Ann's Blog On Drug Lawsuit

Ann's second quarter blog #4:

"High court takes 'Bong Hits for Jesus' case" (cnn.com, December 16, 2006)

An eighteen year old senior living in Juneau, Alaska hung a fourteen foot banner just on the outside of his high school grounds that said "Bong Hits 4 Jesus". When the principle demanded that he take down the banner he refused. He was then suspended for ten days for his violation of the school policy of no illegal drug use. His name is Joseph Frederick and this happened back in 2002. He then took the school to court saying that his first amendment rights were being violated (free speech). The Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California agreed because of his argues about his rights granted to him in the first amendment and also because he did not hang the banner on school grounds. The judges of the case used the precedent of the 1969 Tinker case where two students were allowed to continue to wear anti-war Vietnam armbands. The lawyer who investigated President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky is representing the school in the case free of charge. There will now be an appeal on the case that is scheduled for late February.

It always amazes me how long this type of lawsuit stuff can take. Frederick did this way back in 2002 and the case is still going on and will continue until Feburary and then they have to wait until June for the verdict. That would just eat at a person. It would be so hard to go on with your life with that hanging over a person. It seems to me that the school shouldn't even be involved in this case although I don't think that they are out of line being involved. It is really too bad for the school, I'm sure it add a lot of extra work for the school board. I'm glad that someone is teaching this kid a lesson. Hopefully this whole experience, no matter what the verdict, will change him for the better. When I think about what kind of person he must have been to hang a banner like that, I'm guessing he didn't grow up the same way that I did. It makes me feel really fortunate. It's crazy to me that this attention-craving senior would hang a banner near his school saying "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" and I had to use wikipedia to help me understand that drug terminology. I just hope that this kid will be able to learn from this experience and take with him a new mindset and start his life over again.

Article from:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/01/scotus.bonghits/index.html
Additional Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_Hits_for_Jesus