New book: 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus - A Perfect Constitutional Storm in Alaska's Capital'

[Newsjock]

Source: Anchorage Daily News

The University of Alaska Press has published what may forever be the ultimate guide to the infamous "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case out of Juneau -- and a critic says it's "chock-full of fascinating facts and engaging narratives brokered by a narrator with a genuine commitment to free speech that is neither cowardly nor preposterous."

At 380 pages, with almost 1,600 endnotes, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus -- A Perfect Constitutional Storm in Alaska's Capital" by James C. Foster, an Oregon State University political science professor, is not light reading, but First Amendment fellow Ronald K. L. Collins says it's worthwhile -- and holds lessons -- for both legal experts and lay readers. The case -- stemming from a Juneau high school student's off-campus unfurling of a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner during a 2002 Olympics torch relay -- ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided in favor of the school district whose principal suspended the student.

... Bottom line: To this day, we do not know whether there is a "drug speech exception" to the free-expression rights of Alaska students under Article I, Section 5 of the state constitution.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/11/30/1580295/bong-hits-4-jesus-the-book-is.html