March 19, 2007
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Bong Hits 4 Jesus
The Supreme Court will be hearing a case about a young man who was suspended when he and some friends held up a sign “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.”
Joseph Frederick and his friends held up a huge banner in front of television cameras as the Olympic flame passed by in January 24, 2002. The principal, Deborah Morse, had allowed the students to leave class to see the Olympic flame pass by. When she saw the students holding up the sign, she destroyed the banner. She suspended Joseph Frederick for 10 days.
The student is saying he was exercising his free speech. He is arguing that his free speech is guaranteed under the first amendment. The principal is saying that “school officials need to be able to impose discipline.” Their concern is that they will lose the ability to stop negative messages that support drug use.
Some religious groups have actually sided with the student. They are concerned that students will lose their ability to express religious views. Here is the link: Link
Should “Bong hits 4 Jesus” be protected as free speech?
Comments (99)
Free speech is becoming more rare. People can say all kinds of things but when Jesus is mentioned….it is banned. It should be protected.
It’s rather stupid, but I don’t believe it warranted a 10-day suspension by any means. I don’t think it’s even a school issue, and yeah, it’s a free-speech right, stupid or not.
That’s completely hilarious, in my opinion. I think it should be protected. Who’s it hurting?!?
Yeah. It’s stupid, but it should be protected nonetheless.
Yeah, it’s not like it hurt anyone. It was immature, yes, but it’s not like there was a riot incited.
though I don’t like the message, he is entitled to free speech. The principal overreacted.
Didn’t happen on school grounds and she shouldn’t be allowed to suspend them. On top of that despite the message being stupid… even stupid speech is protected.
Some how I find that amusing!
#8!?!?!?
Been a while since I’ve been in your top ten Dan!
Oh yeah!
And I agree that 10 days sounds a bit much, but this is yet another argument in favor of homeschooling!
Absolutely!!! The banner is in perfect keeping of Free Speech. The principal blew it on this one!
Sure, but not on school property or at events that are governed by the school. The Supreme Court has *already* ruled that schools’ right to impose discipline trumps “student rights” under those circumstances.
uhm… what is that supposed to mean, anyways?
freedom of speech is freedom of speech!
I can understand the need to restrict such messages at school or school events, but outside of school this is certainly protected speech.
As long as they aren’t on school property and aren’t out there toking on a bong……then it’s free speech.
Should be protected, it’s what our brothers and sisters in arms are fighting for. And especially since it has JESUS in it, of course there’s a bigger uproar about it. If it had said something else (without a form of Christianity in it) I am certain it wouldn’t have made the newspages.
If a person is allowed to BURN our country’s flag (which has been protected by the same “free speech” laws) I think he should be allowed to hold up his sign… however stupid that sign may be.
On the other hand- The principal was right to impose diciplinary action for the promotion of drug use that the sign implied, although I do think that a 10 day suspension is a bit extreme. I would have given him SATURDAY SCHOOL, or, better yet – How about a community service project such as speaking out AGAINST drugs at a nearby Junior high?
Yeah. It’s not hurting anyone.
it’s kinda funny.
id say its fine
free speech should be protected no matter what…..even if you dont agree with whatever is being said….. i mean i know a lot of people dont agree with the KKK…. (i dont agree with them)…. but i think they have a right to defend what they believe…. and “bong hits 4 Jesus”…..i mean come on…. thats not THAT bad….
I’m a huge believer that freedom of speech only goes so far. I mean, you’re fine to spout off whatever opinions you like, but the minute you truly hurt someone to their very being, you have overstepped your bounds, in my opinion. I mean, some people are offended at the drop of a hat, I’ll give you that. But when you degrade my belief in Jesus, you have hurt the very essence of me. To me, that’s overstepping your bounds on freedom of speech. I let most things roll off my back. I’m not easily offended. But some things just go too far.
On the flip side, it shows what a good job some Christians are doing on getting the Word out there. I mean, we are supposed to offend. Jesus tells us to offend. So, when we see something like this, it just means we’ve stepped on some toes somewhere, and we have hit a nerve. That’s pretty cool. JMHO.
i do not think that it was a breach of free speech. he was across the street from the school with a pro-drug “slogan” of sorts. the teacher had allowed students to go outside to watch the torch pass, so for all intents and purposes, they were under the jurisdiction of the school in the same way they would be if on a field trip. in a place like alaska, where drug use (especially underage drug use) is still an issue which is debated, the schools need to take a strong stance against underage drug use, as it is illegal. hope that doesn’t sound rude, but some people in ak don’t seem to have understood this. i would be fairly willing to bet that not everyone that is helping hold that sign up were 18+.
free speech needs to be protected. also, if the student had held up any other sign, it would have been fine. mention the name of Jesus and you’re in big trouble, though.
