BONG HITS FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH

In 2002, as the Olympic torch made its way through Juneau, Alaska, a
local high school was outside cheering on the runner.

In front of a building across the street from the school, Joe
Frederick held up a banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." The
principal, Deborah Morse, wrestled the sign from Frederick and later
suspended him for 10 days. He appealed this decision, saying that his
First Amendment rights were violated.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with him, but now the case has
landed before the Supreme Court.

What began as a nonsensical slogan has become one of the most
important free speech cases of the last 30 years.

The court must decide if Frederick was properly disciplined and
whether Morse should pay him damages.

These decisions will be based on whether Morse infringed upon
Frederick's right to free speech.

Tinker v. Des Moines School District, which ruled that students were
permitted to wear anti-Vietnam arm bands, set a precedent for free
political speech by students unless it disrupts school.

Based on this precedent, the Court should rule in favor of the
then-high school student because the government cannot squelch speech
simply because they disagree with it.

The lawyers for Morse and the Juneau School Board are arguing that the
sign undermines the school's drug-free environment and thereby goes
against the school's mission.

Their principal lawyer, Clinton impeachment prosecutor Kenneth Starr,
is spinning the case to make it about drugs.

On the first day of hearings, Chief Justice John G. Roberts appeared
to agree with him, saying, "I thought we wanted our schools to teach
something, including something besides just basic elements, including
character formation and not to use drugs."

Fundamentally, this is a free speech issue.

The reason that Frederick's supporters run the gamut of the political
spectrum from the American Civil Liberties Union on the left the
Christian Legal Society on the right is because they are rallying to
defend free speech. Conservative Christian groups worry that a ruling
against Frederick would mean schools could limit speech that is
against gays or in favor of intelligent design.

The real question of this case is if the Supreme Court will rule that
Frederick's rights were violated simply because he was not on school
grounds, or if they will rule that he was under the school's
jurisdiction because it was a school-sponsored activity.

In the latter case, the Court would have to rule if schools can
curtail students' First Amendment rights.

Frederick has said that the sign was designed to get him on
television. If it was about marijuana, legalizing marijuana is a
legitimate debate in some states as well as in Canada. Even if "Bong
Hits 4 Jesus" was about advocating marijuana or about ridiculing
Christianity, neither the Government nor schools can limit speech
because they don't agree with its content.

A certain amount of order is necessary in order to learn in the
classroom, but students have the right to challenge school policy as
long as they're doing so in a non-disruptive way. Frederick's actions
didn't take place in the classroom. The Supreme Court should uphold
the 9th Circuit Court's opinion that Frederick's constitutional rights
were violated.