An Alaska school that punished a student for hoisting a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at an off-campus event will appeal its case to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Associated Press reported May 11.

The Juneau School Board said it will appeal a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in April said that school officials violated the free-speech rights of then-senior Joseph Frederick by suspending him for 10 days because he held up the banner at the 2002 Winter Olympic Torch relay. The court ruled that the school erred because Frederick's actions did not disrupt the school and that the event was not a school activity.

School officials said the banner hurt their ability to enforce a drug-free policy and have engaged former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

At a recent meeting, Juneau lawyer Paul Grant urged the panel to drop the appeal. "The reason I came out today is because the School Board's refusal to acknowledge that students have free-speech rights is disgraceful," said Grant. "Aside from being anti-American and anti-First Amendment, it's not effective. If they want an effective anti-drug message, then they need to have an effective anti-drug message."

But a statement from board president Phyllis Carlson said, "The board believes it is important to take this action because we need clarification on when our administrators are at risk of liability for damages for enforcing our policies and the circumstances in which we can enforce our policies restricting pro-drug messages."