DETROIT, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court in Detroit has ruled that a school didn't violate a student's rights by stopping him from distributing anti-abortion rights pamphlets.
In a reversal of a previous court ruling in the case, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Jefferson Middle School authorities acted within legal standards when they stopped the student from distributing the leaflets on school grounds, The Detroit News said Wednesday.
"The school district ... is entitled to put time, place and manner restrictions on hallway speech so long as the restrictions are viewpoint neutral and reasonable," the court ruling said.
Tuesday's ruling in support of the school in Monroe, Mich., came after a permanent injunction was placed on the school by U.S. District Judge Victoria A. Roberts on March 19 in a related lawsuit.
Roberts had found that school officials had violated the First Amendment rights of the student and should pay the 14-year-old $1 in nominal damages.
But the appeals court found that the school officials had simply regulated the teen's freedom of expression since they allowed the student to post pamphlets on designated school bulletin boards, the News said.
