Legal News

?Bong Hits 4 Jesus? Plaintiff Inhales $45,000 Settlement

By Dan Slater

Douglas Mertz, attorney for Joe Frederick, stands next to his client’s “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner, June 25, 2007, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP/The Empire, Brian Wallace)

Did you think the ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ case was long over? We did. After all, it was nearly 18 months ago that the High Court decided, in Morse v. Frederick, that former Principal Deb Morse could, without violating the First Amendment, restrict student speech at a school event, when that speech is reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use. (Morse suspended Joseph Frederick in 2002 during the Olympic Torch Relay for holding up a banner across from the high school that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.”)

Turns out, the final — final — chapter actually ended Monday night, when, after nearly seven years of litigation, the Juneau School Board reached a settlement with Frederick that includes paying him $45,000. Here’s the story from Juneau Empire.

School Board President Mark Choate said the school district’s insurer will pay Frederick the settlement and that no funds will be diverted from educational programs. There are other stipulations, besides the cash: Frederick must dismiss his remaining claims that were not decided by the Supremes, including his claim that his free speech rights under the Alaska Constitution were violated (the issue was argued before the Court of Appeals in September, but the settlement came before the judges reached a decision). The settlement also reportedly requires the district to spend up to $5,000 to hire a neutral constitutional law expert to chair a forum on student speech.

“It’s time I think to close the chapter on what happened to Joe and leave these other things to be resolved in the future,” said Douglas Mertz, Frederick’s lawyer.

LB’ers: This is the second time in a week that we’ve mentioned the Alaska Constitution’s free speech clause. It reads: Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.

Does Frederick have more expansive speech rights under the Alaska Constitution that he does under the First Amendment?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on November 06, 2008 (boomark / email).