Students win battle over stripper tale

They fought for their right to bare the truth.

Student journalists at a California high school have become news themselves after battling school administrators over their right to publish an article about an 18-year-old student who works in the porn industry.

A profile of Bear Creek senior Caitlin Fink titled “Risky business: starting a career in the adult entertainment industry” appeared in the Stockton high school’s newspaper, The Bruin Voice, on Friday despite initial pushback from school administrators.

Fink is an aspiring stripper and porn star.

“Adult entertainers aren’t just objects, they are actual people. They have feelings, they have goals, they have motivation,” Fink told CBS Sacramento.

But school administrators caught wind of the article, kicking off a weekslong dispute between the Lodi Unified School District and the student editors, who were backed by the newspaper’s longtime adviser, Kathi Duffel.

The English teacher accused officials of censorship for demanding to see the article ahead of its publication, which prompted them to threaten her job. In an April 11 letter, Superintendent Cathy Nichols-Washer warned of punishment “up to and including dismissal” if she refused.

“This is a whole new level of district administrators who have lost their minds,” Duffel said in response.

Duffel rebuffed their request on the grounds of free speech, but agreed to let a lawyer review the piece.

Matthew Cate, who represents the newspaper adviser and the student who wrote the article, concluded it did not violate any education codes.

Paul Grant, a lawyer for the district, informed Cate school officials wouldn’t prevent publication of the story. They did however, still take issue with Duffel’s refusal to submit the article for review.

“Because the district has been denied an opportunity to preview the article, the district does not endorse it,” the district said in a statement.