Supremes say no Bong Hits for Jesus for students

from JoeUser Forums

So the decision is in, and by a 5-3 margin, there will be no Bong Hits for Jesus for students.

What am I talking about?  Oops, I guess you may have missed the original news about the student that unfurled the nonsensical 'Bong Hits for Jesus' banner. Here's an update on the original case. Actually, the update on the original case since the update is on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that is the final arbiter of whether or not the student was simply exercising free speech, or if he had gone too far and instead was doing something worthy of gaining a suspension from school for.

The SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) decided that the school administrators were right to suspend the student for his actions, using the justification that the school had an obligation to stop what could be interpreted as a pro-Drug usage message.

I'm still mystified a bit that the court didn't find the school in the wrong on this one.  Yes, I know that we supposedly have a war on drugs that has been running for years and years, but a court that lets flag burners have their way in the name of free speech would seem to be a sure bet for using that free speech justification for letting a student make what most would see as a free speech point by unfurling the banner with the silly statement on it.

In anycase, future students will have to be cognizant of this decision and will have to exercise more caution in what statements they try to make using any sort of free speech justifications.

politics
4,563 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm glad I didn't place any bets on this decison.  I'd have figured it 5-3 in the other direction...
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
i didn't think this was a free speech issue.

i don't think it's a right, but showing yourself to be nerd who thinks he's funny, should be legal. just in case a girl might want to breed with this guy, her friends could talk her out of it, and have proof of what a waste of skin he is.

this is not a free speech experiment, this is a dumb-ass who can't think all the way through a situation.

i hate when people do something stupid and claim that it's bigger than all of us. it cheapens the things that really further the progression of our rights.

the funny thing is that this kid has a few more years on him now, and hopefully knows how stupid he was. he won't ever admit it, but i think he knows.
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
You don't have freedom of speech in school. The school has the students to worry about. It's the same as if it had been a banner that said "Guns in school are cool!" They'd expel that guy. It's not a free speech issue, it's a safety of the other kids issue.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top

It's not a free speech issue, it's a safety of the other kids issue.

I agree that kids do not have Free Speech in school (although I think the restrictions are sometimes petty and stupid).  And I think the SCOTUS should have just dumped this one.  Because the actions of both parties in this case was stupid (school and student).

However, that being said, I am surprised that they did set a precedent on something with religious overtones.

Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
It's not a free speech issue, it's a safety of the other kids issue.


Maybe I've got a more optimistic view of kids, but I have serious doubts that anyone would see a banner like that and immediately go, "Wow, that's really persuasive! I'm going to go get stoned right now!"

I reckon the other kids were perfectly safe to see a banner like that. After all, they almost certainly know about marijuana use around the traps anyway, whether through friends, parents, TV (eg Weeds), the intarweb or even school. I doubt either banner stickers or bumper stickers have ever been responsible for the corruption of anyone.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Maybe I've got a more optimistic view of kids, but I have serious doubts that anyone would see a banner like that and immediately go, "Wow, that's really persuasive! I'm going to go get stoned right now!"


You missed some of the history. I doubt anyone found this particular message to be a threat to safety of the students. However, the court ruled that due to issues unique to a school environment, students are not guaranteed an absolute feedom of speech. So it can be regulated.

And that goes to the lesson for the wider world. Where does it stop? The SCOTUS is still playing around with the school issue (where does it stop), but I dont want anyone starting that trick on full members of society, and thus any limits on free speech (like the ones in Canada and Europe on some forms of hate speech) must be fought. For in the end, while we may say "yea, that was wrong and hateful and should be banned" today, almost certainly we will not be saying that when we are arrested for protesting our own pet projects.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Maybe I've got a more optimistic view of kids, but I have serious doubts that anyone would see a banner like that and immediately go, "Wow, that's really persuasive! I'm going to go get stoned right now!"

I reckon the other kids were perfectly safe to see a banner like that. After all, they almost certainly know about marijuana use around the traps anyway, whether through friends, parents, TV (eg Weeds), the intarweb or even school. I doubt either banner stickers or bumper stickers have ever been responsible for the corruption of anyone.


While I understand your point, I still don't like the idea. You may not think that a single banner can persuade teens and young adults to take at hit immediately, but imagine the effects of giving this ruling to the kid. All of a sudden kids all over the country at different schools start holding up "bong hits for Jesus" signs. All of a sudden it could become a national phenomenon and kids might actually start taking hits for Jesus. It may not be an immediate effect but I do believe i could have caused a long term effect which is why they ruled against it due to could have been "interpreted as a pro-Drug usage message".

Of course we all know that it was the Jesus part the really got people up in arms and not necessarily the drug part.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top

Conservative court. conservative decisions.

Now if we could just just have nancy pelosi and hillary clinton stand across the street from a school with a sign."blow jobs for Jesus"

Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
I am concerned with the previous post.

I am concerned because I don't know who Nancy Pelosi is.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
Now if we could just just have nancy pelosi and hillary clinton stand across the street from a school with a sign."blow jobs for Jesus"


Well they may be able to claim it was not sex.
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
(Citizen)JythierJune 26, 2007 13:42:39Reply #


I am concerned because I don't know who Nancy Pelosi is.


She is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Third most powerful person In Washington D.C. and if the President and the Vice President both die, she becomes president and I move to tora bora and become a Muslim terrorist.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
Thanks. I feel a lot better now. Why would she be holding that sign outside of a school?
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
Why would she be holding that sign outside of a school?


She has not been chosen for one of the new dollar coins yet.