Morse v. Frederick

“Bong Hits for Jesus” read a high school student’s banner at the Olympic torch parade in Alaska. Joseph Frederic proudly waved his sign as the Olympic torch runner passed him on the school field in which he attended the public Olympic torch parade of 2006. Upon Frederick’s unraveling of his home-made sign, he was reprimanded by his teacher and eventually received a ten-day suspension. Frederick sued, stating that his first amendment right to free speech was infringed upon. His lawyers argued that he was at a public event when he unraveled his poster, so even though he was on a school-sponsored field trip, he was not under complete authority of the school as he would have been otherwise. However, the district court sided with the school, finding no constitutional conflict with the school’s punishment. Frederick, undeterred, continued his fight- appealing his case. The U.S. district courts reversed the holding, citing Tinker versus Des Moines Independent School District as part of their justification. In Tinker v. Des Moines, students were punished by the school for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam war. The students took their case to the Supreme Court and the court ultimately ruled in favor of the students. The court argued that the students are still entitled to their First Amendment rights under school jurisdiction as long as the speech doesn’t cause a disturbance. Since Frederick was punished for his message rather than causing a disruption, the district court ruled in his favor. However, when the case was taken to the Supreme Court, the drug-promoting content of the poster was found to be enough justification for the action the school took, and the decision was reversed once more. Frederick’s case, though superficially comical, has deeper connotations than the ever provocative “Bong Hits for Jesus”. Student’s rights to free expression are limited by how their expression impact others as well as if what they are trying to convey is viewed as acceptable in society.

https://www.oyez.org/cases/2006/06-278