Morse

Morse v. Frederick 2007
Petitioner: Deborah Morse Respondent: Joseph Frederick __Background:__ At a school-supervised event, Joseph Frederick held a banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" which was an indirect reference to marijuana smoking. Seeing the banner, Principal Morse suspended Frederick for ten school days by citing that the student had broken the school's policy against illegal drugs. Suing the school district, Frederick argued that his freedom of speech had been violated.

__Question:__ Is Frederick protected under the First Amendment to advertise illegal drugs at a school function?

__Result:__ The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Morse with a 5-4 vote. The court reasoned that school officials have the authority to prohibit students from displaying messages that promote illegal drug use. Also, through the ruling for Morse, the Supreme Court established that a student's freedom of speech is much more limited than that of an adult's. This case also brought up the historical Tinker v. Des Moines and that the protective standard that was established in that case would not apply to this one, because Frederick had promoted illegal drugs.

- Lauren Stauffer Period 1