KILLIAN NINE

The 'Killian Nine' were a group of high school students at Miami Killian High School who, on February 23, 1998, made a satirical pamphlet called "First Amendment" and passed it out to fellow students. The poems, essays, cartoons and writings included in the pamphlet were critical of high school principal, Timothy Dawson, and the school security staff. This was the second of three pamphlets of this name and nature by the students, but the first and third were not as widely known.

Contents

Reaction to the pamphlet

The civil lawsuit

External links

Reaction to the pamphlet

Once school authorities discovered the identities of the Killian Nine, the students were pulled from their classes one by one and threatened with arrest. After the students each gave a written statement, the school security handcuffed them and had them arrested.
The students who were under 18 years of age were taken to Miami Dade County Juvenile Center, and those over 18, were sent to Turner Guilford Knight Jail. All of the "Killian Nine" were booked and fingerprinted. In addition, Liliana Cuesta, who was responsible for labeling the pamphlet "First Amendment" and assembling the pamphlet itself, was subjected to a strip search.
These arrests marked the first time that Florida Statute 836.11 (1945) was applied. The 53-year-old statute prohibited anonymous publication, if doing so "tends to expose any individual or religious group to hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy."

The civil lawsuit

In March 1999, the Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU filed a suit on behalf of Liliana Cuesta (as well as the rest of the "Killian Nine") in the United States District Court in Miami. The complaint alleged that Miami-Dade County violated Cuesta's First Amendment right to free speech and Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable search and seizure under the U.S. Constitution.

External links

★ Cuesta v. School Board of Miami-Dade County at findlaw.com

★ ACLU of Florida's page on 'Cuesta v. School Board of Miami-Dade County'

★ ACLU of Florida's newsletter article on the Killian 9

★ Archived Webpage of David Morales with information on the Pamphlet (From 2003)