'Bong Hits' clear violation of rights

By Scarlett Heydt
Voices Editor

Any person who is a true advocate for the First Amendment is probably still throwing up because of the disgusting display of complete disregard for the First Amendment shown this summer. The Supreme Court upset many advocates of First Amendment rights when it ruled against Joseph Frederick in the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case this past summer.

In 2002, the Olympic torch was passing through Juneau, Alaska. Frederick, who was 18 at the time, was on a field trip with his high school to watch the event. As the torch passed by, standing on a public sidewalk, he unrolled a banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." His principal, Deborah Morse, ordered that he take the banner down. When he refused, she tore the sign down and suspended Frederick for 10 days.

Frederick felt his First Amendment rights were violated so he took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court failed him, and all students however, by voting in favor of Morse, with a split vote of 5-4.

This case is a blatant violation of student rights for three reasons. One, although it was a school-sponsored field trip, it was at a public event where the banner was displayed. Second, Frederick was on public property and he was not actually at school. And third, he may have been a student at the time, but he was 18, therefore legally an adult. The school had no right to suppress his right to hold the sign because the First Amendment guarantees all Americans the right to free speech.

The Supreme Court definitely dropped the ball on this case. They claimed that the banner advocated drug use. The phrase "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" is a nonsense phrase. It doesn’t mean anything. It was just a sign. It was a phrase simply made up to get a rise out of people. Well, it certainly caught people’s attention. Unfortunately the people without any sense of humor decided that because they didn’t find it funny, someone needed to be punished. And because that person was a student, it was simple to manipulate and violate his First Amendment rights.

Some students may think this doesn’t affect them. But this affects every student across the country. When Frederick lost his case, so did every student in America. With this ruling, students are held accountable for their actions outside of school, based on school rules.
The last time anyone checked, this was a free country. Based on the Supreme Court ruling though, the freedoms that come with America only apply to people who aren’t students. How dare the Supreme Court feel that because someone is a student, he/she does not deserve the basic Constitutional rights. Students are people too.

Students have just as many thoughts and opinions as anyone else, and the Court has no right to silence anyone simply because they disagree with any topic. Was "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" an important phrase that students truly felt needed to be heard? No, even Frederick admitted many times through the course of the trial that he thought the phrase was ridiculous. But the fact that the school and the courts refused to let Frederick be heard just because they felt the banner was inappropriate doesn’t mean that the next time a similar situation comes up it’s not going to be unimportant.

Next time, it could be a sign advocating for different educational standards and the principal might disagree with a student’s thoughts. Or it could be advocating for not re-instating the draft and someone might feel the draft is necessary and will use the Supreme Court ruling to silence the students.

No one likes being told that their thoughts aren’t important. No one should have his/her voice silenced. It’s a shame that society has taken a giant step backward when it comes to the rights of students everywhere.