U.S. Supreme Court tightens limits on student speech

[virgo]

By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press

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WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court tightened limits on student speech today, ruling against a high school student and his 14-foot-long “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner.

Schools may prohibit student expression that can be interpreted as advocating drug use, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court in a 5-4 ruling.
Joseph Frederick unfurled his homemade sign on a winter morning in 2002, as the Olympic torch made its way through Juneau, Alaska, en route to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.


Frederick said the banner was a nonsensical message that he first saw on a snowboard. He intended the banner to proclaim his right to say anything at all. His principal, Deborah Morse, said the phrase was a pro-drug message that had no place at a school-sanctioned event. Frederick denied that he was advocating for drug use.

“The message on Frederick’s banner is cryptic,” Roberts said. “But Principal Morse thought the banner would be interpreted by those viewing it as promoting illegal drug use, and that interpretation is plainly a reasonable one.”

Morse suspended the student, prompting a federal civil rights lawsuit.

Students in public schools don’t have the same rights as adults, but neither do they leave their constitutional protections at the schoolhouse gate, as the court said in a landmark speech-rights ruling from Vietnam era.

The court has limited what students can do in subsequent cases, saying they may not be disruptive or lewd or interfere with a school’s basic educational mission.
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Gotta love the "new" Supreme Court.

[TheKing]

See the sad thing is, crazy assed principles will interpret this as they can limit all sorts of things...this will be used as a reason to go to school uniforms in a lot of places...

i can just sit around and imagine some principles rubbing their hands ala mr burns with the possibilities of this ruling.

So sad the world has become.

[58ford]

I t could be argued that the students would have more freedoms if they didn't abuse the ones they have. The banner was a dumb stunt, and elicited the reaction it was designed to.

[TheKing]

so the solution to stopping the few students from abusing freedoms is to restrict the freedoms of all the students?

doenst make a whole lot of sense to me.

[jkspatty]

If some people would stop getting all in a tizzy about stuff like this, these punk a** kids would probably stop this nonsense. They love to draw attention to themselves.

[Petal Polk]

There have always been limits on free speech at school. Kids are not allowed to say or do things that might provoke a fight or be disruptive to the "learning environment." That goes back to the Tinker case in 1969.

[dollfus46]

Gotta love the "new" Supreme Court.

Amen. Sounds like common sense is creeping back in.

[58ford]

Amen. Sounds like common sense is creeping back in.
Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Bluesman]

It's a shame we have come to be a society that must have the courts intervene in our daily lives and rule over such trivial matters such as this.

With that being said I'm currently waiting on a ruling to see if I have the authority to wipe my own ass or if I will be infringing upon anyone's civil rights. Dang NeoNazi Socialist Pinko Commies in charge of everything... What are we becoming?

[Astra]

The case isn't as cut and dried as it sounds, either. There was also the issue of whether the event was really "school sanctioned" since it did not actually take place on school property.

I am really bothered by the future legal implications of this ruling. Yeah, the kid did something stupid, but now we have to worry about defining "pro-drug speech." Are any drugs okay to promote? How about advertising for caffeinated drinks (DARE told me that qualified as a drug)?

I sense worms crawling out of a can...

[58ford]

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w293/58ford/stalin.gif

[Bluesman]

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w293/58ford/stalin.gif
Yeah I think my Great Uncles and Great G. Pa kicked their pinko arses too!

[dollfus46]

With that being said I'm currently waiting on a ruling to see if I have the authority to wipe my own ass or if I will be infringing upon anyone's civil rights.
Depends, Bluesman, on whether by doing it yourself, you are performing a job nobody but the Illegal immigrants will do. Then, you're infringing upon their civil rights, and you have to stop.

[dollfus46]

The case isn't as cut and dried as it sounds, either. There was also the issue of whether the event was really "school sanctioned" since it did not actually take place on school property.

I am really bothered by the future legal implications of this ruling. Yeah, the kid did something stupid, but now we have to worry about defining "pro-drug speech." Are any drugs okay to promote? How about advertising for caffeinated drinks (DARE told me that qualified as a drug)?

I sense worms crawling out of a can...

They've been crawling out of a can for years. Called the ACLU.

[Bluesman]

Depends, Bluesman, on whether by doing it yourself, you are performing a job nobody but the Illegal immigrants will do. Then, you're infringing upon their civil rights, and you have to stop.
Damn, what happened to the simple life... When did everything get so complicated. While everyone is debating the issue my ass is getting raw waiting on my appeal.:-D

[dollfus46]

Damn, what happened to the simple life... When did everything get so complicated. While everyone is debating the issue my ass is getting raw waiting on my appeal.:-D

Attorneys happened, and it spread from there.

[Bluesman]

Attorneys happened, and it spread from there.
Yeah, spread like a rash heh? :smt022 Too bad we just can't rub a little cortisone on em and ease the discomfort. I have some attorney friends that aren't pricks though. Not all attorneys are neos.

[dream member]

I really don't know what to say in this matter...for one I like free speech, but I gotta be honest, seeing a banner with that message would highly offend me. Of course I hate potheaded little punks who have no discipline anyway...they call their parents by the first names; and anything they do is "an expression of themselves"...I'm telling you...a few more military style schools would do the trick!

[Bluesman]

I really don't know what to say in this matter...for one I like free speech, but I gotta be honest, seeing a banner with that message would highly offend me. Of course I hate potheaded little punks who have no discipline anyway...they call their parents by the first names; and anything they do is "an expression of themselves"...I'm telling you...a few more military style schools would do the trick!
Yeah and start caning their asses when they screw up like they do in Singapore. That would deter crime. yes siree that right there would solve the prison overcrowding problem... Especially if they would re-instate the chain gangs too.. You know sentence em to hard labor....

