Supreme Court Rules Educators Can Limit Student Free Speech

School-going kids better watch their mouths: the Supreme Court has ruled that school administrators and teachers are able to limit students' free speech. Monday saw this important ruling from the court handed down, which ensures that educators are at liberty to use their discretion when dealing with student free speech issues, such as slang that might be drug-related.

The court battle came about because of a high school principal's confiscation of a banner at a student assembly. The banner, reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus," was sported by a student in an Alaskan high school. In the 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court said that the principal was within her rights in taking it down, even though it was not on school property, but across the street on a public sidewalk. Chief Justice John Roberts, speaking for the Justices, said that the student's banner contained a cryptic message that was at once offensive, humorous, or nonsensical to various crowds, and that Principal Deborah Morse was within the limits of her authority.A dissenting Justice Paul Stevens wrote in a separate statement that the decision "does serious violence to the First Amendment."