On January 24, 2002, in the course of the Olympic Torch Relay through Juneau, Alaska, Joseph Frederick, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School, spread out a banner with the words “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” (Kincaid, 2008). Frederick was at the event as part of an activity that was under the supervision of the school. The event was under television coverage. Deborah Morse, the school’s principal, asked Frederick to put away the banner. Morse’s concern was that the banner was possibly interpreted as an encouragement to participate in illegal drug activity. Frederick however refused to heed the instruction to put away the banner and subsequently Morse confiscated the banner. Initially, Frederick got a ten-day suspension from school for violation of school policy. The school policy Frederick was suspended for outlawed the encouragement of the use of prohibited drugs.
What followed was that Fredrick sued the principal for his suspension. Fredrick sued protesting against the suspension on the basis that it was a violation of his right to freedom of speech. When the matter was taken to the court, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska gave a ruling in favor of Morse (Kincaid,…show more content… Fredrick, the majority recognized that the Constitution provides smaller protections to some types of student speech at school or school-supervised events. In this context, the Court found that the message Frederick displayed was by his own admission not political in nature as opposed to the case in Tinker (Roberts, 2008). From the Court’s statement, the phrase “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” could sensibly be viewed as an endorsement of prohibited drug use. The Court therefore ruled that schools have the right to “take steps to safeguard those entrusted to their care from speech that can reasonably be regarded as encouraging illegal drug use” (Roberts, 2008). The steps taken by the schools can be implemented with no fear of violating a student's First Amendment
