Morse v. Frederick: Information and Resources
Joseph Frederick was suspended in 2002 for displaying a sign saying "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at a rally for the Olympic torch relay. The rally was an off-campus event not sponsored by Frederick's school. A federal appeals court agreed with the ACLU that the school had violated Frederick's right to free speech. The Supreme Court heard the case during the 2006 term and ruled that Alaska public school officials did not violate Joseph Frederick's free speech rights by punishing him. In a criticism of the decision, Steven R. Shapiro said, "The Court's ruling imposes new restrictions on student speech rights and creates a drug exception to the First Amendment." Read more >>
The Supreme Court's ruling is also a judgment on whether Tinker v. Des Moines, the test for virtually all student speech cases since 1969, remains good law. In Tinker, the Supreme Court said that young people do not "shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate," ruling that students have the right to free speech at school, as long as their speech does not disrupt the educational process.
RELATED INFORMATION
> See case documents in Morse v. Frederick
> Learn more about Tinker v. Des Moines
> ACLU News on Student Speech
> Student Speech Needs Protection (Tonawanda News, off-site)
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