'BONG HITS' CASE GOING BACK TO COURT

Mertz Says Supreme Court Ruling Did Not Address All the Issues
Involved in the Case

The "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case is headed back to court.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the case
in September, local attorney Doug Mertz said Wednesday.

Mertz represents Joseph Frederick, the former Juneau-Douglas High
School student who displayed the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner that
sparked a free speech debate that has been going on for six years and
has been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mertz said the Supreme Court ruling had not addressed all the issues
involved in the case, particularly whether Alaska's free speech
provisions protected Frederick's actions and whether the banner
constituted a legitimate political or social protest rather than a
pro-drug declaration.

Frederick pressed his case in district court, but was turned down.
The appeal is in reaction to that decision.

"Frederick's banner had nothing to do with drugs, the principal's
seizure of it was unreasonable, and ... the banner was well within
the protections of the Alaska Constitution," Mertz said in a statement.

Mertz said he was notified directly that the same panel of three
judges that had previously sided with his client agreed to hear the case.

Superintendent Peggy Cowan said the School District is aware of the
court dates and is planning its arguments.

"It's part of the process," Cowan said. "We're going to continue to
defend ourselves."

The Juneau School District's attorney, David Crosby, could not be
reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

The case started in 2002, when then-Juneau-Douglas High School
Principal Deborah Morse took down Frederick's banner at a
school-sponsored, off-campus event, and suspended him from school.

Frederick sued, saying his right to free speech had been violated.
The case eventually went to the Supreme Court, which sided with Morse
and the school district in 2007.

Earlier this year, Mertz accused Crosby of harassing his client over
$5,000 in court fees, a charge Crosby denied.

Frederick currently works as a teacher in China.