Free Speech for Students ?

Court Hears Whether a Drug Statement Is Protected Free Speech for Students. Supreme Court ruled an Alaska high school principal and school board did not violate a student’s free-speech rights by punishing him for displaying the words “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” on a 14-foot-long banner across the street from school as the 2002 Olympic torch parade went by.

Principles Argument:
His approach was to present the free-speech case as a drug case and argue that whatever rights students may have under the First Amendment to express themselves, speaking in oblique or even in arguably humorous dissent from a school’s official antidrug message is not one of them.

*The question was particularly interesting because Mr. Starr had just sought to reassure the court that his argument was not limitless. The court’s leading precedent on student speech, a 1969 decision called Tinker v. Des Moines School District, “articulates a baseline of political speech” that students have a presumptive right to engage in, Mr. Starr said.*

Defendant's side:
It was basically a public event in a public place. In that context, he argued, the sign was not disruptive.


This case presents a particular challenge. While Justice Kennedy is perhaps the most speech-protective of the justices, he is also highly pro-government on issues involving illegal drugs.

Ruling:
Court ruled that student speech can lose its protected status if it is unduly disruptive.