Supreme Court Accepts Case on Student Free Speech

The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to decide a potentially significant case on student freedom of speech. The justices accepted an appeal by an Alaska school district in a case over whether it can discipline a student who displayed a pro-drug banner at a school-sponsored event.

The court accepted the appeal in Morse v. Frederick (Case No. 06-278) after considering it at five separate private conferences since October, a somewhat unusual pattern of internal debate over a particular case.

The high court will review a federal appeals court ruling from earlier this year that a high school principal in Juneau violated the student’s First Amendment right to free speech when she snatched the banner away and later suspended...