Free speech on campus is debated
WASHINGTON — High school students may have a right to free speech, but that does not include the freedom to unfurl a banner promoting "bong hits" during a school activity, the Supreme Court was told Monday.
An unusual case from Alaska tests whether principals and teachers can punish students for banners, buttons or other messages that conflict with the goals and policies set by school officials.
During Monday's argument, former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth W. Starr and a Bush administration attorney urged the justices to defer to school officials when deciding what messages were appropriate on and around a high school campus.
"Illegal drugs and the glorification of the drug culture are profoundly serious problems for our nation," said Starr, dean of Pepperdine University School of Law. He represents a school principal from Juneau, Alaska, who was sued for ripping away the banner and suspending the student who unfurled it.
Permitting the banner to be displayed would be "interpreted as an encouragement of the drug culture," Starr said.
Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler, representing the Justice Department, added, "A school does not have to tolerate a message that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission."
But a lawyer representing the student said the right to free speech should prevail so long as the message did not disrupt classrooms or the education process. "This is a case about free speech. It is not a case about drugs," said Douglas K. Mertz, a lawyer from Juneau.
His client, Joseph Frederick, was an 18-year-old senior in 2002 when the torch for the Winter Olympics was scheduled to pass in front of the high school. Frederick was standing on a public street as the TV cameras came into range. He and several other students then unfurled the 14-foot banner that said, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."
The school's principal, Deborah Morse, ripped it away from the students and sent Frederick to the office. She planned to suspend him for five days, but when he invoked Thomas Jefferson and the 1st Amendment, she doubled the suspension to 10 days.
Frederick sued, alleging Morse had violated his constitutional rights.
A federal judge rejected his claim, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled for the student and said the principal could be forced to pay damages.
No damages have been set, and the school board urged the Supreme Court to overrule the 9th Circuit.
- Schools can ban pro-drug banners Jun 26, 2007
- Court to rule on schools, speech Dec 02, 2006
- Court's Message to Schools: Apart From, Not Part of, Life Jan 21, 1988
