2007
School Discipline
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by Thomas E. Brewton
Enforcing proper behavior is anathema to liberals, but essential to learning.
The recent Supreme Court decision in the MORSE ET AL. v. FREDERICK case, better known as the "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" case, has generated controversy, both because of the Court's decision, and because of the concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas.
Facts of the case were the following:
"At a school-sanctioned and school-supervised event, petitioner Morse, the high school principal, saw students unfurl a banner stating "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS", which she regarded as promoting illegal drug use. Consistent with established school policy prohibiting such messages at school events, Morse directed the students to take down the banner. When one of the students who had brought the banner to the event respondent Frederick refused, Morse confiscated the banner and later suspended him."
The Court's ruling, expressed in the opinion of Chief Justice John Roberts, was:
"Because schools may take steps to safeguard those entrusted to their care from speech that can reasonably be regarded as encouraging illegal drug use, the school officials in this case did not violate the First Amendment by confiscating the pro-drug banner and suspending Frederick…. Our cases make clear that students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist., 393 U. S. 503, 506 (1969). At the same time, we have held that the constitutional rights of students in public school are not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings, Bethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U. S. 675, 682 (1986), and that the rights of students must be applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment."
The Court's decision was opposed by many people, particularly liberal-Progressives.
What really agitated them, however, was the concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas.
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