Court has *already* ruled that schools’ right to impose discipline trumps “student rights” under those circumstances.
Posted 3/19/2007 9:15 AM by Building_A_Mystery
obviously, except in tinker v. desmoines…
sigh.
Very little should not be upheld under free speech. Anymore if anyone dislikes what you say you are guaranteed that your right to free speech does not cover any longer. You are not allowed in many schools to say that you don’t like a fellow student and to say that you dislike or hate them is completely unacceptable.
It’s not political in nature, but idk if it’s obscenity, it doesn’t pass the Miller test as such.
It was brilliant. Look at the contortions it forces the Right Wing into. Well, there should be free speech…and especially since it mentions Jesus, because he is under attack in our godless schools…but uhm, bong hits are definitely wrong and drugs are immoral and uhm uhm uhm
Sounds to me like that principal could use a few bong hits herself.
Yes, it should be protected. Why stiffle creative expression if it isn’t harming anyone?
I seriously doubt that it was anything more than an attention-getting stunt. It is certainly not a religious message, and the Supreme Court gave schools the right to impose discipline on students for things like that, even outside of school grounds and hours.
ha ha, it was kinda funny – maybe a little wrong but still funny. I bet they were trying to be funny not promote drug-use but with our politically correct society.. this issue is likely to get bigger
- Daniel (doubledb)
Eh, I generally side with free speech. The sign’s not libel in my opinion, it’s just stupid. People have the right to be stupid (they exercise it all the time). However, I also am not wild about teachers having idiot students without being able to keep them orderly. On this issue, I am okay with the free speech, but I hate to think that it’d be precedent for other cases, ultimately taking more and more authority out of the teachers’/principals’ hands.
HAHAHAHAHA! I’d hit the bong with Jesus! Protect Joseph Frederick!
My husband was reading about this the other day! That kid is friggin smart… he was off school property, and when he brought up Thomas Jefferson and free speech to the principal she doubled his detention. lol! I’m curious to see what happens with this. AND his father’s suing, b/c he was employed by that school district and they fired him b/c of reasons relating to this. I bet they both get off.
Technically, it is free speech. Anything that’s not “fighting words” is covered, as fr as I know. So I’m not sure there’s much that can be done about it.
YES!!!!
bong hits for jesus? what is (a) bong?
can someone tell me what this means?!
LOL!
He does have first ammendement rights. But where do his rights end and someone else’s begin? Isn’t that the question?
That is the dumbest thing ever..
I don’t agree with the message, but why have freedom of speech if we don’t practice it?
It wasn’t a good idea, nor was it appropriate. But I think it was hardly the responsibility for the school to punish him. That ought to fall to his parents. I don’t support drug use, nor do I think it ought to be promoted, but with the same breath, I also don’t want them to cut back on what views I can or cannot express.
I have to second all those that mention that it seems that freedom of speech is upheld until “Jesus” is involved. Freedom of speech is freedom of speech. 10 days is a bit excessive
That is a little over the top – especially since the school allowed the class to leave. In my mind that puts them as “off the clock”. Granted, the sign wasn’t the best choice of words, but he could have been standing there with a “Stop Abortion” sign – would she have suspended him for that too? Also I am wondering about the rest of the people?
The school has no authority off school grouns unless it has a clearly written code of conduct describing was is ethical behavior of it’s students, and only if it was a private school, in which you agress to attend in exchange for money. Then you enter into a contract, to be educated for money and agree to abide by the rules of the institution in which you attend.
Public school is another thing altogether. Everyone can go to public school, everyone is entitled so they can excersize less discretion in even discipline issues. Your going to suspend a student for a goofy stunt off of school grounds?
The only hope in court they would have is the arguement that the student left the school and returned during school hours so in effect he was the same as if he were IN school, thus under its rules even though it was in the street.
Semantics… does iit really matter? I will be the worst hippy father…
Those kids are so cute with their stoner sign goof-nuts stunts… awwww
School sucks because we’re supposed to be learning how to be succesful adults, but then they suspend you for expressing yourself. ANARCHY!! ANARCHY!!!
Jesus prefers blunts to bongs anyway.
I don’t see a problem with it… I suppose it might be offensive to some, but they let a lot of offensive things slide by without a second glance… if they’re going to impose a policy on school property, they need to impose it 100%. As for free speech…I think it is free speech, but too many people use that as an excuse to be just plain stupid. Eh, I guess you have a right to be stupid too…even on school property.
Ryc: Lol, I guess if you can find me, Dan, anyone can find me. With all your millions of commenters and subscribers, I don’t know how you keep up.
it actually sounds like a harmless joke to me.
And it IS true we do not target women and children, and Islamic extremists just want to kill everyone. It is the most violent expression of pure frustration mixed with fanatasism.
