Morse v. Frederick (2007)
Background Information
Understanding the facts and constitutional questions
Connecting to Our Guiding Question
When, if ever, should the government be allowed to limit a person's constitutional rights in order to protect the community?
This case asks whether a public school may punish a student for a banner that the principal believed encouraged illegal drug use. The student held it up across the street from school, during an event the school had approved. As you read, weigh the student’s right to free speech against the school’s job of teaching students to stay away from illegal drugs.
Key People in This Case
The principal of Juneau-Douglas High School. She let students leave class to watch the Olympic Torch Relay. She took Frederick’s banner and suspended him.
The board that runs the Juneau schools. Its policy banned student messages that advocate using substances illegal for minors. It upheld Frederick’s suspension.
A senior at Juneau-Douglas High School. He unrolled a 14-foot banner across the street from the school during the relay and refused to take it down.
What Happened?
On January 24, 2002, the Olympic Torch Relay passed through Juneau, Alaska, on its way to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Runners carrying the torch were set to pass along the street in front of Juneau-Douglas High School during the school day. Principal Deborah Morse let students and staff leave class to watch. She called the relay an approved social event or class trip, and teachers watched over the students.
Joseph Frederick, an 18-year-old senior, never made it to school that morning because he got stuck in the snow in his driveway. He arrived in time to join a group of friends on the sidewalk across the street from the school. While the crowd waited, some students threw plastic soda bottles from a sponsor’s free samples and snowballs, and some got into fights. The evidence showed that Frederick’s group was not part of this, and it happened before the banner went up.
As the torchbearers and the television cameras passed, Frederick and his friends unrolled a 14-foot banner. It read: “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS.” Students on the school side of the street could read it easily. Morse crossed the street and told the group to take the banner down. Everyone but Frederick did. He asked her, “What about the Bill of Rights and freedom of speech?” Morse took the banner and suspended him for 10 days. She said the banner broke the school’s rule against messages that promote illegal drug use.
Frederick appealed to the superintendent, the head of the school district. The superintendent limited the suspension to the 8 days Frederick had already served, but he agreed with the principal, and so did the school board. Frederick then sued Morse and the school board in federal court. He said they had violated his First Amendment right to free speech.
The Big Question
Can a public school punish a student for a message at a school event because the school believes the message promotes illegal drug use, even when the student says it was a meaningless joke?
What You Need to Know
The First Amendment says:
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech…”
Public schools are run by state and local governments, and the Fourteenth Amendment makes the First Amendment apply to them too. The Juneau School Board also had a written rule, Policy 5520:
“The Board specifically prohibits any assembly or public expression that … advocates the use of substances that are illegal to minors … .”
Another board policy said students at approved social events and class trips follow the same conduct rules as during the regular school day. The two sides disagree about whether the relay counted as that kind of event.
Important Facts
- Frederick had not been to school yet that day, and he stood on a public sidewalk across the street from the school.
- The principal treated the relay as a school event. She pointed out that the pep band played, the cheerleaders came out in uniform, and teachers supervised.
- Students said they did not need permission slips, as they did for field trips, and did not have to stay with their teachers.
- Frederick said the words were “meaningless and funny” and that he wanted to get on television.
- The principal said “bong hits” meant smoking marijuana and that the banner promoted drug use.
- The superintendent wrote that Frederick’s speech “was not political.”
- Frederick said the principal first gave him 5 days and doubled it after he quoted Thomas Jefferson. The principal said that was not why the suspension was 10 days.
Vocabulary
Argument Sorting Activity
Work with your group to sort these arguments
Instructions: For each argument, choose which side you would use it for — or “Both.” There is no score. The same fact can help opposite sides. Then rank and steelman in Weigh below.
The Two Sides
Morse and the School Board
Frederick was at a school event, during school hours, under school rules. A school that teaches students to stay away from illegal drugs may stop a student message that promotes them, without waiting for a disruption.
