Students' Right to Free Speech
The right of student to free speech is a matter that has been debated over years. Where many people claim that students, just like any other group of people, have the right of free speech, others claim that students should know where their limits end. Therefore, at many schools, colleges and universities, the students are provided with a code of conduct that they have to follow. This code of conduct defines rules of speech for the students; to tell them where they have to start speaking and where they should end. These codes have also been controversial in some places.
The right of free speech can be highlighted from the fact that the distinguishing feature between human beings and other creatures is speech. By the freedom of speech, one does not only mean to speak what one feels like speaking, but it means to express one's knowledge and to show one's desire for knowledge and learning. This is the reason why the Supreme Court of the United States of America has formed a distinct body of case law that is related to the right of students to freedom of expression and speech. These rights for students were devised under the First Amendment.
Morse V. Frederick case is particularly significant when it comes to the rights of students. The background of this case is such that an 18-year-old boy named Joseph Frederick was suspended by his school principal called Deborah Morse in 2002. He was suspended after he was seen displaying a banner that read "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" at the time of the Olympic Torch Relay of 2002 (Mears, 2007). As a result of this, Morse was sued by Frederick because the former claimed that the principal violated his rights to free speech provided to him by the constitution. The case, after getting dismissed, was won by Fredrick.
Morse V. Fredrick
This case holds significance since it diverts one's attention towards the provision of right of freedom to the students. After Fredrick put up the banner across the street of his school, he was suspended by his principal. As a result, he sued his principal. However, Roberts (Chief Justice) who wrote for the majority stated that the First Amendment was not violated by the school administration.
Legal determinations were made by the Chief Justice to conclude that Fredrick's rights were not violated. The first one was that the doctrine of "school speech" was applicable in this case because the banner that was put up by Fredrick was done "at a school event." Secondly, what banner read "clearly promoted the illegal use of drugs" and thirdly the principal had the right to restrict the speech of the students legally.
Initially, the Chief Justice gave the ruling that the court should look into Fredrick's speech in the light of relatively staunch policy of "school speech," which was a rejection of Fredrick's demand to consider his case in the supervision of the ordinary free-speech jurisprudence. Later on, Roberts also claimed that even though there was doubt in ascertaining the boundaries of the school, the superintendent agreed with him that Fredrick cannot deny his presence at school when he carries out a certain activity during school timings with his school friends.
There were some groups that supported Fredrick in this case, whereas the others considered the principal right. The organizations that stood by Fredrick's side included some Christian right groups, Rutherford Institute and American Center for Law and Justice. The reason why the Christians groups supported Fredrick was that they had their reservations about the prohibition of religious speech with which the school administration might disagree and consider "offensive."
On the other hand, the groups that supported the principal Morse along with the Juneau school district include the National Schools Boards Association. They put forth the argument that it is the duty of the school administration to regulate any kind of controversial speech (Biskupic,...
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