While the ruling initially appeared narrow, it has since been expanded by lower courts to prohibit other disruptive speech as well. Just five years ago, we wrote: “The drug abuse problem among our Nation’s youth has hardly abated since Vernonia was decided in 1995. Had Fraser delivered the same speech in a public forum outside the school context, it would have been protected. In Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393 (2007), often referred to as the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case, the Supreme Court ruled that it is not a denial of the First Amendment right to free speech for public school officials to censor student speech that they reasonably believe encourages illegal drug use. In this case, Frederick asked not just for damages, but also for declaratory and injunctive relief. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Id., at 661. Frederick himself claimed “that the words were just nonsense meant to attract television cameras.” 439 F. 3d, at 1117–1118. In addition to the substantial disruption modification, Morse also was significant in that it applied to a school-sponsored event outside the classroom. ex rel. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. Notably, he defines “student speech” to be separate from “speech made by students” (Id.). Justice Stephen G. Breyer concurred in part, reasoning that the Court should not resolve the underlying First Amendment issue but simply rule for Principal Morse on qualified immunity grounds.

58a. No. The mode of analysis employed in Fraser is not entirely clear. First Amendment rights because the school punished Frederick without demonstrating that his speech gave rise to a “risk of substantial disruption.” 439 F. 3d 1114, 1118, 1121–1123 (2006).
Nuxoll v. Indian Prairie School District, a school speech where the plaintiff alleged his First Amendment rights were violated when he was forbidden from making negative comments about homosexuality (523 F.3d 668). This Court reversed, holding that “educators do not offend the On the other side, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) also filed an amicus brief. Given [Frederick’s] inability or unwillingness to express any other credible meaning for the phrase, I can only agree with the principal and countless others who saw the banner as advocating the use of illegal drugs. First, the phrase could be interpreted as an imperative: “[Take] bong hits …”—a message equivalent, as Morse explained in her declaration, to “smoke marijuana” or “use an illegal drug.” Alternatively, the phrase could be viewed as celebrating drug use—“bong hits [are a good thing],” or “[we take] bong hits”—and we discern no meaningful distinction between celebrating illegal drug use in the midst of fellow students and outright advocacy or promotion. The first case to examine is Ponce v. Socorro Independent School District (508 F.3d 765). Thomas reasoned that “the history of public education suggests that the First Amendment, originally understood, does not protect student speech in public schools.”. This sentiment is echoed by many others, stating how courts have applied school speech cases to outside the classroom without careful consideration of whether the school has a “valid interest in regulating the speech” (Lynett). Morse v. Frederick, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 25, 2007, ruled (5–4) that Alaskan school officials had not violated a student’s First Amendment freedom of speech rights after suspending him for displaying, at a school event, a banner that was seen as promoting illegal drug use.. “Morse v. Frederick one year later: new limitations on student speech and the ‘Columbine factor’.” Suffolk University Law Review, Summer 2009, p. 427+. First Amendment rights. Accessed 8 Nov. 2019.

While this may not be a conscious choice, the decision in Morse provide a legal basis for schools to censor students as long as they can claim it is in the inherent interest of schools’ mission to do so. First Amendment rights had been violated, and this Court agreed.

It was sanctioned by Principal Morse “as an approved social event or class trip,” App.

SS–5, p. 19 (June 9, 2006). Until the Supreme Court accepts another student speech case to provide this guidance, however, the ruling in Morse will continue to cause inconsistencies in lower courts. Relying on our decision in Fraser, supra,the superintendent concluded that the principal’s actions were permissible because Frederick’s banner was “speech or action that intrudes upon the work of the schools.” App. These groups argued in favor of free speech, and worried that a ruling might restrict political and religious opinions (ACLU). App. Not all the students waited patiently. Student speech celebrating illegal drug use at a school event, in the presence of school administrators and teachers, thus poses a particular challenge for school officials working to protect those entrusted to their care from the dangers of drug abuse. Gale OneFile: LegalTrac. We hold that she may.

