After receiving a Conditional Veto from Governor Murphy on November 8, Bill S108 has begun working its way through the legislature once again. On December 2, the bill with the new language requested by the Governor was voted on in the Senate. It passed 35-1.

The bill now goes to the Assembly for a floor vote. December 16th is the next Assembly voting session.

New Voices of New Jersey bills protect the First Amendment rights of student journalists in public high schools and colleges. They also protect advisers from retribution for supporting the rights of their students. These bills restore editorial control to the journalists working on scholastic publications that was taken away by the 1988 Hazelwood v Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision.

For more on New Voices of New Jersey, see the video above. The first 5 minutes feature an introduction and legislative sponsors Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield, and Assemblywoman Aura Dunn. The next 17 minutes feature a discussion by student journalists about the importance of scholastic journalism along with their experiences with censorship and self-censorship. The last five minutes of the video feature Cathy Kuhlmeier discussing the landmark case she was involved in and why New Voices is needed now more than ever.