By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy censored student journalists at the Dalton School on the Upper East Side — demanding to read their report on his recent visit before it could be published.
After speaking at the private school last month, Kennedy's staff told the school's monthly newspaper, the Daltonian, to submit a copy of its story about the event for approval. When Kennedy's office didn't get back to the paper by press time, the paper yanked the article.
“We are not able to cover the recent visit by a Supreme Court justice due to numerous publication constraints," a note published in the paper said, according to the New York Times. Dalton editors said they would give an explanation for the publication delay.
A Dalton student who gave his name only as Tyler said the scandal came up at the end of his homeroom class, but wasn't discussed for long. The story was first published in the New York Times.
"I agree with the reporter that it was somewhat a control of public image but I understand wanting to report accuracy," Tyler said.
Dalton administrators also defended the censorship.
"This allows student publications to be correct," Ellen Stein, Dalton's head of school, told the Times. "I think fact checking is a good thing."
The Daltonian's faculty adviser Kevin Slick said he was given a list of "dos and don'ts" for Kennedy's visit, and said he believed they couldn't publish anything without the jurist's express approval, according to the Times.
The Supreme Court's public information officer Kathleen Arberg told the paper it changed the paper's copy with "a couple of minor tweaks" and "tidied up" some of the quotes.
According to the Times, the article was a straightforward account of what happened at the assembly packaged with background information about the associate justice.
The paper reports that Justice Kennedy was worried the high school reporters wouldn't get the story right.
