Riverwood Presbyterian Church

Culture Wars

Bong Hits 4 Jesus

by Clay Staggs

If anyone is left out there that needs an object lesson in the perverse intersection we have in this country with the public schools and the First Amendment, then let me tell you about Bong Hits 4 Jesus.

Believe this or not (and this actually makes my point here) this week the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case called Morse v. Frederick. Morse is the high school principal where Frederick was a student. The Olympic Torch was coming through town. The school apparently encouraged students to turn out to see it. Frederick did, and when the torch passed by, he unfurled a banner that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.” Morse took the banner away and suspended him for 10 days. Frederick later admitted that the banner had no meaning, was intentionally absurd, and that he did it just for attention.

This, folks, is before the United States Supreme Court. I know, you’d think they’d have better to do. The question in the case is whether the principal had the power to effectively censor the student’s speech at a non-school event. A good summary of the oral argument can be found at Prof. Althouse’s Blog.

Now, the reason I post this is that it exemplifies perfectly the problem with having the government be in the business of running schools. Because the principal is a government actor, this matters. Had this principal been running a private school, she would answer to her customers for her actions privately, and the US Supreme Court could consider more weighty and less sexy issues.

It’s not the fault of the schools that they’re run by the government. You’d think that governments would be tired to the point of exhaustion with dealing with endless federal court litigation over the schools. When any action that a teacher takes can result in a federal lawsuit (maybe even all the way to the top), it’s inevitable that teachers are going to have to spend a not insignificant amount of time basically learning federal civil rights law.

Is it only me that thinks that effort could be better spent?

Oh well, looking on the bright side, as Prof. Althouse points out, this case will make for no end of bong jokes in Constitutional Law classes for decades. At least there’s that.