WASHINGTON, June 25, 2007
Student Loses "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" Case
Supreme Court Shoots Down Free Speech Claim; Also Weakens Campaign Finance Law
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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, Monday June 25, 2007. (AP)
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Interactive The Supreme Court History, traditions and key cases, plus what it takes to get on the bench.
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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."
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen said he was not surprised by the ruling, saying that, "high school students typically have been blocked from having the same first amendment rights as adults and this ruling falls into a long line of cases that say so. The lesson here is if you want to exercise your full free expression rights get as far away from your high school as you can."
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.
Frederick, now 23, said he later had to drop out of college after his father lost his job. The elder Frederick, who worked for the company that insures the Juneau schools, was fired in connection with his son's legal fight, the son said. A jury recently awarded Frank Frederick $200,000 in a lawsuit he filed over his firing.
Joseph Frederick pleaded guilty in 2004 to a misdemeanor charge of selling marijuana at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, according to court records.
Also on Monday, the court loosened restrictions on corporate- and union funded television ads that air close to elections, weakening a key provision of a landmark campaign finance law.
The court, split 5-4, in upholding an appeals court ruling that an anti-abortion group should have been allowed to air ads during the final two months before the 2004 elections.
"This is a defeat for the McCain-Feingold legislation," Cohen said, adding that the ruling is "a return to the old ways, when there were fewer restrictions on the way people spend money when it comes to campaigns."
The Supreme Court's swing vote, Anthony Kennedy, has swung mostly conservative, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews. Overall, the court under Chief Justice John Roberts has been pro-business, anti-lawsuit and anti-abortion.
Other cases the Supreme Court decided Monday:
"This is another case where this court has chipped away at the wall separating church and state, blocking a lawsuit that challenges a government initiative that helps religion. This is part of a larger trend that tweaks the Establishment Clause in a way to promote religion," Cohen said.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- As soon as someone makes a point of telling me they're a believer in some sort of religion, my opinion of them immediately drops. I have no use for them.
Posted by fuziwuzi at 11:37 AM : Jun 26, 2007
I don't have a problem with someone who believes in or follows a religion, as long as they don't preach it to me and as long as they keep it out of the public schools by trying to force others to accept it and their fantasies, like prayer or creationism. These things belong in their church where they can practice their beliefs in them all they want, as long as they don't try to force them on others. They do not have that right. My grandfather, for instance, was a devout Catholic (I know to people like ricky that makes him a follower of the antichrist pope...yeah...right), but he strongly believed in keeping the church and state separate, including no school prayer and teaching only real science. He didn't think it somehow suppressed his faith, but rather that the wall between church and state kept the state out of his free practice of his faith. Just like it's meant to do. Of course a born-again'er once told me that my grandfather is now in hell because he wasn't baptized by full immersion in water. Funny that a god would give more of a sh*it about a bath instead of the sum of a man's life, isn't it? - Reply to this comment
- Once again you've mistakingly referred to non-believers of your Fantasy Land delusions as "Haters of Christians". We don't hate you and your ilk, Ricky; we PITY your feeble mindedness,
Posted by veteran71 at 08:50 AM : Jun 26, 2007
Might have to disagree with you on one tiny point bro. While I don't hate many christians (and certainly not all as this clown swingingdick claims that I do.....nice of him to always try to put words in my mouth isn't it?) I do hate him. Most Christians are fine and decent folk and I have no problem with them because they leave me alone. It's the born-again'er's that are the ones I hate. the ones who believe they're on some sort of god given mission to spread the word, no matter how smug, self-righteous and obnoxious they have to be about it and they sure are all three. They drive many people away from any idea of faith with their preachy, judgemental ways and I have no doubt that they have never had any true long lasting converts of any but the most weak-minded. Most real christians that I know are embarrassed by them, though that fact alone would cause an as*shole like ricky to claim that they're not "real" Christians in his narrow-minded world.
Guess what ricky, they way you act here would make anyone wonder WHY would they want to be part of anything that would allow and obnoxious preachy judge like you be a member? If your mission is to convert, then your methods are a horrible failure. - Reply to this comment
- Why should I show any respect to the beliefs of religious people? They don't show any respect to my beliefs, so what they sow, they reap.
As soon as someone makes a point of telling me they're a believer in some sort of religion, my opinion of them immediately drops. I have no use for them. - Reply to this comment
- When I was in high school in the early 70s, I wrote/drew a comic strip for the official school paper that dealt with the issues of the day, one of which was drugs. Although all of the characters in the strip were fictional, the adult characters were clearly based on teachers at the school. In one of the strips, an adult character gives a student a jay to smoke, and in another strip a "teacher" is smuggling dope into the country.
The strip raised eyebrows, but at no time was there ever any serious discussion of it being censored, nor any disciplinary action taken against me or the editor of the paper. Perhaps this was because the strip didn't condone the use of drugs... but in the current environment I can't imagine a student artist in high school not being threatened with disciplinary action if he/she portrayed a student smoking pot or one of the teachers dealing in drugs.
