High Court Takes 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus'

[johnnymk]

What do you think?

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/11294868/d...203192007&ts=H

WASHINGTON -- When Joseph Frederick unveiled a banner in 2002 on a public sidewalk in a Juneau, Alaska, Olympic parade that read "bong hits 4 Jesus," he probably didn't think his self-proclaimed prank would land him in the Supreme Court.

But that's where his case was heard on Monday, in a lively argument over free speech rights.

Frederick has said the banner's language was meant to be meaningless and funny effort to get on television as the Winter Olympic torch relay passed by his high school in January 2002.

His principal, Deborah Morse, believed the banner advocated or promoted illegal drug use in violation of school policy. She grabbed the banner and crumpled it. Then she suspended Frederick for 10 days.

Frederick sued, with the help of lawyer Douglas Mertz, of Juneau, and the American Civil Liberties Union. In subsequent court cases, the school has argued that it has a right to squelch speech that promotes illegal behavior and runs afoul of school policy.

Now, following a line of reasoning familiar to first amendment advocates, lawyers for conservative Christian groups said they found the content of Frederick's speech objectionable, but they want to defend his right to free speech because they want to be sure their own speech is protected.

Frederick's banner was disrespectful to God and disrespectful to believers of Christianity , Kevin Theriot, an attorney for Alliance Defense Fund, told the Web site Beliefnet. Even so, ADF, the American Center for Law and Justice, the Liberty Legal Institute and the Christian Legal Society have all filed briefs defending the student.

The government's position would give schools the authority to regulate all unpopular, controversial speech, according to ACLJ's Jay Sekulow. His organization was founded founded by Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson.

Justice Stephen Breyer, addressing Mertz, said he is struggling with the case because a ruling in Frederick's favor could encourage students to go to absurd lengths to test those limits.

A ruling for Morse, however, "may really limit free speech," Breyer said.

Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that schools should be allowed to teach "character formation and not to use drugs." But Justice David Souter said the banner's message sounded "like just a kid's provocative statement" to him.

The Bush administration has backed the school board. And Kenneth Starr, the former special prosecutor who investigated ex-President Bill Clinton over the Whitewater land deal and the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, is arguing on behalf of the principal and the school board.

“The Supreme Court famously said that students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate and that is the principle we are still fighting for 40 years later," ACLU National Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro said on Monday.

The most recent and famous court decision in the matter of free speech for students came in 1969, when teenage siblings John and Mary Beth Tinker won the right to protest the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands in school.

Mary Beth Tinker, 54, traveled to Washington to hear the arguments before the Court.

"For decades the law has been that students have the constitutional right to free speech even on school campuses,” Mertz said.

[zenbooty]

I'm confused. The article claims at the start that the student was on a public sidewalk, yet the ACLU member's quote implies he was on school ground, or their argument is based on a reference to that situation. Which was it? It makes all the difference to me. If the kid was there as part of a school function or on school property during school hours, then the principal can certainly take down the sign, though 10 days suspension seems pretty dick-ish and tyrannical unless there was a lot more going on that we don't know about.

If this happened out in public and the principal just happened to see a kid from his school with the sign, than that's bs that he should have the right to act as self-proclaimed policeman of what's fit to say in public. In that case he should be demoted to a position where he doesn't have more power than he can handle.

[zenbooty]

And is it me, or are schools being run more and more like prison wards or boot camp these days? When I was in school, nobody got suspended like EVER, unless they were fighting and it got bloody, or they went after a teacher. Then they'd get like 2 or 3 days tops. Every time I read one of these articles now about some kid getting smacked with 5 or even 10 days off for just saying something or wearing something I just think, "Who are the little Hitlers running these schools?"

I was in school through the 80's and into 1992. Was my experience an exception back then? Does this just seem kinda freaky to anyone else?

[LPMiller]

if I recall correctly, it was a school sponsered event, but not on school grounds. Frankly, I always side with free speech, for the very reasons the conservative christian groups are saying. Once you start limiting what you don't like, suddenly you wake up and find yourself limited as well.