I think some of their demands might even be quite legitimate. The US is to stop interfering miliarily and economically with the middle east to protect it’s own interests. Sounds reasonable, because we certainly would blow anyone up who tried to put a leash on us!
So how to combat it? The cycle of violence is “attack, attack back…” Back and forth, and never ending. We will be attacked again, and our leaders will say “we must be resolute in our stance against terrorism” and retaliate. And we will be attacked, and retaliate. How many times, how much bigger.
I just think it’s funny to have Bush quoted as saying “The United States is the greatest Christian nation in the world…” Yet our foreign policy is so unchristian.
If people had to live by their words without exception, especially when spouting religious ideals to justify war, it would be a bit harder to give a political speech. Dems, republicans, it’s all the same shit…
I think the banner was hilarious. I definitely think that should be protected as freedom of speech.
RYC: I’m surprised to hear you say that, especially since that is what life here on earth is all about. No escaping it, that’s for sure.
It should be protected UNLESS it could be construed as endorsing illegal drug use, by a student, on school property or a school outing. Then it becomes a disciplinary issue for the school administration to handle. I think the prinicipal had the right to discipline. A ten day suspension sounds harsh, but who knows how many warnings the student may have already had before that incident? From the article, he comes across as someone who likes to push the envelope.
I think it’s kind of funny! Also what harm is it doing? Yes, it should be protected as Free Speech.
RYC: LMAO! His hair!
That was funny! I want to see it stretched still. Apparently is becomes useless forever once the stretched is completed! 
Fuck school. Fuck it all.
RYC ~ Good point. Thanks
I think that what he said should be protected but not what he did and why he did it. He did it just to get a rise out of people, so he should get just what he was after, a rise.
Plus, everyone that was ever in school knows that whenever a teacher or principal or whatever takes you to something like that the first thing they says is “if you do anything stupid on this trip, you’ll be in trouble” I’m sure he was warned and on school trips you are representing the school and that was extremely degrading. I do think that it should be punished but made clear that it wasn’t WHAT he said it’s that he DID it. He should get community service at a drug rehab clinic or something and see if he thinks it’s still funny.
weather or not this was a smart thing to do if they were not on school property, or weren’t on a field trip w/ teachers supervising the students… the school has no say as to what the student did, or does outside of school… weather it’s first amendment or not…
hey thanks
Constitutionally- yes. I hate the sign though.
I think this is absolutely hilarious. In college, I remember having a discussion about shit like this– basically, if he’s on school grounds & he’s being disruptive, he should be punished. But not on school grounds? Outside of the classroom? How is he impacting the school (unless he’s in a private Catholic school or something)? The principal, in my opinion, has no right to punish him.
And someone needs to dig her panties out of her ass. Jesus LOVES the bong! (If god exists & Jesus is god… well then he created it! Why is there such a problem with a little THC?)
Free speech. I dont’ understand the teacher’s point of view whatsoever.
I think so and it was ridiculous for them to be suspended.
FIRST!
Oh.
Uh
I guess I shouldn’t have taken that bong hit for Jesus.
go banner. boo school. pot isnt a bad thing people
religion aside, this is free speech and should be protected. bong hits FTW!
anyone going to make a t-shirt of this, or should i?
YES… putting any limits or restrictions on “free speech” just makes it “not-so-free-censored-speech.” the kids sound like idiots and i have no idea what “bong hits 4 jesus” means other than obtaining the shock value i am sure they going for, however they do have the write to say or write whatever they want in this country.
(if we were to restrict people from expressing themselves based on stupidy, we would need to duct tape president bush’s mouth shut.)
YES!!!!!
Molecules!
To “hit the bong” means to smoke pot. Being in eighth grade, I know these kind of things.
So, they weren’t on a field trip. They weren’t at school. They could prove that it was protected within their religious rights. THE KID HAS PARENTS. The school doesn’t need to discipline the child when it’s not at school.
That’s the point of school, right? To learn. Was anyone in a classroom at the time? Was anyone on school grounds? No. Therefore, it did not disrupt learning, and should not have been punished for it.
The school system complains about the lack of parenting. So they take it upon themselves? Last time I checked, my teachers didn’t conceive me.
Go die, nosy school system. Keep your place and stop trying to parent us.
Oh, and I almost forgot..
Plead the first!
PS. Who is RYC? Dan? Sorry, I’m new.
They look too young to know about bong hits – but I will go with freedom of speech
It is supporting and encouraging crime, but I doubt to the level of illegal speech.
That’s not something on you do on a school function, so they should get school discipline.. but that should be protected under free speech.
Free Speech is limited a wee bit in school, and I think that’s fine.
I really suspect it was that name “Jesus” on the banner that got them in trouble.
