Killian Nine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality.
Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page.

The Killian Nine were a group of high school students at Miami Killian High School who in February 23rd of 1998 made a satirical pamphlet named "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. The pamphlet caused a lot of controversy and the "Killian 9" were arrested and charged with a felony. This was the second pamphlet of this name and nature by the students, but the first and third were not as widly known.

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 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 9" were booked and fingerprinted, and Liliana Cuesta was subjected to a strip search. The only reason Liliana Cuesta was treated as such was because she was responsible for labeling it "First Amendment" and assembling the pamphlet itself.

This arrest marked the first time that Florida Statute 836.11 (1945) was applied. The Statute prohibits anonymous publication if doing so "tends to expose any individual or religious group to hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy."

In March of 1999, the Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU filed a suit on behalf of Liliana Cuesta (and in turn the rest of the "Killian 9"). The Lawsuit claimed that Miami-Dade County violated Cuesta's rights to free press (First Amendment) and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure (Fourth Amendment) under the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court in Miami with U.S. District Court Judge Ursula M. UngaroBenages presiding.