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Defending Free Speech for Killian 9
By Jessica Connor
Editor and Public Education Coordinator, March 199
Last February, a group of nine high school honor students at Killian High School in Miami produced a satirical political pamphlet aptly named "First Amendment" and passed it out to fellow students. Some of the anonymous poems, essays, cartoons and satirical writings included in the pamphlet, sure to cause some controversy, were sharply critical of high school principal Timothy Dawson and members of the school security staff. But what the "Killian 9" didn't bargain for was being arrested, charged with felony offenses and, in the case of Liliana Cuesta, strip searched.
When school authorities discovered the identities of the Killian 9, Principal Dawson removed the students one by one from their classrooms and threatened them with arrest. After Dawson obtained a written statement from each student, school security officer Michael Alexander handcuffed and arrested them. Those students who were minors were taken to Miami Dade County Juvenile Center, while 18 year olds, including Cuesta, were incarcerated at Turner Guilford Knight (TGK) jail. The students were booked and fingerprinted. Only Liliana Cuesta was subjected to a nude strip search. (Liliana Cuesta's contribution to the production of the "First Amendment" pamphlet that resulted in her arrest and strip search was the lettering of the words "First Amendment" on the cover and assistance with collating and assembling the pamphlet.)
The students were charged under Florida Statute 836.11, which prohibits anonymous publication if doing so "tends to expose any individual or religious group to hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy." This 1945 Statute had never been enforced in any reported case. The arresting officer elevated this charge to a felony under Florida Statute 775.085, which reclassifies crimes that are committed in a manner evidencing racial or other prejudice. All charges against Cuesta and the Killian 9 were ultimately dismissed by State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, who acknowledged that the statute under which the students were arrested is "unconstitutional and unenforceable."
Last month, the Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU filed suit on behalf of Cuesta, whose claims are representative of the other Killian 9 students but who suffered the additional indignity of being subjected to the nude strip search at TGK. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court in Miami and is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Ursula M. UngaroBenages.
In its complaint, the ACLU charges that the MiamiDade School Board, school security officer Michael Alexander and MiamiDade County violated Cuesta's First and Fourth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution the rights to free press and to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
"We had genuine concerns about the way in which the school was being run and the lack of resources for art students," said Cuesta. "Maybe we could have said what we said better, but no one should be treated like we were just because we challenged the principal's authority."
"All across the country, students say things and publish materials that may upset and greatly offend school officials," said Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. "But I do not know of any incident, other than the Killian 9 matter, where school officials so grossly overreacted and retaliated by having students arrested, charged and thrown in jail."
Lead attorney in the ACLU's case is Steven Wisotsky, Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center. He is also in private practice in Coconut Grove. "Anonymous pamphleteering and political satire have a long and honorable tradition in America (including the Federalist Papers) and that type of speech is clearly protected by the First Amendment," said Prof. Wisotsky. "Attempts to limit anonymous writings are unconstitutional."
"I hope that, at the very least, as a result of this lawsuit no other student will ever have to undergo what I and my classmates were subjected to," Liliana Cuesta said.