[welfareloser]

And is it me, or are schools being run more and more like prison wards or boot camp these days? When I was in school, nobody got suspended like EVER, unless they were fighting and it got bloody, or they went after a teacher. Then they'd get like 2 or 3 days tops. Every time I read one of these articles now about some kid getting smacked with 5 or even 10 days off for just saying something or wearing something I just think, "Who are the little Hitlers running these schools?"

I was in school through the 80's and into 1992. Was my experience an exception back then? Does this just seem kinda freaky to anyone else?

we had an open campus when i was in hs (2 years behind you.) nowadays, it's locked up tight. i actually went in to visit some teachers 10 yrs later and had rentacops on my ass all over... not for being an unauthorized visitor. they just assumed i was a student, and got on me for wearing a hat, being in this or that hallway, etc. it was nuts.

i remember seeing on cnn a couple years ago... a grade school where there was a new rule that nobody could talk, at all, during lunch. dead silence or detention. the newscaster finished the story by saying they had interviewed the warden at the local max security prison, and he said even their inmates were allowed to talk during lunch. if they did that at my kid's school, you can bet i'd organize a protest. an obnoxious attention-getting one.



and as for that sign - well, it's obnoxious. but it doesn't threaten, it's not even actually telling anyone to do anything, like saying "TAKE bong hits..." and it doesn't even say "jesus hit it." it's just a provocative, yet extremely vague idea. "bong hits for jesus." it is really lame and practically meaningless, just like the kid intended.

it's like the difference between me wearing a tshirt that depicts sex (porn) and me wearing a t-shirt that has the word "vagina."

[InfiniteNothing]

It's not like the banner was distracting kids from studying.

[zippyjuan]

It was a school sponsored event in a public place- the Olympic Torch passing through town. I think this is a huge over reaction. I don't see how you can take what the banner said as a serious message saying people should do drugs (which is one of the arguements for taking down the banner- that it had a pro- drug message). I would be amazed if the courts upheld the school on this one.

[ShawnLee]

it's like the difference between me wearing a tshirt that depicts sex (porn) and me wearing a t-shirt that has the word "vagina."

Hmm, tangent, but it reminds me that the one time I met Nija, he was asked to cover up his shirt that said "vagina" on it.

[Napoleon54]

And is it me, or are schools being run more and more like prison wards or boot camp these days? When I was in school, nobody got suspended like EVER, unless they were fighting and it got bloody, or they went after a teacher. Then they'd get like 2 or 3 days tops. Every time I read one of these articles now about some kid getting smacked with 5 or even 10 days off for just saying something or wearing something I just think, "Who are the little Hitlers running these schools?"

I was in school through the 80's and into 1992. Was my experience an exception back then? Does this just seem kinda freaky to anyone else?

Same situation here, I graduated hs in '98. My youngest brother graduates this spring and things have changed DRASTICALLY. Changes since I left 9 years ago: metal detectors at the entrances, school-issued photo ID badge must be worn visibly at all times, state police officer stationed at the school full-time... And this is a suburban/ rural school, not inner city.

Schools are going way overboard. You can't treat kids like that, take away all their freedoms and responsibilities, and then expect them to develop into responsible members of society. They get let loose at graduation and don't know how to handle themselves in the real world, in the absence of their overlords. F'ing ridiculous.

[MikeD]

Changes since I left 9 years ago: metal detectors at the entrances, school-issued photo ID badge must be worn visibly at all times, state police officer stationed at the school full-time...

I hear you, and actually agree with you. The problem is, this holds until some f-tard rolls in with a gun and starts mowing down students. Then the parents want to know why more wasn't proactively done to stop this type of thing from happening. It's a no-win for the schools.

And this is a suburban/ rural school, not inner city.

Hmmm...

Schools are going way overboard. You can't treat kids like that, take away all their freedoms and responsibilities, and then expect them to develop into responsible members of society. They get let loose at graduation and don't know how to handle themselves in the real world, in the absence of their overlords. F'ing ridiculous.

Sounds like we need better parents to help raise these kids...