COURT RESTRICTS STUDENT EXPRESSION

The Supreme Court Ruled Monday That School Officials Retain
Discretion To Censor Student Speech That They Believe May Encourage
Illegal Drug Use.

Washington -- A high school principal did not violate the free speech
rights of a student when she confiscated a 14-foot prank banner near
school grounds during an outdoor school assembly.

In an important First Amendment decision limiting student free
speech, the US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that school
administrators and teachers retain discretion to censor student
speech that they believe may encourage illegal drug use.

The 5-to-4 decision comes in a case involving an Alaska high school
student who displayed a banner proclaiming "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

The nation's highest court said the principal of the high school had
the authority to confiscate the banner even though it was being
displayed on a public sidewalk across the street from school property.

The decision is important because it somewhat expands the authority
of school officials to censor student speech when the students are
present at school-sponsored events and the message of the student
speech is reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use.

"The message on [student Joseph Frederick's] banner was cryptic,"
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. "It is no doubt
offensive to some, perhaps amusing to others. To still others, it
probably means nothing at all."

Chief Justice Roberts noted that the student himself had claimed that
the words were just nonsense meant to attract television cameras.
"But Principal [Deborah] Morse thought the banner would be
interpreted by those viewing it as promoting illegal drug use,"
Roberts wrote. He adds that her interpretation is a "plainly a reasonable one."

In a dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that in his view the
First Amendment protects student speech "if the message itself
neither violates a permissible rule nor expressly advocates conduct
that is illegal and harmful to students."

He added, "This nonsense banner does neither."

"The court does serious violence to the First Amendment in upholding
- -- indeed lauding -- a school's decision to punish [the student] for
expressing a view with which it disagreed," Justice Stevens wrote.

The principal's action was upheld by the school superintendent, the
Juneau School Board, and a federal judge. But a three-judge panel of
the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the federal judge, and
ruled that the principal could be sued personally for money damages
for violating the student's clearly established free speech rights.

In reversing the Ninth Circuit decision, Roberts wrote: "School
principals have a difficult job, and a vitally important one. It was
reasonable for [the principal] to conclude that the banner promoted
illegal drug use -- in violation of established school policy -- and
that failing to act would send a powerful message to the students in
her charge, including Frederick, about how serious the school was
about the dangers of illegal drug use."