I think the ACLU needs an education in what kind of free speech is covered under the First Amendment. The free speech covered is religious speach (freedom of religion–NOT freedom FROM religion, like the ACLU and Americans United For Seperation of Church and State) and political speech. This case isn’t about his freedome to say Jesus at all. The school simply had a policy that didn’t allow references to illegal activies, hense the “bong hits.”
I fully support the school in this case. If the sign had said “I love Jesus” he woudln’t have been suspended. He went ahead and directly challenged the school’s authority by referencing the bong, and should have been punished.
Yes. Just because it might offend a group of people which offend others all the time [bashing of Muslims? The Pope did say that “Islam was a religion of violence”, I swear people need to grow a brain. Or buy one. I’m sure they’re not that expensive, isn’t a good excuse to prosecute them.
well they weren’t on school property…school should probably not be able to do anything especially if law enforcement didn’t do anything! 10 days is excessive too even if it were at a school function. and a bong doesn’t have to be used for illegal drugs…it could be used for legal drugs like tobacco so that can be contested as well!
Of course it is. Hahah, I think that’s hilarious.
People need to loosen up, jeez.
If he wasn’t on school property, then yes. School administrators can only punish students for acts committed on the grounds of school.
the school should not punish the child. students are people too.
schools need to learn to stay the fuck out of students’ business when they aren’t even in the classroom.
Compared to other things that are done in the name of free speech, this is rather mundane. I don’t personally agree with the statement, but I do believe in the individual’s right to say/post/display. These are a bunch of teenagers anyway, so the chance that what they displayed is more than likely done to get a certain reaction is pretty high.
Tinker V Desmoines ruled in 1969 that students have the right to free speech even in school. However what he did was clearly a prank and not a political message, so he is most likely not covered by it.
Ha, well, if they didnt have field trip passes signed by ‘rentals then the school doesnt have any authority in this case. Screwed fo sho.
thats quite funny. of course they should. as long as it wasnt on school grounds or during school hours (which it wasnt since he was off for the flame)
Fuck that kid. Expel his ass
ha thats amazing.
Joseph’s parents must be proud.
Yes. They should be able to express their religious beliefs.
Quote:
On the flip side, it shows what a good job some Christians are doing on getting the Word out there. I mean, we are supposed to offend. Jesus tells us to offend. So, when we see something like this, it just means we’ve stepped on some toes somewhere, and we have hit a nerve. That’s pretty cool. JMHO.
Yeah, but he also tells us to obey the law of the land, right? And drugs are illegal in the United States, right?
I was sent to the principals office for saying i was a communist.
rights? what are those?
I did a report about it for my civics class. i had to make a collage.. i used this picture. The other pictures are on my xanga too.
He got out of school to say THAT? What a retard. Education is important
If it’s on school property, NO, there are school rules against it. Don’t like it? Transfer.
If it’s outside of a normal house, YES. The school doesn’t control what you do off campus.
In this case, the kid shouldn’t have been punished by the school. Granted the kid is retarded for doing that, he wasn’t on school property and didn’t got to school at all that day, so, the school should pay.
Legalize Marijuana.
Of course. Case closed. They should be focusing on groups and individuals with hate messages instead. Plenty of those in the great US of A.
Well, I don’t agree with the message, and think it’s really sad that they find it funny. However, it was off school grounds, they can make their own choices within reason. Even if those choices are stupid and offensive, until they cross the line and actually attack someone verbally or do some kind of physical damage to someone/something, then it’s covered under freedom of speech. It seems that often times even if they do verbally attack someone, it’s not going to get them into trouble unless it is vengeful or offensive to an extreme degree. So, they do have the right to make stupid decisions and to deal with the consequences of those decisions, and we just have to sit back and do all we can to help them along the right path. I think it definitely falls under the category of free speech.
-Chris-
there are borderlines when comes the subject of freedom of speech. ‘freedom of speech’ doesn’t necessarily mean that you can say whatever you want. you cannot yell ‘fire!’ in the middle of church… so freedom of speech has borderlines, and i believe that those lines are crossed when religion is involved…
This was rather a stupid idea. It’s offensive to some Christians. I really don’t think Jesus would want us to take a bong hit for him..
Would there have been such a fuss if the sign said “Martinis for Jesus”?
I think it should be protected.
If they’re going to ban “Bong Hits 4 Jesus,” and at my school they tried to implement this thing last year for writing about violence in school assignments, how they’ll give you a 10-day suspension or something; it’s like they’re going to start banning words from our vocabularies, or at leas trying to..
We should be able to express our thoughts and opinions, even in a school setting, especially if it involves things pertinent to our lives, like drugs which are a part of the teen scene in some way shape or form. They can ban the use of these things, sure, but to ban the ideas?
I think they’re trying to cross the line here.