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Top Court Takes "Bong Hit" Case on Free Speech »
Posted by: mntnman444 1 year, 9 months agoKENNETH STARR vs Free Speech. The Supreme Court,on Friday,agreed to hear a free speech case from Alaska known as the "bong hits 4 jesus dispute" in which a high school principle suspended a student for displaying that phrase on a banner.
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Comments: 37
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 2:36 p.m.Ken Starr is at it again,I guess going after a President was kind of like a "gateway drug" to him,now he's going after the Constitution.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 2:50 p.m.Another example of "zero tolerance" gone bad.
The kid had been dismissed from class and was standing on a public sidewalk holding a sign.Why do the people who protest military funerals get police protection ,but this kid cant have a sign on public property?I think it's called free speech.
No wonder the Appeals Court ruled in favor of the student...but along comes headline hungry Starr to push it to the limit.
We should get a good picture of how the new court will rule on our free speech rights in the future.: (
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 2:58 p.m.funny thing is that ...does anyone know what the phrase even means?It's just nonsense.
Makes me think of the song "Louie Louie".The song was banned and later it was ruled unconstitutional partly because nobody could really understand the words.
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not2needy
Dec. 4, 2006, 3:22 p.m.mntnman:
I get an error message with this article, says the system is busy, will attempt to read it later, i am anxious to see what that perv is up to now!
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not2needy
Dec. 4, 2006, 3:29 p.m.I finally got it, and can't say i am surprised to see Ken Starr, yet again, sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.
If it didn't take place on school property, during school hours, how can the school take any kind of disciplinary action whatsoever? That makes no sense at all.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 3:32 p.m.Its this zero tolerance policy...the one that expells 3rd graders for sharing Tic Tac
Although it was during school hours the students had been dismissed to watch the Olympic torch pass by and the student was off school property,it seems that if he were still under school supervision then just leaving school property would be a violation.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 3:35 p.m.The kid says he just made up an outrageous phrase to get on TV.I guess Starr feels very threatened by this.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 3:37 p.m.I'm curious as to why the Supreme Court has even agreed to hear this case.I wonder if they are setting up for something bigger.
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not2needy
Dec. 4, 2006, 4:23 p.m.Technically it wasn't during school hours because they had dismissed classes to watch the passing of the torch, hence, how could they figure they had jurisdiction over the children?
Would they have taken the blame if one of the children had been hit by a car, i seriously doubt it! Therefore, how can they still claim control over the children if they are no longer on school property?
Of course they figure that scheister K.Starr will get them what they want, i don't know why, he couldn't get Clinton empeached!!
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Dsb2k6
Dec. 4, 2006, 5:22 p.m.That was my thought exactly. What if the kid had got hit by a car crossing the road? Would the school be responsible for it?
I bet they would have argued that since school had been dismissed he wasnt under there supervision. With that being the case I dont see how they can suspend him when he was not under their supervision.
A 10 day suspension is crazy. That is extreme in this case. Even for a fight at school you only get 5 days. All this kid did was make a funny sign that one of the administrators didnt agree with. This quote says it best.
"A student has the right to peacefully and respectfully state an opinion different from that of the school officials," he said. "We welcome the opportunity to have the Supreme Court review it."
If the supreme court rules the suspension constitutional it will be a slap in the face to freedom of speech and expression. It will be one more step in the direction of schools becoming robot factories void of personal expression.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 4:27 p.m.I was just going to say the same thing,if the kid had been injured in the same situation,the school board would be hiring Starr to defend them in a negligence suit.He'd be perfect,he's such an ambulance chaser.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 4:57 p.m.I wondered too about religion.I'm very wary of the new supreme court this will tell alot.I cant see how any conservative could not see this as free speech and any judge who would rule against this is the definition of an "activist" judge.
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Dsb2k6
Dec. 4, 2006, 5:25 p.m.The conservative agenda is to fill the supreme court with activist judges. Then they have power over everything. Even further reaching and more dangerous than the presidents power. Thier interpretation becomes law. Thats why it is so important we win the presidency in 08 and can appoint someone to offset the power balance out of their favor. And when I say "we" I mean anyone but a republican. It will be interesting to see how they interpret this.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 4:59 p.m.Is this phrase any more offensive than what KKK and skinheads are able to say freely?
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2sidestoeverything
Dec. 4, 2006, 5:14 p.m.This make no sense as not2needy said earlier the school let them out and he was not on school property. The school should have not gotten involved at all. As for Starr a waste of breath.
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Dsb2k6
Dec. 4, 2006, 5:27 p.m.Now days we have school officials who believe that the students must follow their rules at all times, on or off campus.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 5:32 p.m.The christian right has invaded many school boards across the country,it is a strategy that Pat Robertson came up with after his presidential loss.Many citizens probably dont know anything about who is on their school board.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 5:54 p.m.After Robertsons defeat he came up with the strategy of starting locally with his followers getting on school boards,they're free to have they're beliefs but this is how we wind up with teachers getting fired for bringing their students to a museum,banned books,dress codes,limited speech and random searches.The school board simply was offended by this phrase,I dont know their personal beliefs but the ridiculous zero tolerance policies are put in place by school boards.I dont know if you've heard some of the ridiculous cases that have arisen from that.
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ConquerorWyrm
Dec. 4, 2006, 7:02 p.m.You know, after all the times I was pulled over for one non-moving violation or another, I never had a cop search my car or speak negatively in any way about my only bumper sticker:
"The only urine test they'll get from me is a taste test"
But then, I do remember high school in the mid-eighties...there was (and still is, my eldest daughter is at the same school, with many of the same teachers!) at the time a strong split emerging in the district. On the one hand were my art teachers and their like. My photo teach ten years later (I bumped into him) was still displaying to the chagrin of many staff a photo I manipulated putting Hitler behind Falwell at the pulpit. Another let me bring a Penthouse magazine to class to help with the painting I was working on. Then there were those teachers, all fundamentalist or LDS, who made kids turn their Iron Maiden concert t-shirts inside out.
This district has way overstepped their bounds and yes, the Fundies are targeting the schools.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 7:15 p.m.It worries me because our youth are being conditioned to living in a police state where the norm is censorship and uniformity,not allowing any room for dissent and discussion.I think a much better educational tool would be to use it in the classroom as a real life lesson of the constitutional protection of the few from the many.The American tradition is -I may not agree with what he says,but I defend his right to say it.I wonder if they are teaching that kind of thinking in schools today?
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olympusmons
Dec. 4, 2006, 7:36 p.m.Did you ever have to stay after school for detention, or be threatened with suspension for forgetting you ID card. You know, that piece of plastic you were forced to wear around your neck with your picture and you ID# on it (yes, a number because in America's public schools you no longer have a name).
Coming from someone who has experienced the mass education system, a plastic ID tag and a #, and a graduating class of 1,000... this is not a shocker.
I'm just disgusted that America is becoming a police state with its youth.
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 7:41 p.m.ID card??
This is how far it has come?
I'm getting old...when I was in school you were who you said you were.LOL!
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AbuAmirah
Dec. 5, 2006, 12:05 p.m.Speaking as someone who used to be a school police officer here in Los Angeles, I can only say that the school district opened it self up to some liability issue just to watch a glorified roman candle. Who ever posted about the kid getting hit is spot on. The school would've been in a lot of trouble had that happen. This is a difficult case. Now, unless the adminstrator of the school, the principal, closed the school then this took place during school time. Also, this didn't take place on school property, so the youngman's right to free speech has been abridged in some way. It reminds me of the old saying "you can have freedom of speech, but you can't have freedom from speech
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