Joseph Frederick
Frederick stood on a public sidewalk, and his banner was a nonsense joke, not a political message or a call to use drugs. A school should have to show that speech would seriously disrupt school before it punishes a student.
| Argument | Answer |
|---|---|
| The relay was an approved school event during school hours, and teachers supervised the students. Evidence: Principal Morse called the relay an approved social event or class trip. She pointed out that the pep band played and the cheerleaders came out in uniform. | |
| Frederick stood on a public sidewalk across the street and had not been inside the school that day. Evidence: Frederick’s car was stuck in the snow, so he never went into the school before the relay. Nobody disputed that the banner was off school property. | |
| The school board had a written rule against student messages that advocate using substances illegal for minors. Evidence: Juneau School Board Policy 5520 bans “any assembly or public expression that … advocates the use of substances that are illegal to minors.” | |
| Frederick said the words were meaningless and funny, not a message about drugs. Evidence: Frederick said the banner was “meaningless and funny” and that he wanted to get on television. | |
| Schools teach students that illegal drugs are dangerous, and a message that promotes drugs works against that lesson. Evidence: The school district said the banner was “inconsistent with the district’s basic educational mission to promote a healthy, drug-free life style.” | |
| The school never claimed the banner disrupted classwork. Evidence: When asked how the banner disrupted school, the school district pointed to its drug-prevention mission, not to any class that was interrupted. | |
| Frederick refused to take the banner down when the principal told him to. Evidence: Everyone else in Frederick’s group lowered the banner when Morse asked. Frederick did not. | |
| A school should not be able to punish a message just because officials dislike it. Evidence: Frederick argued that under Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), a school may limit student speech only when it would substantially disrupt school. | |
| Students do not have the same free speech rights at school as adults have in public. Evidence: In Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986), the Supreme Court allowed a school to punish a student for a lewd speech at a school assembly. | |
| The superintendent said the banner was not political speech. Evidence: The superintendent wrote that Frederick’s speech “was not political” and did not argue for changing any law. | |
| Students did not need permission slips and did not have to stay with their teachers during the relay. Evidence: Students said they were simply let out of school to watch, and that some who got bored left. | |
| The banner was held up where the students on the school side of the street could easily read it. Evidence: The banner was 14 feet long, and students on the school side of the street could easily read it. | |
| Punishing a student for a joke could make students afraid to say anything a principal might misread. Evidence: Frederick asked the principal, “What about the Bill of Rights and freedom of speech?” |
Key Terms for Arguments
Important concepts to understand when debating this case
The school says the relay counted as school because the principal approved it, teachers supervised it, and school rules applied. Frederick says he was on a public sidewalk, had not been to school that day, and was watching a public parade.
The test Frederick wants the Court to use, and the one the court of appeals used. A school may punish student speech only if it would seriously interfere with school. The school says that test should not decide a case about promoting illegal drugs.
The school’s argument that it teaches students to avoid illegal drugs, so it may stop student messages that promote them at school events.
Evidence Vault
Real sources to build your debate arguments
Complete the Argument Sort to Unlock
Finish the Argument Sort above, then open the Evidence Vault for real case sources.
Analyze the Sources
Read each excerpt carefully. Decide which side of the case it supports — or if it could be used by both sides.
The School Rule
The School Rule
The Superintendent’s Reasons
The Superintendent’s Reasons
A School Event?
A School Event?
Off School Property
Off School Property
No Permission Slips
No Permission Slips
What Frederick Said It Meant
What Frederick Said It Meant
Disorder Came First
Disorder Came First
The District’s Mission
The District’s Mission
Connecting to Today
How these constitutional questions still matter
The questions in this case still come up in schools. Consider these situations:
Alaska Votes on Marijuana
In November 2014, Alaska voters approved Ballot Measure 2, which made marijuana legal for adults. The measure kept it illegal to sell marijuana to anyone under 21.
Source: Anchorage Daily News, November 5, 2014
Think about: If a drug is legal for adults but not for students, should a school treat a message about it the same way?
Off Campus, but Still School?
Students go on field trips, travel to games, and march in parades. Some of these events happen far from the school building.
Think about: When a student is away from school but at a school event, should school rules still apply?
Political or Not?
Some student messages are about politics, and some are jokes or nonsense. Should those be treated differently?
Think about: Should a school have more power over a joke than over a political message?
Discussion Questions
- Should it matter that Frederick stood on a public sidewalk instead of school property?
- Should a school be able to stop messages that promote illegal drugs even if nothing is disrupted?
- How should a court decide what a confusing message really means?
Additional Resources
Save these for after your debate. They tell how the Court decided.