Remember the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" guy?
Joseph Frederick of .... Alaska (hmmmm.. irony much?) displayed a banner reading "BONG HITS 4 JESUS" when the Olympic Torch was passing through in 2002 (wow! that long ago?!)
Not amused, his principal (Sarah Palin?....no...just kidding) confiscated the banner and suspended him for five days. He shot back something about Thomas Jefferson. She tacked on another five.
Frederick took his free-speech argument to court, with backing from the ACLU.
Five years later it was before the U.S. Supreme Court, with Kenneth Starr (Boo, Hiss!!!!!) representing the school. The court ruled that since Frederick was holding the banner at a "school-supervised" (though not on school grounds) event, the principal had a right to restrict what he said about illegal drugs—even if his message was rather nonsensical.
(It was truly great reading about the SCOTUS discussing "Bong Hits"....)
So....the latest news on Mr. Frederick: Now 25, Frederick is learning Mandarin and teaching English in China. Although he is proud that he stood up for his rights, he regrets "the bad precedent set by the ruling."
His case was finally settled at the state level in November, winning him $45,000 and forcing the school to hold a forum on free speech.
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