1st Amendment Court Decisions

1
1st Amendment Court Decisions

• Government
• Mr. Firks

2
First Amendment

• The Five Rights
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of religion
• Freedom of the press
• Right to assemble peacefully
• Right to petition the government

3
Freedom of Speech

• Why did the framers value freedom of speech?
• People feared the monarchy.
• Allows you to freely discuss the government or
  important matters.
• People will not be sent to jail for speaking out
  against the government?

4
What is Speech?

• Speech can be non-verbal, such as displaying a
  flag. Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359
  (1931)
• Obscene speech is not protected. Miller v.
  California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
• The school environment is different from the
  public in that schools have the duty to fulfill
  their educational mission.Tinker v. Des Moines,
  393 U.S. 503 (1969)

5
1st Amendment

• Does the 1st Amendment apply to just politics?
• No All forms of expression are important.
• We define ourselves by what we hear, say, read,
  think, write, etc.
• Politics, sports, school, etc.
• Democracy Government by the people.

6
School vs. Public

• However, the Court has traditionally recognized
  that the educational mission of the school cannot
  be disrupted by the exercise of free speech.
• Speech rights at school differ from outside the
  school environment.
• The Court has recognized that students do not
  shed their constitutional rights when they enter
  school.

7
1st Amendment in the news Today.

• http//www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id2
  2077
• http//www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,522203,00.html
  

8
Morse vs. Frederick

• Do high school students have total reign of free
  speech if you are 18?
• Do high school students have same freedom of
  speech rights as college students? Do junior high
  students have the same rights as high school
  students?
• What do you think separates the three groups?

9
Morse vs. Frederick

• Student banner was displayed in support of use of
  drug use.
• Joseph Frederick was suspended for 10 days.
• Tinker vs. Des Moines stated that
• Students do not leave their right to free speech
  at the school house gate.
• http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17648725/

10
Supreme Court Conference

• Individually answer the question
• Yes (Rule in favor of the school)
• No (Rule in favor of the students)
• Give legal reasoning
• Group decisions

11
Morse v. Frederick

• Yes
• The US Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit
  by a 5-4 decision ruling that school officials
  can prohibit students from displaying messages
  that promote illegal drug use.
• The majority held that the message although
  cryptic was reasonably interpreted as promoting
  marijuana use.

12
Frederick vs. Morse Ruling

• In a school or government building the teachers
  and administrators are filling the role of your
  parents.
• This is known as loco parentis In place of
  parents.
• Flag advocated drug use instead of trying to
  change the legal status of marijuana.

13
Schools will look at the following

• 1. Amount of disruption it causes. If it
  interrupts the educational process, they can not
  allow it.
• Safety issue or the potential negative issue it
  may present.
• http//www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/25/free.speech/

14
Morse v. Frederick

• Three dissenting justices concluded that the
  schools interest in protecting its students from
  exposure to speech reasonably regarded as
  promoting illegal drug use cannot justify
  disciplining Frederick for his attempt to make an
  ambiguous statement to a television audience
  simply because it contained an oblique reference
  to drugs.

15
Morse v. Frederick

• The dissent believed that student speech is
  protected if the message itself neither violates
  a permissible rule nor expressly advocates
  conduct that is illegal and harmful to students,
  and concluded that Fredericks nonsense banner
  did neither.

16
Morse v. Frederick

• Here is how the Court ruled
• Red voted with majority decision
• Blue were dissenters (Justice Breyer for a
  different reason)

17
Bethel School Dist v. Fraser

• Student Matthew Fraser delivered a speech to 600
  high school students in support of a friends
  campaign for student council during a school
  assembly.
• Frasers speech was described as being sexually
  suggestive using graphic and explicit sexual
  metaphor.
• Several teachers noted that some students were
  embarrassed and bewildered in the audience.
• Many students hooted and yelled during the speech
  or mimicked the sexual activities alluded to in
  the speech.

18
Bethel School Dist. v. Fraser

• The next day, the principal suspended Fraser for
  violating the disruptive conduct rule which
  prohibited the use of obscene or profane language
  or gestures.
• Fraser filed suit in Federal District Court
  alleging a violation of his First Amendment right
  to freedom of speech and seeking injunctive
  relief and damages.
• The District Court held that the schools
  sanctions violated the First Amendment and that
  the disruptive conduct rule was
  unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. The Court
  of Appeals affirmed.

19
Bethel School Dist. v. Fraser

• The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to
  decide whether the First Amendment prevents a
  school district from disciplining a high school
  student for giving a vulgar or lewd speech at a
  school assembly.
• The Court held that the First Amendment did not
  prevent the School District from disciplining the
  respondent for giving the offensively lewd and
  indecent speech during the school assembly.

20
Hazelwood S.D. v. Kuhlmeier

• The student editors of the Spectrum, a school
  newspaper, created an issue that included
  articles about student experiences with teen
  pregnancy and the impact of divorce.

21
Hazelwood S.D. v. Kuhmeier

• The principal banned the articles from being
  published.
• The principal argued that the first article
  risked identifying the pregnant students and the
  content about sexual activity and birth control
  was not appropriate for younger students at the
  school. The second article contained comments
  from a student but did not allow the divorced
  parents to comment on their childs interview.

22
Hazelwood S.D. v. Kuhmeier

• The students filed suit alleging their First
  Amendment rights had been violated by the
  deletion of the articles.
• What do you think the court ruled? Does school
  sponsorship of a program or newspaper matter when
  monitoring freedom of speech?

23
Ruling

• The District Court held that no First Amendment
  violation had occurred. The Court of Appeals
  reversed.
• The US Supreme Court held that no First Amendment
  violation had occurred. Schools need not tolerate
  speech that is inconsistent with its educational
  mission.

24
Issue?

• http//www.abanet.org/publiced/youth/sia/holtcases
  /bethel.html
• What are your thoughts?