The U.S. Supreme Court turned away an appeal from an Indiana high school student whose anti-abortion group was told it couldn’t post flyers reading “Defund Planned Parenthood.” The lower courts ruled the school could restrict content on its walls under a 1988
When a freshman at Noblesville High School tried to post meeting flyers for a new student-led anti-abortion rights group, the conflict wasn’t about whether students could speak. It was about where the message would appear.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court turned away that free speech clash. leaving in place a lower-court ruling that upheld Noblesville High School’s decision not to allow the posters bearing the message “Defund Planned Parenthood.” The dispute centered on the reach of students’ First Amendment rights and how far schools can go when expression could be seen as reflecting endorsement.
Justice Samuel Alito dissented. In his view, the Supreme Court should “clarify the relationship between” a 1988 decision involving school-sponsored activities and its other government-speech decisions.
The case begins in 2021, when a freshman identified in court papers as E.D. launched Noblesville Students for Life at Noblesville High School. The club was described as a chapter of Students for Life of America and was among more than 70 “noncurriculum based” clubs at the school initiated and led by students.
The school allowed student clubs to hang flyers advertising meeting dates, times, and locations in common areas. But administrators had to approve what went up. According to court filings, Noblesville High School did not allow posters that included content deemed “political” or “disruptive.”
After receiving approval to form the club, E.D. moved to schedule its first meeting. She submitted to the school’s assistant principal two proposed flyers meant to inform students about the gathering. The template posters she brought were obtained from the Students for Life of America website and featured photos of students holding signs that read “Defund Planned Parenthood” and “I am the Pro-Life Generation.”.
The assistant principal denied approval of the posters and told E.D. the flyers should include only the club’s name and meeting details—location, date, and time. E.D., accompanied by her mother, Lisa Duell, then met with the school’s dean about the flyers. They were told the posters could not include the phrase “Defund Planned Parenthood.”.
The situation escalated. The school’s principal decided to suspend Noblesville Students for Life’s approval. The principal’s concerns. according to the court record. were that the club was not student-led and student-driven because of Duell’s participation. and because E.D. refused to comply with the instructions given for meeting flyers. The club was reinstated in 2022 and remained active.
E.D.’s parents and Noblesville Students for Life then sued the school. arguing their First Amendment rights were violated when their proposed posters were refused. A federal district court sided with the school. The court said the flyers “could reasonably be perceived to bear the imprimatur of the school.” In a 2024 decision. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker wrote that it would be reasonable for parents and other members of the public entering Noblesville High School for sporting events. student concerts. theater performances. parent-teacher conferences. or other reasons to mistakenly attribute political messaging on the school walls to the school district itself.
In reaching that conclusion, the district court applied a 1988 Supreme Court decision, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. In Hazelwood. the Supreme Court held that a school could exercise “editorial control over the style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.”.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit affirmed. It said students, parents, or visitors could view the posters as reflecting the school’s endorsement. “This is not a case about tolerating private student speech,” the 7th Circuit wrote. It added that E.D. was permitted to wear her pro-life shirt to school and to hand out her flyers to students at an activities fair. but the dispute was whether the school had to lend its resources—“literally its walls”—and by extension its authority to distribute student messages.
The appeals court also said the school’s restriction targeted political content in flyers to maintain “neutrality on matters of political controversy.” It reasoned that allowing school walls to carry competing political messages would “divert attention from the business of learning.”
E.D., represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, appealed to the Supreme Court. In a filing. the plaintiffs argued that Hazelwood had been used by schools and universities to censor speech they considered controversial. Their brief urged the court to reject that approach. writing. “That can’t be the right rule for our nurseries of democracy.” They said federal appeals courts had adopted different views on how broadly student speech is protected.
They pointed to the Supreme Court’s 1969 decision in Tinker v. Des Moines. in which the court held that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” In their submission. they warned that public schools and educators increasingly engage in political advocacy and indoctrination. heightening the risk that students who dissent will be censored.
Lawyers for Noblesville High School argued the dispute wasn’t about student expression in general. They said it was about whether a school “must lend its walls to students to disseminate political messages.”
They also argued students remained free to express their political views through other channels. In their view, the school had the authority to restrict political content on materials posted on its walls.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to take the case leaves the lower courts’ application of Hazelwood intact—meaning Noblesville High School’s limits on “political” content in posted flyers stand, at least for this dispute.
Supreme Court free speech Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier Tinker v. Des Moines student speech Indiana Noblesville High School anti-abortion posters Defund Planned Parenthood