Alternatively, the phrase could be viewed as celebrating drug use--"bong hits [are a good thing]," or "[we take] bong hits." Decision Date: June 25, 2007 Background Joseph Frederick, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School, held up a banner saying: "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" during the Olympic Torch Relay through Juneau, Alaska on January 24, 2002. But Stevens is rightly concerned that in Morse the Court placed one type of narrowly-defined speech – advocating illegal drug use while in school – outside the broad umbrella of First Amendment protection. Morse v. Frederick, (551 U.S. 393 (2007)), is a United States Supreme Court case where the Court held, 5–4, that the First Amendment does not prevent educators from suppressing student speech that is reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use at or across the street from a school-supervised event. In a separate opinion supporting the majority, Thomas argues that schools have an absolute right going back centuries to limit and control all student speech and action, and to punish infractions of even the most unreasonable or trivial school regulations. ." Roberts continues, "The pro-drug interpretation of the banner gains further plausibility given the paucity of alternative meanings the banner might bear. Oops! patrick d. says: Why can't these fuckers kill themsleves first and THEN kill their family? If Clarence Thomas wants to do away with the free speech protections that Tinker gave to students, the Morse decision is certainly the way to start that process. Kate: This happened on a field trip/school sanction event. The big thing with this case (I think) is that it wasn't on school property. It ruled the literal interpretation of the banner was the controlling interpretation. I'll do that very thing right now, Jack. But lawyers, like English majors, are trained to make meaning where ordinary people see only nonsense, and while the banner sounds more like it comes straight out of "South Park," the Chief Justice has ruled that you can't say "Bong hits 4 Jesus" in school because that means "I want you to use drugs.". www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17648725]. . And yes, it's true. As Justice John Paul Stevens observes in his dissent to the majority opinion, there are some clearly-defined categories of speech not protected by the First Amendment: fighting words, obscenity, and commercial speech. In addition to dismissing the very real presence of Jesus on the banner, Roberts dismisses the very real possibility that the banner's words might be nothing more than a meaningless stunt of the kind that is actively encouraged by television shows where audience members wear ridiculous get-ups and carry outrageous signs while waving frantically in order to catch the camera's eye. --a message equivalent . Yes, but it also ignores the banner's undeniable reference to Jesus – after all, the banner reads "Bong hits 4 Jesus" (emphasis added). But even the Court’s arch-conservatives, Justices Anthony Scalia and Samuel Alito, find that position too extreme and simply sign on to the Roberts opinion. ---------------------------------- Using that method, I believe the phrase could actually mean...well pretty much anything. They were just offering to share the stash with their personal savior. According to Roberts, even though the banner could mean a couple of things, its support of drugs is always clear. . Jesus can also turn bong water into wine. taking large bong hits may decrease road rage! Bill Clinton to say something both meaningful and incriminating, argued that the banner said yes to drugs. Despite Roberts' noble attempts to read the banner's meaning, what supports the nonsense interpretation is the fact that the banner's words don't seem to have either a literal or a figurative meaning.
This conversation is older than 2 months and has been closed to new posts. Wrong thread. But satire, even ineffective satire like Joseph Frederick's, is protected speech, and just because a principal can't take a joke is no reason for them to take the law into their own hands.
Indoor dining in SF to potentially happen very soon. He writes, "Early public schools gave total control to teachers, who expected obedience." He was going knowning that this was a school sponsored event. But the Court did much more than that. An atheist could easily interpret the cryptic words as support for Christianity in the schools, which would also be illegal, and, since the banner mentions Jesus in the same breath as marijuana, a fundamentalist could reasonably attack the message as blasphemous – maybe not illegal, but surely fighting words likely to disrupt schools, and as such likely to be considered banned speech, not protected speech. Frederick's attendance at the event was part of a school-supervised activity. What's your opinion of the National Presidential debate between Trump and Biden . Any way you slice it, "Bong hits 4 Jesus" is patent nonsense, like linguist Noam Chomsky's classic phrase, "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously," words which look like English but don’t mean like English, words which illustrate that language has other roles besides that of communicating.
