Today the Supreme Court decided 5-to-4 that schools can prohibit student speech that advocates illegal drug use, and that the phrase “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” does advocate drug use, hence ruling against the former high school senior in Alaska who infamously unfurled a 14-foot banner saying as much at a school-sanctioned event. The decision not only deals a blow to the First Amendment, it also will make teenaged stoners think twice before wearing their “Highway 420” t-shirts and green “Live Stoned” bracelets to school.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts painstakingly analyzed the banner’s “cryptic” message “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” in order to justify calling it pro-drug: “the phrase could be interpreted as an imperative: ‘[Take] bong hits…’ alternatively, the phrase could be viewed as celebrating drug use – ‘bong hits [are a good thing],’ or ‘[we take] bong hits'” (here for text of court opinion). In the dissenting opinion, Justice Stevens said “What is Chief Justice Roberts smoking?”
Personally, I support the Court’s decision, but only because of the message’s religious overtones. Hello? Seperation of church and state? I mean, “4 Jesus” is unabashed advocacy of the glorification and celebration of a religious figure. Our students have the right to go to school and not be blasted by pro-Christian messages about loving and supporting Jesus through bong hits. Students have the right to take bong hits for Allah, for Buddha, for Zeus, for Satan, for Shiva, or for their own spiritual edification. But public school is hardly the proper place to be influenced about for which faith they will take bong hits.
