Flumesday.com - Taking 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' in China

Taking 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' in China
Monday, members of the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the land (no pun intended), were forced to utter the phrase "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." The slogan is at the center of what has become the most important student freedom of speech case in nearly 40 years in America. The story starts back in 2002 when Joseph Frederick, then a high school senior at a Juneau, Alaska high school waved a 14-foot banner that read, you guessed it, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at a parade for the passing of the 2002 Olympic torch. The parade was during school hours and across the street from the school building. Frederick, now 23, said, "I waited until the perfect moment to unveil it, as the TV cameras (following the torch relay) passed." Frederick's principal at the time, Deborah Morse, saw Frederick's sign from her window, ran across the street from the school, to where Frederick stood on a public sidewalk off school premises, confiscated the sign and suspended Frederick for 10 days for publicizing a "pro-drug message." Morse said that "bong hits" referred to smoking marijuana. Thanks for the clarification Principal Morse. Frederick then sued Morse, and the suit has now escalated to the high court (pun intended). Not surprisingly, the Bush administration spoke out in favor of Morse and favors a court decision that limits certain free speech at school with which the school disagrees. Interestingly, the AP notes that Bush's conservative Christian backers disagree with the President's stance for fear that school-regulated freedom of speech will hinder students' right to religious expression at school. The Supreme Court ruled in the famous Tinker case of 1969, in which John and Mary Beth Tinker won the right to wear anti-Vietnam armbands to school, that students "do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." For nearly 40 years, this ruling has been the benchmark for freedom of speech in the schools. And now it seems, like many other once-standard American ideals during the Bush era, that this fundamental First Amendment protection is in danger. The court is expected to render its decision by the end of June.
Perhaps some of you loyal Flumesday readers are wondering why this story was not posted in the "Stateside" column. After all, this main column exclusively hosts stupid videos and China-related topics. And as there is no stupid video and certainly, neither freedom of speech nor bong hits nor Jesus constitute a China-related topic, why then, is this "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" story sitting where it is. Well, I'll tell you. Joseph Frederick, the waver of the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner has been noticeably absent from these court proceedings. Not because he's been home on his couch firing up bingers watching National Geographic. The 23-year-old Frederick is living in China currently studying Mandarin and teaching high school English at a Chinese school. Yes, my fellow expat brethren, the young man whose name, in a few months, could be synonymous with freedom of speech in America's schools, is one of us. Frederick's exact location has been kept confidential for fear that he would be harassed by the media. And one can only wonder to what extent bong hits or Jesus play a role in his life over here.

•AP: High Court Hears 'Bong Hits' Case
•ACLU: ACLU Urges Supreme Court Not to Abandon Landmark Free Speech Ruling