COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS IN SPEECH CASE

WASHINGTON - A high school senior's 14-foot banner proclaiming "Bong
Hits 4 Jesus" gave the Supreme Court a provocative prop for a lively
argument Monday about the extent of schools' control over student speech.

If the justices conclude Joseph Frederick's homemade sign was a
pro-drug message, they are likely to side with principal Deborah
Morse. She suspended Frederick in 2002 when he unfurled the banner
across the street from the school in Juneau, Alaska. He sued, saying
his free-speech rights were violated.

"I thought we wanted our schools to teach something ...including the
character formation and not to use drugs," Chief Justice John Roberts
said Monday.

But the court could rule for Frederick if it determines that he was,
as he has contended, conducting a free-speech experiment using a
nonsensical message that contained no pitch for drug use.

"It sounds like just a kid's provocative statement to me," Justice
David Souter said.

Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who is representing Morse,
argued that the justices should defer to the judgment of the
principal. Morse reasonably interpreted the banner as a pro-drug
message, Starr said.

Douglas Mertz of Juneau, Frederick's lawyer, struggled to keep the
focus away from drugs. "This is a case about free speech," he said.

A decision in the case is expected by July.