It's a sad commentary on our times and the disintegration of First Amendment freedoms by the Bush Court. - Reply to this comment
- Isn't it cute the way the LIBERALs have no qualms about putting a Christian down? Looks like you guys can't play nice with people you don't like-but the rest who are not "POLITICALLY CORRECT" must. If a Christian were to say anything about Muslims or any group of people they'd be called racistsbigots. You can be PREJUDICED against Christians and rail against them til the saliva hangs off your chin, you gnash your teeth, roll your eyes with abject hatred, your ugly hatred-filled faces gnarl up with disgust and putrefied vile, but it's ok for you.
What makes me laugh at you sneering menaces is that you LIBs hate what Christians are so much you would kill them. Your venom speaks volumes. - Reply to this comment
- So what I want to know is does Jesus have his green card or is he an illegal alien? If Jose and Julio get to light up so should Jesus.
This guy should have said VOTE FOR BONG HITS FOR JESUS paid for by really greedy self-centered one-issue political sleazbags and the Court would have found Free Speech rights.
Like I was wondering if you made your kids name BONG HITS FOR JESUS could you keep them out of having to go to these fascist schools? Then at roll call the teacher would be very bad. Personally I would like to make some names illegal that a really offensive like my cousins for example. - Reply to this comment
- Whatever it is that is the most important thing in your life, that is what you worship, whether it be subconsciously or consciously. Jesus Christ is the most important part of my life, so I worship Him.
Posted by singinrick at 01:53 AM : Jun 26, 2007
Shame on you.. Saying Christ is the most important part of your life... shame on all Christians who say that.. the most important part of your lives are your FAMILY.. PERIOD. Those who forsake their familes for their God are shameful. Without your family, you are nothing... Zilch ... Zip... Religion is a disease... something created to control the masses. Rick, how does it feel to be a subject of control? If you want to believe in God, feel free, that's your choice... but to put Him first before your family is ridiculous. - Reply to this comment
- "Inherit the Wind" (one of the single greatest movies ever made!)(the original with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March that is)
Should be required viewing in every public school and no child should be allowed to graduate High School without a detailed understanding of why it (and evolution are right and scientifically correct) and a literal interpretation of the bible is complete and utter nonsense.
Oh and ricky, evolution has be scientifically proven more times then you can count, but it's you who close your eyes to that truth and continue to believe in a fairy tale that has no one shred of evidence to back it up. Real science is the path to the future and superstitions belong in the dustbin of history.
Ta ta for now and go in Darwin to love and serve evolution. Amne. lol! - Reply to this comment
- -You hate anyone who stands up against you Randy. That's what you hate.
Posted by singinrick at 01:59 AM : Jun 26, 2007
ROTFLMFAO!!!! You never have!!!
LOL! LOL! LOL!
Oh man! I needed THAT laugh. Now for some good ice cream and throw "Inherit the Wind" (one of the single greatest movies ever made!)(the original with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March that is) on the DVD and relax! I love the part where Tracy (as a thinly veiled Clarence Darrow) makes March (as that religious lunatic William Jennings Bryan) look like a monkey on the witness stand during the Scopes trial! Fantastic!
Good night ricky and watch out for the Muslim terrorists in your closet. - Reply to this comment
- "Bong hits 4 Jesus" might very well be offensive to some hypocrites, I don't find it offensive at all, but the main question is since when does the Supreme Court abridge the right to speech it considers offensive illegal?
I personally find the KKK, Aryan Nations, Pat Robertson, Graham, Falwell, singingrick, and the lot of such religious fascists offensive, but I don't posit the Court muzzle them. The constitution prohibits this, but since there are Bushies on the Court, maybe its just a "piece of God damned paper" to them also.
Besides, a few bong hits probably helped open his eyes to the corruption he addressed. The Court could also use a few. I find humor in a person, whose divinity is a matter of belief, prescribed an herb whose evil nature is also a matter of belief, neither provable. - Reply to this comment
- So you see, we're on the exact opposite side of the spectrum here. We're both "devout" in our beliefs.
I recall a post by you on a board a couple of months ago Randy where you clearly stated that you wanted the "Darwin fish" on your gravestone when you die.
Posted by singinrick at 01:53 AM : Jun 26, 2007
You still don't get it do you ricky? I am not a devout any "thing", I am devout in believing in nothing religious and there is a difference.
Love the Darwin fish because it bugs Christians, esp those like you. Besides ricky, just because I believe the theory of evolution is true, that doesn't mean I worship it or follow it like a religion. I believe what Darwin wrote is true because it's scienctifically provable (and has been thousands of times), but that doesn't make me a Darwinist. That would only be true if I took the writings on faith, as is required for Christians and the bible, because there is not one shred of evidence that there is a god. Again, two separate things that you can not grasp. - Reply to this comment
- In fact ricky to me you and people like you (Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart George W. Bush, etc) who are such phony christians are proof to me that there is no god. If there was then he/she/it would have toasted all of your as*ses long ago. In fact he/she/it would never have allowed you to be born.
- Reply to this comment
- God isn't who you want Him to be jolson, He is who He is. The moral authority of our lives.
