attorney general who will argue the university’s case before the Supreme Court; Patricia Brady, UW System senior legal counsel; and others.

Southworth Project team members say they have learned much from each other by working together on the project, which will culminate with a comprehensive report to be archived at the university.

“This is a very dynamic case, one people on campus and around the country need to be educated about,” says Colleen Jungbluth, team member and managing editor of the Daily Cardinal. “Since it involves the First Amendment, there is something in it for everybody.”