FORMER HENDERSON RESIDENT'S BANNER GAINS NATIONAL ATTENTION; APPEAL
PENDING

Former Henderson resident Joseph Frederick never thought his high
school fight for free speech rights would propel him to the national
limelight in a case that recently was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

After leaving Henderson with his family and moving to Alaska while a
sophomore in high school, he was looking for a way to capture the
attention of news camera crews during a parade in 2002 in which the
Olympic torch was passing near his Juneau-Douglas High School.

"Bong Hits 4 Jesus," was the phrase he came up with. The then
18-year-old senior had fashioned a 14-foot paper banner, which he
held as the Olympic torch passed across the street from his high
school on a national relay leading up to the 2002 Olympic winter
games in Salt Lake City.

Now 24, he lives in central China where he teaches English and is
studying Chinese history and the Mandarin language. He was
interviewed this week via e-mail from China.

The banner incident resulted in legal action which was appealed to
the U.S. Supreme Court this month.

"I was looking for unusual, hilariously funny, provocative and
controversial speech that would not be easily understood but would be
wide open to subjective interpretation to anyone that read it," he
said. The message was controversial enough that the principal at
Juneau-Douglas High decided to take action even through the banner
was held up off school property, he said.

"When (the principal) demanded to know the meaning, I told her it
could be interpreted as an acronym for "Bring on the national games,
head into town for Jesus" -- but that was not the meaning," Frederick
said. "I told her the banner message was never intended to promote
drugs or religion but the message was to be interpreted subjectively
and a person was free to assign whatever meaning and value to the
banner they desired to assign to it, and if someone interpreted it as
a religious message or a drug message then that is what the sign
meant to them."

The principal took exception and suspended Frederick because she said
the phrase was a "pro-marijuana" message in conflict with the
school's anti-drug policies. The principal had previously disciplined
Frederick for other acts of protest and confiscated the banner.

"In all honesty, I was standing up to ... high school authority that
consistently abused their power to trample student constitutional and
civil rights with impunity," he said. "This is why I chose the
location so very carefully, across the street from the school on
public property."

Frederick wanted to send a message to local school officials but
thought it would probably not go any further.

"My message to the school was clear. 'I am asserting my First
Amendment free speech rights, there is nothing you should be able to
do about it, and I am doing it in front of a national audience,' CNN
news," he said. "The underlying message I believe is quite clear: No
one can interfere with my free speech rights and the free expression
of my thoughts. I guess I took my Texas spirit and stubbornness with
me when I moved to Alaska."

Frederick was suspended for five days initially, but had another five
days added to the suspension.

"I dared quote a founding father, Thomas Jefferson, that 'speech
limited is speech lost' and you may not agree with my message but you
should defend my right to think it, speak it, and write it.'"

He said mention of the Jefferson quote resulted in the additional
five days suspension.

While growing up in East Texas, Frederick said a number of positive
influences on his life may have contributed to his willingness to
take a strong stand for his beliefs.

"My father taught me to always question all things even those things
I believe to be absolutely true," he said. Frederick also mentioned a
childhood friendship with Rex Mann, son of Henderson attorney Mark
Mann and his wife Debbie, who he called "sincere, caring and highly
intelligent people" as being a positive influence on his life.

Mark Mann on Friday recalled Frederick's younger years.

"He was a good student and outstanding soccer player," Mann said.
"Like a lot of us at that age he was a mischievous kid at times."

Mann said even at an early age Frederick had an interest in the U.S.
Constitution and civil rights

"He grew up in a family where you stood up for what you believed in
- -- and worked within the system to make things right," Mann said.

Frederick's former soccer coach with the Longview Elite squad, Alan
Akana, said he recalled nothing in Frederick's play that would
indicate he might one day be considered a rebel.

"He was a decent player and worked really hard," Akana said. "He had
a good strong attitude and loved to play soccer."

Frederick said the banner incident should have never ended up in the courts.

"Prior to any litigation being filed I made an offer of settlement to
the Juneau School Board," he said. "I would drop the matter and
pursue it no further if they agreed to hold a student assembly,
including teachers and staff, where the ACLU (American Civil
Liberties Union) could present a program on student constitutional
and civil rights."

He even suggested the school district's attorney attend and have the
program turned into a debate forum. The ACLU had agreed to provide
the program at no charge to the school, Frederick said.

"This settlement offer was refused and rejected immediately on
recommendation of the high school administration without any real
consideration by the Juneau school board," he said. "The school
district and its administration possessed a great fear of students
knowing their constitutional and civil rights, did they not?"

The suit went to trial and was appealed.

In March 2006, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
ruled the high school principal violated Frederick's constitutional
right to free speech by suspending him. The appeals court decision
was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case March 19.

"Now that it has reached the Supreme Court, I hope the court will
affirm free speech rights for students and all of America," Frederick
said. "Freedom of speech is the last step in the victory march for
freedom and liberty and is the true embodiment of American values."

Thomas Jefferson said: "nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and
unalienable rights of man," he said.

"Unfortunately, these rights must be asserted from time to time or
they are clearly lost," Frederick said. "I believe the Supreme Court
will set the record straight by affirming the First Amendment and
student free speech rights."

No date has been set for when the high court may issue a ruling on
the case. In the meantime the incident and the case have drawn
national media attention.

In an editorial last week, the New York Times wrote: "On March 19,
the Court heard arguments on Morse versus Frederick, in what legal
experts quoted in the national media say could be the most
significant case on student free speech since the days of Vietnam War
protests. At stake is the 1969 landmark ruling Tinker versus Des
Moines, which said that students do not "shed their constitutional
rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

Since then, the Times said, "the Court has narrowed that ruling,
giving schools the right to censor speech to maintain order and
protect students from harmful messages."

Frederick has not had to pay any of the legal fees for his case.

"I am truly indebted to my attorney, Douglas K. Mertz, a great
believer in our Constitution and civil rights afforded by the Bill of
Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union," he said.

While the latest rounds of legal maneuvering have gone on, Frederick
has continued living, studying and teaching in China.

"I love living in China. It is a fabulous experience," he said. "I
find the Chinese to be a very friendly, fascinating, intelligent, and
industrious people and I am enjoying my teaching experience and
studies in China immensely."