From: monkeyhawk@cox.net   
      
   Court upholds "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" student banner   
   Fri Mar 10, 3:38 PM ET   
      
   An Alaska high school violated a student's free speech rights by suspending   
   him after he unfurled a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" across the street   
   from the school, a federal court ruled on Friday.   
      
   Joseph Frederick, a student at Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska,   
   displayed the banner -- which refers to smoking marijuana -- in January 2002   
   to try to get on television as the Olympic torch relay was passing the   
   school.   
      
   Principal Deborah Morse seized the banner and suspended the 18-year-old for   
   10 days, saying he had undermined the school's educational mission and   
   anti-drug stance.   
      
   Friday's ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco   
   overturned a decision by a federal court in Alaska that backed Frederick's   
   suspension and said his rights were not violated.   
      
   The appeals court said the banner was protected speech because it did not   
   disrupt school activity and was displayed off school grounds during a   
   non-curricular activity.   
      
   "Public schools are instrumentalities of government, and government is not   
   entitled to suppress speech that undermines whatever missions it defines for   
   itself," Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote in the court's opinion.   
      
   The court also cleared the way for Frederick to seek damages, saying Morse   
   was aware of relevant case law and should have known her actions violated   
   his rights.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)