Students in US schools do not always have a right to free speech, the US Supreme Court ruled today.
While the First Amendment in the US Constitution protects the 'freedom of speech', the nation's highest court said an Alaska student's banner reading 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' is not covered by that protection.
Joseph Frederick said his banner's language was meant to be nonsensical and funny, a prank to get on television as the Winter Olympic torch relay passed by the school in January 2002.
But school officials say the phrase 'bong hits' violated the school's policy against advocating and promoting illegal drug use.
Mr Frederick was suspended for ten days by the principal and today's divided court decided that suspension did not violate the student's free-speech rights.
This was the first major decision on student free-speech rights by the court in nearly 20 years.
