Justices Weigh Free Speech for Students
The Supreme Court heard a case about free speech Monday after a Juneau, Alaska high school student was suspended for displaying a sign, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at an off-campus school activity. National Law Journal's Marcia Coyle discusses the case.
Quote:
JUDY WOODRUFF: In January of 2002, while standing along a parade route just across from his Juneau, Alaska, high school, then 18-year-old Joe Frederick unfurled a 14-foot-long banner which read, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."
Frederick freely admitted he was challenging school authority. School principal Deborah Morse quickly confiscated the banner and suspended Frederick for 10 days. Frederick sued Principal Morse and the school board for violating his First Amendment rights to free speech.
He lost at the federal district level, but won in appeals court. Morse then appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which today heard oral arguments in the case.