[dream member]

Yeah and start caning their asses when they screw up like they do in Singapore. That would deter crime. yes siree that right there would solve the prison overcrowding problem... Especially if they would re-instate the chain gangs too.. You know sentence em to hard labor....

lol I think sentencing them to hard labor would be infringing upon the rights of the illegal immigrants...remember it's their country now. :smt118

Of course it is important that prisoners have their rights too...then the people who don't work and live on taxes...and somewhere at the bottom we have the middle class working folks' rights...yeah! We'll take the leftovers! :clap:

[dollfus46]

so the solution to stopping the few students from abusing freedoms is to restrict the freedoms of all the students?

doenst make a whole lot of sense to me.

Makes sense to me, but I'm nuts anyway. Kids should be quite limited in their rights and freedoms and parents should be held accountable for their actions. You brung 'um here, they belong to you, you're responsible for 'um. Don't be making babies and foisting them on me nor society to raise.

[dollfus46]

Yeah, spread like a rash heh? :smt022 Too bad we just can't rub a little cortisone on em and ease the discomfort. I have some attorney friends that aren't pricks though. Not all attorneys are neos.

Of course not. Corporate Lawyers are okay. It's the Civil Rights lawyers and personal loss lawyers who are killing us. Not to mention that the collective legal IQ of many jurys is only one digit. by the time a judge has read the rules for an hour to a jury, they haven't a clue what the hell is going on.
I've already said that the best way to put a stop to all these ridiculous law suits is to award actual damages to the plaintiff. 100% of punitive damages goes to charity. You'd find out real quick who really gives a fat rats ass about punishment if it's not profitable. Or let the judge assign the amount of punitive damages if any are appropriate. It still goes to charity and cuts our taxes.

[Engelbert Humperdinck]

Gotta love the "new" Supreme Court.

I thought you were FOR censorship?!











JUST KIDDING
Please don't neg rep me again, we're friends now, right?
You know, if I didn't think you were my friend, Virgo, I don't think I could bear it.
:-D

[dollfus46]

Yeah and start caning their asses when they screw up like they do in Singapore. That would deter crime. yes siree that right there would solve the prison overcrowding problem... Especially if they would re-instate the chain gangs too.. You know sentence em to hard labor....


Oooooooooo. Stop it. I'm getting moist.:smt118

[fuzzis]

Again...another visual no one needed this early in the morning. Thanks dollfus. Thanks a lot. Did you and Engelbert get together and plan this?

[virgo]

I thought you were FOR censorship?! Please don't neg rep me again, we're friends now, right?


You know, if I didn't think you were my friend, Virgo, I don't think I could bear it. :-D

Don't worry. I know who you are and where you work, hehehehe. :-D

[Bluesman]

Oooooooooo. Stop it. I'm getting moist.:smt118
:smt078That's all I gotta say. Or all I can anyway:confused:

[politically incorrect]

Do you know just how big of a mess our schools would be in if students had unrestricted rights to freedom of speech, assembly, petition, etc.? If you think public schools are in trouble now, you ain't seen nothing yet. The laws already make it too hard to punish students who are disruptive. I think we should go back to the days when expulsion was actually expulsion - not a ticket to alternative school where you can graduate by going fewer hours (in some districts) and doing less work.

Students should be protected from abuse and that is about it. If they are suspected of having contraband items they should be subject to having their belongings searched. If they talk about drugs or other illegal activities, they should be subject to being disciplined. And if they disrespect a teacher they should be subject to being suspended or expelled.

[just-Wynn]

Pro'lem Solver:
http://static.flickr.com/106/269656975_ea64c0f11d_m.jpg

[politically incorrect]

just-Wynn, I was going to give you rep points for that great post, but it said I have given out too much rep in the last 24 hours. But, a picture sure is worth a thousand words!:clap:

[dollfus46]

Again...another visual no one needed this early in the morning. Thanks dollfus. Thanks a lot. Did you and Engelbert get together and plan this?

Sorry, Fuzzis. I'll replace your breakfast next time I'm in town. :-D

[dollfus46]

Pro'lem Solver:
http://static.flickr.com/106/269656975_ea64c0f11d_m.jpg

D.I. Patrick never spared the rod when I was at HHS. Football coaches didn't either. Coach David Oakes rather enjoyed it. At least when I was the do-ee and he was the doer.

[Astra]

The coaches at my high school took entirely too much enjoyment out of paddling students... especially the females.

Ugh.

[dollfus46]

The coaches at my high school took entirely too much enjoyment out of paddling students... especially the females.

Ugh.

Nah. I ain't touching that one.

[Bluesman]

politically incorrect agrees: +3 for the chain gangs. I don't think the 8th Amendment will allow the caning. (But maybe it should)

Ain't nothing cruel or unusual about a piece of bamboo cane... Just ask my daddy!!!!:smt022Boy he use to whop my ass back in the day... Jus look how good I turned out.:-D I been whopped with bamboo, switches, hands, paddles, jump butts (this is a small whip used to discipline chittlins with that has a small handle that fits around the wrist to prevent loss from use. It's name is derived from what yo ass does when it is applied).... Boy my daddy would grab my hands with one of his and go to work with the other and round and round we would go like a merry go round but they wasn't nothing merry bout the goin round! Tell you what he never had to get me for the same thing twice... See, that would prevent repeat offending if we could use it on criminals.:pantsdown::smt079 While the whole time my DA sister is going:clap:... that is till it was her turn:-D