Vicarious Liability and the Private University Student Press

Abstract

The lack of a First Amendment prohibition against administrative interference with the student press leaves a private university open to legal liability from the content of student publications through the doctrine of vicarious liability. To insulate a private university from such a lawsuit, commentators have encouraged the adoption of formal policy statements that give student journalists the right to make all content decisions. But given the trend in vicarious liability law, such policy statements are unlikely to protect a private university from liability for torts committed by its dependent student press. Instead, decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States suggest, and this article argues, that the adoption of policies and procedures designed to prevent and correct foreseeable misconduct associated with the dissemination of student-produced content will help protect a private university from vicarious liability arising from the operation of its student press.