This article is about a young student named Joseph Federick. He had received a 10-day suspension for standing outside school and holding up a sign saying, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." He sued the school principal, Deborah Morse, for violating his rights under the 1st Amendment (freedom of speech). He won in the federal appeals court in San Francisco, but things stirred up when it came to the Supreme Court. With the rules, 5-4, the Justices has sided with the principal. They said that it would have been a different conclusion if the sign he held had something to fo with a political or social message (e.g. "Down with Bush" or "Praise Allah") In addition, they began to stress over if Frederick's sign had to do with illegal drug use ("bong hits"). In the article , it stated that since the Tinker v. Des Moines case in 1969, there hasn't been a moment where "high school students have not won a free-speech case in the Supreme Court."
I'm really beginning to see how people, especially students, are over using the quote about people violating their first amendment. I'm starting to feel that many students are abusing their rights and not actually using their freedom of speech the way they should be. Rather than getting their voices heard, I think people are beginning to want benefits (like money) out of suits against people.
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2 comments:
Ok, first off that guy is an idot. I mean have some comman sense. I completely agree with the reasoning of students taking it too far. I mean we are not allowed to swear in school, so what makes a kid think he can stand out infront of a school with a sign saying that?
I also agree that some people take the freedom of expression way too far. Sure we have the 1st amendment to back up any unfair accusations but we have freedom of speech to a CERTAIN EXTENT. Because its on school grounds, promoting a religion and usage of drugs, the principal had the right to take down the poster
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