DC- Just this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in the student free speech case of Frederick v Morse, better known as the ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ case. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled in favor of Principal Morse on the grounds that illegal drug speech at school-related functions is not protected speech.
“The Supreme Court’s narrow ruling gives schools the authority to regulate illegal drug speech, while still protecting student free speech, including religious expression, from unbridled censorship,” said Kelly Shackelford, Chief Counsel for Liberty Legal Institute (LLI).
LLI, along with Professor Douglas Laycock of the University of Michigan and Robert A. Destro of the Catholic University of America, filed an amicus brief in Frederick advocating for the position the Court adopted. The LLI brief was the only brief to propose the argument adopted by the Court. The brief proposed the Supreme Court could adopt an exception to Tinker only for speech advocating drug use rather than the opposition’s request for school authorities to have broad, new discretion to censor all speech it felt did not further the ‘educational mission’ of a school.
“The school district asked for a breathtaking new power to ban all student speech it did not feel furthered the school’s ‘educational mission,’” said Shackelford. “That request was rejected. The opinion today upholds the freedom of students, including their religious freedom, from a dangerous new censorship.”
Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion in today’s decision.
The Liberty Legal Institute is a legal organization committed to the defense of religious freedoms and First Amendment rights. For more information, visit our website at www.libertylegal.org. To set up an interview, please call Nicole Hay at (972) 423-3131 or e-mail media@libertylegal.org.