The Bong Hits 4 Jesus Case
Joseph Frederick and Student Speech Limited on or off School Grounds
The Bong Hits for Jesus case results in further restrictions on free speech for students
Joseph Frederick and his classmates were dismissed early from classes in order to observe the Olympic Torch Relay wind its way through Juneau Alaska. Frederick was 18 years of age and not standing on school grounds when he unfurled a banner that read “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS” The nonsensical message resulted in Frederick being suspended from school and a court case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Frederick filed suit, saying his First Amendment rights were violated by the disciplinary action, a ten day suspension. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, stating the principal could not show Frederick had disrupted the school's educational mission by showing the banner off school grounds.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, overturned the 9th Circuit Court and determined that the school suspension of Frederick did not violate the first amendment protection of free speech. The opinion, written by Chief Justice Roberts, determined the case based upon distinguishing the case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist., 393 U. S. 503, 506 (1969) and revisiting Bethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U. S. 675, 682 (1986).
First, the Court determined that the banner was “school speech.” The Olympic Torch Relay and banner unfurling occurred during normal school hours and was sanctioned by the school as an approved social event at which the student-conduct rules expressly applied. Teachers and administrators were among the students and were charged with supervising them. Frederick stood among other students across the street from the school and directed his banner toward the school, making it plainly visible to most students.
Second because the banner’s message was “school speech” a different and lesser standard applied to the speech. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist., 393 U. S. 503, the Court declared, in holding that prohibiting high school students from wearing antiwar armbands violated the First Amendment, that student “speech” may not be suppressed unless school officials reasonably conclude that it will "materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school." The Court stated that under its prior decision of Bethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U. S. 675, 682 (1986) the constitutional rights of students in public school are “not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings." The Court went on to state that while students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse steps free speech rights are confined to what is appropriate for school children.
Based upon this standard the Court concluded that the banner stating “BONG HiTS 4 Jesus” promoted drug use and that a school’s job involved educating students about the dangers of drugs. As such the Court stated the "special characteristics of the school environment," Tinker, 393 U. S., at 506, and the governmental interest in stopping student drug abuse allow schools to restrict student expression that they reasonably regard as promoting such abuse.