Posted by singinrick at 01:47 AM : Jun 26, 2007
Almost right ricky, but the phrase should have been "God isn't" and stopped right there. Oh and I don't hate people who believing in god, just those self-satisfied smug kind like you who feel it's your god given right to tell others how to run their lives. So I don't hate god (sort of silly to hate something that doesn't exists....kinda of waste of time) and I don't hate christians. I just hate the phony ones like you. - Reply to this comment
- -I work with a devout "atheist" and he has an atheist Bible that's driven towards humanism. I've seen it and it puts humans as their own god. Of course he hates that there's a ton of Christians in the workplace....but we love him and treat him no differently than any of our other co-workers.
Posted by singinrick at 01:35 AM : Jun 26, 2007
Ricky there is no such thing as a devote atheist. He may be a devoted Humanist and I'd certainly respect him for that. However pure atheist is a non-belief in god, not a belief in a different form of religion or believing. It's non-believing. That's what so many Christians don't understand about it. they think you HAVE to believe in something, like Darwin or Humanism or SOMETHING as a center of faith, but that can't seem to grasp that no, you do not have to believe in anything. You can accept things like the teaching of Darwin as true or science as true, without it being a matter of faith, without it being a religion, without it being something to worship. I worship nothing. Nada. Not a thing. Zip. - Reply to this comment
- You mock God with your insults and offensive behavior. You call yourself a Christian but there is nothing Christ-like in your behavoir. You are not a witness for Christ. You are a mouthpiece for the Devil. You have every right to come on here and voice your opinion.
But if you are going to call yourself a Christian, I suggest that you begin to act like one. You make us real Christians look bad.
Posted by Jolsonbear at 01:30 AM : Jun 26, 2007
Got to agree with you there. I have many friends who are Christians and people like ricky would embarrass them too. they accept me and my atheism without being self-righteous and preachy. They have their reasons for what they believe and I have mine for not believing as they do. But people like ricky do make all Christians look bad and he doesn't seem to see that his smugness and judgements drive more people away from the idea of faith then brings anyone toward it. - Reply to this comment
- 29 The LORD is far from the wicked
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Pursuing righteousness is a good thing, Randy. Not a bad thing. So go ahead and call me righteous as much as you'd like.
Posted by singinrick at 01:21 AM : Jun 26, 2007
Oh and now here's a the other great part. I tell this moron I'm an atheist and that I don't believe in the bible, so to prove his point he quotes the very book of myths I don't believe. Really intelligent move there. It's like me saying I don't believe that any of Grimms Fairy Tales are true and then ricky comes back with "Well you have to believe they're true....because in the 2nd chapter of Hansel and Gretel, verse 4 it says....." LOL
BTW ricky I did not say you were righteous (that was you speaking), I said you were self-righteous, as in holier-then-thou, as in egotistical. Believe me, there is not a da*mn thing about you that is righteous. - Reply to this comment
- singinrick,
You mock God with your insults and offensive behavior. You call yourself a Christian but there is nothing Christ-like in your behavoir. You are not a witness for Christ. You are a mouthpiece for the Devil. You have every right to come on here and voice your opinion.
But if you are going to call yourself a Christian, I suggest that you begin to act like one. You make us real Christians look bad. - Reply to this comment
- I still don't believe you're a true atheist though, because if you were you wouldn't bring scripture up all the time on these boards like you do. You would use some other method of rebuttal, like a secular science book or Darwin's Origin of Species by Natural Selection or something....also there is an atheist bible as well....if you didn't know.
Posted by singinrick at 01:17 AM : Jun 26, 2007
Ahh, now here is the very of egotism and self-righteousness. Not only do you count yourself qualified to be the all knowing judge of what makes a "good" or "true" christian, but you also think you know what makes a good atheist. Won't work ricky. You don't have the ability to understand that an atheist is not about something you are, it's about something your are not, an atheist is not a fool. You are.
Oh and there is no Atheist Bible ricky and anyone who says they have on is not an atheist, they are a fool. besides dummy, I only quote the christian bible to bug you and to give the lie to born again'er's claims that atheists never read it. Actually I found it dull in many places with a few good wars, murders, rapes and a whole lot of incest thrown in in various spots. Very inconsistent and most of it would make a very boring movie. - Reply to this comment
- I'm not going to argue with you ricky. You have perfectly circular logic. "I'm right because god told me so and there's a god because he says so, so when I say something it's like god talking and therefore I'm right because god told me so and there's a god because he says so......on and on and on and on, like a broken record of ignorance that you're trying to get others to dance to so you'll feel just a little less stupid for believing in fairy tales, myths, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and things that go bump in the night. The more people you con into believing your bullsh*it the less ignorant you feel for falling for it in the first place too.
It's all a joke ricky, but you just don't get it. - Reply to this comment
- Ah, you expose yourself rick. You speak for God now?
Posted by jumkey at 01:00 AM : Jun 26, 2007
Ricky IS God! He won't admit it out loud, but deep down in his tainted twisted heart he believes he's god on earth. That's the only possible explanation for his nauseating level of self-righteous. - Reply to this comment
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