You]" "Bon[ds] Hits 4 [the Giants]" What does BONG Hits 4 JESUS mean to you? yelp.com/topic/8i6Mzo0bg… yelp.com/topic/F-DrGu4ER…. I had you all pegged for a devout nun. But it's a reason. Despite Roberts' noble attempts to read the banner's meaning, what supports the nonsense interpretation is the fact that the banner's words don't seem to have either a literal or a figurative meaning. Right there. In Morse v. Frederick, decided June 25, 2007, the court found that Joseph Frederick, a student who unfurled a 14’ banner reading "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" at a school event, was rightfully suspended in 2002 by school principal Deborah Morse for promoting illegal drug use. I'm going to have to adjust my perception here. Jessica V. says: "If kickin' it with Jesus involves drinking bong water, I don't want any part of it." I still think it's a stretch to say that the statement was meant to promote or advocate the use of illegal drugs. Wow, that was some strong stuff, I don't even remember writing this. didn't god say he gives us the herbs we need, its only illegal because the alcohol company's will loose too much if its legal.
That seemed to be a bigger issue in the lower courts, but the SCOTUS just kind of glosses over that fact.
Anyone watching "The Masked Singer " (Season 4)? I thought it meant a reference to smoking pot. Yeah, it does pale in comparison to the previous cases dealing with 1st amendment issues in schools, where the students were wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam war. So now schools can regulate speech even off of school grounds. It means a kid tried to pull a prank and got busted for it. He contested the 10-day suspension, arguing "that the words were just nonsense meant to attract television cameras." it means less free speech for students. its a mystery. The 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with Frederick, but the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Morse and the Juneau School Board. Roberts deconstructs "Bong hits 4 Jesus" as either "[You take] bong hits," an "imperative encouraging viewers to smoke marijuana." Obviously most justices of the Supreme Court have no sense of humor either, and instead of admitting that they disapprove of student hijinks, they'd rather set a dangerous precedent that allows schools to shut down any and all discussion of drugs on the grounds that uttering the words is prima facie encouragement of illegal drug use. But since neither Frederick nor Morse are concerned with exactly what Jesus might be doing on the banner, Roberts feels comfortable ignoring religion when interpreting the real meaning of the sentence. Today the Supreme Court found that the phrase "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" meant advocating or promoting the use of illegal drugs. [Students at Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska unfurling the banner whose message has now been banned by the Supreme Court for advocating illegal drug use. Delivering the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts didn’t buy Frederick’s claim that he was just a publicity seeker. There's a lot of Trinity and "3" talk in the Bible and ancient Greek mythology & Egyptian religions. Justice Clarence Thomas would go even farther. Don't expect me to write eloquently about it after, the sort of bong hit that Jesus deserves is gonna knock me out.
Frederick, supported by the ACLU, contended he was just acting silly and trying to get on TV, while his principal, represented before the Court by Kenneth Starr, who was actually on TV when as Special Prosecutor he tried to get Pres. BONG HITS 4 [everyone except him, he gets kinda creepy when hes stoned - remember that one time? Do you know what "nada" means? But since it was a school sponsored event and the school was "acting as guardian" to the student, it's a different ball game. Or "[We take] bong hits," a declarative that he reads as celebrating illegal drug use and encouraging other students to use drugs. But Chief Justice Roberts is mistaken to believe her claim that she read the banner as advocating illegal drug use. I am a sad attention whore, but I'll take it all the way to the SCOTUS.........man...... Well, I've almost got the translation & meaning worked out...but having trouble with the "4" reference. I have a difficult time seeing that as a bad thing. While to me, and to many other observers, "Bong hits 4 Jesus" means nothing at all, I'm sure it did mean something to Principal Morse, and her interpretation is certainly a valid one. Unfortunately, that meaning, while clear to Chief Justice Roberts and Principal Morse, is not clear to me, or to Justice Stevens and the others who dissented. But neither side in the present case argued that the bong banner was political. Yes, you.
Because] JESUS [is paying for this eighth] That was mildly exhausting, Lames. I think she saw exactly what Joseph Frederick intended with his words, not a literal defense of controlled substances, but a sign that said to her, in no uncertain terms, "I’m making fun of Juneau-Douglas High School on national TV," and she responded, as any red-blooded principal would, whether it be Hogwarts School head Dolores Umbridge or my old principal, Mr. Kramer, by suspending the student behind the prank. He said it means: "Bong Hits 4 Jesus, heh heh heh." While acknowledging that the message on the banner is "cryptic," a word usually applied to language that is intentionally obscure or difficult to understand, Roberts insisted that the principal’s interpretation of the banner as advocating drug use was a reasonable one. In the landmark case of Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court established students’ right to exercise protected political speech in school.
The U.S. Supreme Court has effectively criminalized any student mention of drugs in school. True, it referenced "bong hits" as well as "jesus." . How it came to the conclusion, however, was by analyzing the incredibly technical language thusly [note all of the language in the brackets is inserted by the Court itself]: ------------------------------- First, the phrase could be interpreted as an imperative: "[Take] bong hits .