Student suspended for 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' banner at school event
Joseph Frederick, an 18-year-old senior at Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska, was suspended in 2002 after unfurling a 14-foot banner reading 'BONG HiTS 4 JESUS' across the street from school during the Olympic Torch Relay. The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in 2007 that school officials could restrict speech reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use.
On January 24, 2002, during the Olympic Torch Relay, Juneau-Douglas High School students were released to watch the procession. Senior Joseph Frederick and friends displayed a banner reading 'BONG HiTS 4 JESUS' on a public sidewalk across from school. Principal Deborah Morse confiscated the banner and suspended Frederick for 10 days. The ACLU represented him, and the case reached the Supreme Court as Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393 (2007). The 5–4 majority held the school did not violate Frederick's rights, carving out an exception allowing schools to restrict speech a reasonable observer would view as encouraging illegal drug use.