Free Speech

On March 19 the Supreme Court heard the case of Joseph Frederick, an Alaska high school student who, during the 2002 Olympic torch relay, was suspended for displaying the marijuana-slang phrase BONG HITS 4 JESUS on a banner across the street from his school. The ruling should determine the extent of a school’s control over messages displayed in a public setting. “I don’t see what it disrupts,” Justice David Souter said of the pro-cannabis banner. A ruling is expected by June.