STARR JOINS JUNEAU BONG CASE

'HITS 4 JESUS': High School Senior Held UP Controversial Banner In
2002.

A high-powered Los Angeles law firm on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme
Court to review whether Juneau Douglas School District had a right to
punish a student who stood off school grounds during the passing of
the Olympic torch holding a banner that read, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

The phrase is so giggle-worthy, so odd, so catchy, that the entire
lengthy legal affair is often referred to simply as the "Bong Hits 4
Jesus case."

At its core: Juneau-Douglas High School principal Deborah Morse, the
Juneau School Board and then-senior Joseph Frederick, who is now a
teacher in China. Court records outline what happened that day, Jan.
24, 2002:

The torch passed the school. Some kids had skipped out to make fast
food runs. Others cheered. Frederick and some buddies stood across
the street and held up their 10-foot banner.

Morse crossed the street, grabbed the sign and ultimately suspended
Frederick for 10 days. District officials agreed his banner violated
school anti-drug policies.

Enter the Alaska Civil Liberties Union. That group said that
Frederick was off campus and drug free and the school clearly
smothered his rights to free speech.

The AkCLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of Frederick in U.S. District
Court -- the state-level federal court -- against the school board.
The suit asked for removal of the suspension from the young man's
records, monetary damages and acknowledgement his rights were trampled.

But Chief Judge John W. Sedwick dismissed Frederick's lawsuit in
2003, concluding that school officials had wide discretion to
regulate speech that encouraged drug use during a school-sponsored
event.

End of story? No way.

Frederick's people appealed and earlier this spring, the 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals reversed Sedwick's ruling and decided Morse indeed
violated Frederick's rights.

Now Californians are involved.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP -- a 1,100-attorney law firm with offices around
the country and clients around the world -- is representing the
Juneau School Board and Morse.

Lead counsel on the case includes Kenneth Starr, author of the
infamous Starr Report to Congress on the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal
that led to the impeachment of President Clinton.

In this case, Starr's team argues the U.S. Supreme Court should
review the Bong Hits 4 Jesus case because "the Ninth Circuit's
decision, as a practical matter, renders long-standing school
policies against pro-drug messages unenforceable," according to a
press release the law office sent out Monday.

Courts have uniformly upheld school bans on messages promoting
illegal substances, the press release says. This case gives the court
a chance to reaffirm that so there's no confusion about it.

The L.A. lawyers also argue that public school officials should be
able to do their job and enforce policies without fear of civil liability.

"This case raises an issue of vital importance to every school
principal and administrator in the country," Starr said, in a
statement from his office.

Juneau attorney Doug Mertz has represented Frederick since the
beginning. He said his client no longer lives in town. After
graduating from high school and studying at the University of Idaho,
he said, Frederick and his father now teach English at the same
school in China.

Mertz said this remains a very simple case. At its core is the fact
that Frederick's right to free speech was violated.

"There isn't any doubt about it," he said.

He blames the initial loss in U.S. District Court in Alaska on "a
very conservative judge who never actually analyzed this. ... Joseph
was not on school grounds, and the ... school district admitted he
wasn't disrupting the school's academic efforts at all," Mertz said.

"To us, right there, that answers the question. He has a First
Amendment right to engage in free speech."

Frederick's case is strong, said Mertz, and he is confident the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals' decision will stand, even if the Supreme
Court does decide to review it. He doubts they will.

Frederick's case is peculiar for sure, Mertz said. But it doesn't
have any of the judicial conflicts or issues of national importance
that tend to elevate litigation to the country's highest courtroom,
he said.

As for that now-famous banner?

"Bong Hits 4 Jesus" is kept safe in Mertz' office. Morse, the
principal, handed it over some time ago. So far, no courts have asked
to see it, Mertz said. But he'll hold on to it, just in case.