New Voices passes in New Jersey

On June 24, the New Jersey Assembly unanimously approved S108. The Governor’s signature will make New Jersey the 15th state to adopt New Voices protections.

The bill comes as a result of dedicated, unyielding work by the New Voices New Jersey team, who have exemplified the adage “it ain’t over until it’s over.” In 2019, the New Jersey Senate unanimously approved the legislation in the very last days of the legislative session. When the Assembly failed to act on the bill, the Senate reintroduced –and again unanimously approved– the legislation in the first months of 2020. The legislation then languished in the Assembly.

New Voices New Jersey advocates never gave up, and instead held their own student-led public forum on the bill in February 2021. Just days later, the Assembly - which had failed to act on the bill for the last several years - posted the bill for a hearing and subsequent unanimous consent. The bill’s approval by the Assembly comes after persistent phone calls over the last few weeks by teachers and students across New Jersey.

The bill now heads to Governor Murphy, who has 45 days to sign or veto the legislation or allow it to become law without his signature.

Let's celebrate, NJ!

2021 Summer Media Law and Policy Institute

Summer Media Law and Policy Institute participants learn how the law works in practice through questions of ethics, policy, and advocacy. This week's lesson centered around defamation, libel, and privacy. We've also covered press freedom and newsgathering with policy coming soon.

Our students build an impressive portfolio complete with a legal brief while attending the institute. In two weeks, we'll wrap up with a highly anticipated moot court competition!

Meet the class

Our thoughts on Mahanoy

The Student Press Law Center welcomes the strong support of free speech for students in the Supreme Court's BL v. Mahanoy Area School District decision, and the recognition that schools are the “nurseries of democracy.” But the decision underscores the hypocrisy of the Court in carving out exceptions for the ability of student journalists to exercise those rights.

We stand by the rights of student journalists to report and publish freely and hope that this decision will help to bolster the efforts of New Voices activists across the country to adopt state-based student freedom press freedom legislation.

Our statement

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