Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jun 2007
Source: Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
Copyright: 2007 The Beacon Journal Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/6
http://www.mapinc.org/people/Joseph+Frederick (Joseph Frederick)

GONE BONG-KERS

The Supreme Court On Drugs

Chief Justice John Roberts reasoned that if a high school principal 
didn't act decisively against a student who unfurled a banner at a 
school-sponsored event, the principal would be seen as lacking 
sufficient concern for illegal drug use. What did the banner say? 
"Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

The gist of the chief justice's thinking carried the day on the 
Supreme Court, a 6-3 majority holding that the principal did not 
violate the student's First Amendment rights. Even Roberts 
acknowledged the sign amounted to "gibberish." Thus, one troubling 
aspect of the ruling involves his leap from a goofy sign to the 
contention that the student engaged in speech advocating drug use.

Listen to the student, and you get a clue about his thinking: He and 
his friends wanted to do something silly enough to attract the 
television cameras during the Olympic torch parade through Juneau, 
Alaska. They succeeded in gaining attention, to say the least. The 
principal and the high court overreacted.

As Justice John Paul Stevens noted in dissent, the majority invented 
"out of whole cloth" a special exemption from the First Amendment for 
student speech about drugs. Obviously, part of the school mission 
involves sending the right message about drug use. The risk in the 
court opinion is the invitation to excess, broadly censoring student 
speech that principals deem at odds with the school's purpose.

In his concurring opinion, Justice Samuel Alito raised this worry. So 
did Justice Stephen Breyer, arguing the harm of drugs alone does not 
justify such a sweeping ban. If anything, the educational mission 
includes encouraging robust debate, especially about matters close to 
students. The debate, in this instance, might have better begun and 
ended with the question: What does "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" mean?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom