'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' case limits student rights.The Supreme Court ruled against a former high school student in June in the famous "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner case. The split decision is another setback for student free speech rights. Joseph Frederick was 18 in 2002 when he displayed a paper banner on a public sidewalk outside his Juneau, Alaska “Juneau” redirects here. For other uses, see Juneau (disambiguation). The City and Borough of Juneau (pronounced [ˈdʒu. , high school. Principal Deborah Morse confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. it and suspended Frederick, prompting him to sue. High court justices ruled 6-3 that Frederick's free speech rights were not violated by his suspension over what the majority's written opinion called a "sophomoric soph·o·mor·ic adj. 1. Of or characteristic of a sophomore. 2. Exhibiting great immaturity and lack of judgment: sophomoric behavior. " banner. "It was reasonable for (the principal) to conclude that the banner promoted illegal drug use ... not ... that failing to act would send a powerful message to the students in her charge," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court's majority. Roberts was backed by Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy This article is about the Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. For the Maryland senator, see Anthony Kennedy (Maryland). Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) has been an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1988. , Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito. Justice John Paul Stevens John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is currently the most senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He joined the Court in 1975 and is the oldest and longest serving incumbent member of the Court. stated in his dissent. "This case began with a silly nonsensical banner, (and) ends with the court inventing out of whole cloth a special First Amendment rule permitting the censorship of any student speech that mentions drugs, so long as someone could perceive that speech to contain a latent pro-drug message." He was backed by Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15 1933, Brooklyn, New York) is an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Having spent 13 years as a federal judge, but not being a career jurist, she is unique as a Supreme Court justice, having spent the majority of her career as an . The Student Press Law Center and other civil liberties groups are criticizing the high court decision as over-reaction to a meaningless prank that serves to strike another blow at student free expression and the First Amendment. |
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