In school, however, Fraser’s The dissent conceded that the principal should have had immunity from the lawsuit, but argued that the majority opinion was "[...] deaf to the constitutional imperative to permit unfettered debate, even among high-school students [...].". Frederick sued under 42 U.S.C. In denying her injunction to be reinstated on the team, the District Court considered her boastful comments, as well as the fact she wore a cheer outfit in the video, and held “…the post was made within the school context if not on the school grounds” (Id.). Whereas before Morse, only actions interfering with the activities of the classroom qualified, afterwards the courts expanded the idea of substantial disruption by including disruption to student learning and civility in the classroom (Schoedel 1657). The torchbearers were to proceed along a street in front of Juneau-Douglas High School (JDHS) while school was in session. Because schools may take steps to safeguard those entrusted to their care from speech that can be regarded as encouraging illegal drug use, the school officials in this case did not violate the First Amendment by confiscating the pro-drug banner and suspending Frederick. Tinker held that student expression may not be suppressed unless school officials reasonably conclude that it will “materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school.” Id., at 513. Roberts then created an exception to the Tinker standard for speech that celebrates illegal drug use, which, he wrote, “poses a particular challenge for school officials working to protect those entrusted to their care from the dangers of drug abuse.”, Roberts did reject the school officials’ arguments that the Kuhlmeier school-sponsored student-speech precedent controlled the analysis because Frederick’s banner was not school sponsored. The particular concern to prevent student drug abuse at issue here, embodied in established school policy, App. ), overlooks what was made clear in Tinker, Fraser, and Kuhlmeier: student There is no suggestion that school officials attempted to regulate [Fraser’s] speech because they disagreed with the views he sought to express”).

682 (1986) of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2005, 55 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Surveillance Summaries, No. The best Frederick can come up with is that the banner is “meaningless and funny.” 439 F. 3d, at 1116. A federal district court dismissed the suit, reasoning Morse had the authority to punish Frederick for his message that she reasonably interpreted “directly contravened the Board’s policies related to drug abuse prevention.”. In deciding Morse, the Supreme Court did not explicitly modify the Tinker standard, but rather created a new ruling. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: media@aclu.org WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today criticized the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling in Morse v.Frederick, which held that Alaska public school officials did not violate a student's free speech rights by punishing him for displaying a banner during a public event. This becomes evident in the rise of school cyberbulling statutes. 2 The dissent’s effort to find inconsistency between our approach here and the opinion in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., 551 U. S. ___ (2007), see post, at 12 (opinion of Stevens, J. Elsewhere in its opinion, the dissent emphasizes the importance of political speech and the need to foster “national debate about a serious issue,” post, at 16, as if to suggest that the banner is political speech. to Pet. Morse and the school board appealed to the Supreme Court with the free legal assistance of former federal appeals court judge and independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Id., at 25; see ibid. Encyclopedia Table of Contents | Case Collections | Academic Freedom | Recent News, The original "Bong Hits for Jesus" banner that led to a Supreme Court decision on student speech now hangs in the Newseum Institute in Washington, DC. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. First Amendment is designed to protect.” Virginia v. Black, The Ninth Circuit held that the principal’s actions violated the Frederick administratively appealed his suspension, but the Juneau School District Superintendent upheld it, limiting it to time served (8 days). The Ninth Circuit reversed. The message on Frederick’s banner is cryptic. 06-278 Argued: March 19, 2007 Decided: June 25, 2007. The

At a school-sanctioned and school-supervised event, petitioner Morse, the high school principal, saw students unfurl a banner stating "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS," which she regarded as promoting illegal drug use. Frederick, standing among other JDHS students across the street from the school, directed his banner toward the school, making it plainly visible to most students. First Amendment , and that the student could sue the principal for damages. As the torchbearers and camera crews passed by, Frederick and his friends unfurled a 14-foot banner bearing the phrase: “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS.” App. Suggestions for reforms of Morse focus on two central ideas: laying out a single consistent standard for free speech in schools, and re-interpreting the meaning of school speech in the digital age.

Choose from 399 different sets of morse v. frederick flashcards on Quizlet.
Contrary to the dissent’s suggestion, see post, at 14–16, this is plainly not a case about political debate over the criminalization of drug use or possession. of Independent School Dist.

Seattle University Law Review 32 (2008): 1-34. The question thus becomes whether a principal may, consistent with the Frederick appealed the suspension to the school board, and after it was denied he filed civil suit against Morse for a declaratory judgement that his First Amendment rights were violated, an injunction to remove his suspension, and monetary damages. Respondent Joseph Frederick, a JDHS senior, was late to school that day. Stripped of rhetorical flourishes, then, the debate between the dissent and this opinion is less about constitutional first principles than about whether Frederick’s banner constitutes promotion of illegal drug use.

The large banner was easily readable by the students on the other side of the street. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account.

484 U. S. 260, [Frederick’s] speech was potentially disruptive to the event and clearly disruptive of and inconsistent with the school’s educational mission to educate students about the dangers of illegal drugs and to discourage their use.” Id., at 61a–62a.

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