Pubdate: Sun, 01 Apr 2007
Source: Longview News-Journal (TX)
Copyright: 2007sCox Interactive Media
Contact:  http://www.news-journal.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1048
Author: Mike Elswick

FORMER HENDERSON RESIDENT'S BANNER GAINS NATIONAL ATTENTION; APPEAL
PENDING

Former Henderson resident Joseph Frederick never thought his high 
school fight for free speech rights would propel him to the national 
limelight in a case that recently was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

After leaving Henderson with his family and moving to Alaska while a 
sophomore in high school, he was looking for a way to capture the 
attention of news camera crews during a parade in 2002 in which the 
Olympic torch was passing near his Juneau-Douglas High School.

"Bong Hits 4 Jesus," was the phrase he came up with. The then 
18-year-old senior had fashioned a 14-foot paper banner, which he 
held as the Olympic torch passed across the street from his high 
school on a national relay leading up to the 2002 Olympic winter 
games in Salt Lake City.

Now 24, he lives in central China where he teaches English and is 
studying Chinese history and the Mandarin language. He was 
interviewed this week via e-mail from China.

The banner incident resulted in legal action which was appealed to 
the U.S. Supreme Court this month.

"I was looking for unusual, hilariously funny, provocative and 
controversial speech that would not be easily understood but would be 
wide open to subjective interpretation to anyone that read it," he 
said. The message was controversial enough that the principal at 
Juneau-Douglas High decided to take action even through the banner 
was held up off school property, he said.

"When (the principal) demanded to know the meaning, I told her it 
could be interpreted as an acronym for "Bring on the national games, 
head into town for Jesus" -- but that was not the meaning," Frederick 
said. "I told her the banner message was never intended to promote 
drugs or religion but the message was to be interpreted subjectively 
and a person was free to assign whatever meaning and value to the 
banner they desired to assign to it, and if someone interpreted it as 
a religious message or a drug message then that is what the sign 
meant to them."

The principal took exception and suspended Frederick because she said 
the phrase was a "pro-marijuana" message in conflict with the 
school's anti-drug policies. The principal had previously disciplined 
Frederick for other acts of protest and confiscated the banner.

"In all honesty, I was standing up to ... high school authority that 
consistently abused their power to trample student constitutional and 
civil rights with impunity," he said. "This is why I chose the 
location so very carefully, across the street from the school on 
public property."

Frederick wanted to send a message to local school officials but 
thought it would probably not go any further.

"My message to the school was clear. 'I am asserting my First 
Amendment free speech rights, there is nothing you should be able to 
do about it, and I am doing it in front of a national audience,' CNN 
news," he said. "The underlying message I believe is quite clear: No 
one can interfere with my free speech rights and the free expression 
of my thoughts. I guess I took my Texas spirit and stubbornness with 
me when I moved to Alaska."

Frederick was suspended for five days initially, but had another five 
days added to the suspension.

"I dared quote a founding father, Thomas Jefferson, that 'speech 
limited is speech lost' and you may not agree with my message but you 
should defend my right to think it, speak it, and write it.'"

He said mention of the Jefferson quote resulted in the additional 
five days suspension.

While growing up in East Texas, Frederick said a number of positive 
influences on his life may have contributed to his willingness to 
take a strong stand for his beliefs.

"My father taught me to always question all things even those things 
I believe to be absolutely true," he said. Frederick also mentioned a 
childhood friendship with Rex Mann, son of Henderson attorney Mark 
Mann and his wife Debbie, who he called "sincere, caring and highly 
intelligent people" as being a positive influence on his life.

Mark Mann on Friday recalled Frederick's younger years.

"He was a good student and outstanding soccer player," Mann said. 
"Like a lot of us at that age he was a mischievous kid at times."

Mann said even at an early age Frederick had an interest in the U.S. 
Constitution and civil rights

"He grew up in a family where you stood up for what you believed in 
- -- and worked within the system to make things right," Mann said.

Frederick's former soccer coach with the Longview Elite squad, Alan 
Akana, said he recalled nothing in Frederick's play that would 
indicate he might one day be considered a rebel.

"He was a decent player and worked really hard," Akana said. "He had 
a good strong attitude and loved to play soccer."

Frederick said the banner incident should have never ended up in the courts.

"Prior to any litigation being filed I made an offer of settlement to 
the Juneau School Board," he said. "I would drop the matter and 
pursue it no further if they agreed to hold a student assembly, 
including teachers and staff, where the ACLU (American Civil 
Liberties Union) could present a program on student constitutional 
and civil rights."

He even suggested the school district's attorney attend and have the 
program turned into a debate forum. The ACLU had agreed to provide 
the program at no charge to the school, Frederick said.

"This settlement offer was refused and rejected immediately on 
recommendation of the high school administration without any real 
consideration by the Juneau school board," he said. "The school 
district and its administration possessed a great fear of students 
knowing their constitutional and civil rights, did they not?"

The suit went to trial and was appealed.

In March 2006, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco 
ruled the high school principal violated Frederick's constitutional 
right to free speech by suspending him. The appeals court decision 
was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case March 19.

"Now that it has reached the Supreme Court, I hope the court will 
affirm free speech rights for students and all of America," Frederick 
said. "Freedom of speech is the last step in the victory march for 
freedom and liberty and is the true embodiment of American values."

Thomas Jefferson said: "nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and 
unalienable rights of man," he said.

"Unfortunately, these rights must be asserted from time to time or 
they are clearly lost," Frederick said. "I believe the Supreme Court 
will set the record straight by affirming the First Amendment and 
student free speech rights."

No date has been set for when the high court may issue a ruling on 
the case. In the meantime the incident and the case have drawn 
national media attention.

In an editorial last week, the New York Times wrote: "On March 19, 
the Court heard arguments on Morse versus Frederick, in what legal 
experts quoted in the national media say could be the most 
significant case on student free speech since the days of Vietnam War 
protests. At stake is the 1969 landmark ruling Tinker versus Des 
Moines, which said that students do not "shed their constitutional 
rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

Since then, the Times said, "the Court has narrowed that ruling, 
giving schools the right to censor speech to maintain order and 
protect students from harmful messages."

Frederick has not had to pay any of the legal fees for his case.

"I am truly indebted to my attorney, Douglas K. Mertz, a great 
believer in our Constitution and civil rights afforded by the Bill of 
Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union," he said.

While the latest rounds of legal maneuvering have gone on, Frederick 
has continued living, studying and teaching in China.

"I love living in China. It is a fabulous experience," he said. "I 
find the Chinese to be a very friendly, fascinating, intelligent, and 
industrious people and I am enjoying my teaching experience and 
studies in China immensely."
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