Bong Hits 4 Jesus: high court ruling's implications for online speech

[Update: Clay Good, who claims to be the photographer who shot the image previously posted here, has asked us to remove that image from the blog, and we have done so. Here's a link to the image, which appears in Wikipedia.]

andy carvin says,

I've just posted an analysis of today's Supreme Court ruling against the Bong Hits 4 Jesus kid. The court basically says that the school was within its rights to bust the kid because he was displaying anti[pro]-drug messaging and it was a school-sanctioned event, even though it occurred off campus. This might affect students who have been busted by schools for posting drug-related content on the websites, blogs and social networking profiles. Ironically, a school might be able to argue that this is justified if they also allow social networking access at school, thus making it school sanctioned. In contrast, schools that filter out social networking sites might have a harder time punishing kids for their drug-related online activities, because the act of filtering pretty much says that social networks aren't exactly school sanctioned. Pretty ironic if you ask me.

Link.

Here's a Wikipedia article on the case.

[#1 posted by claygood , December 9, 2007 11:59 AM]

I took the copyrighted bong hits 4 jesus photo posted on this site. It is used without permission or license.

Freedom of speech does not include freedom to use the works of others without permission.

Please help stop further piracy and take the image down immediately or obtain legal rights for use through ZUMApress.

Regards,

Clay Good