SCOTUS rulings

In My Humble Opinion
1

The Supreme Court made a couple of rulings. One said that it’s OK for groups to broadcast ‘issue ads’ before an election, reasoning that the benefit of the doubt goes to the Sender and not the Receiver. In another ruling they said that displaying a Bong Hits For Jesus banner is not protected, since it can be construed as promoting drug use. That is, the benefit of the doubt goes to the Receiver and not the Sender. Do these rulings contradict each other? Or am I missing something?

2

What you’re missing is that the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” issue was about speech in a public school setting, not the regular world. It’s still obnoxious, though.

3

I guess the only way to test this is to air a Bong Hits For Jesus just before an election.

4

I wonder if the Bong Hits case would’ve been different if the kid who flew the banner hadn’t admitted he was just doing it to get a rise out of people.

ETA: And it just wasn’t those two cases, too: there were several rulings released in the past couple of days that went 5-4 along ideological lines. I’ve forgotten what they were, but I’m sure someone can fill 'em in.

5

While it was a school sanctioned event (being let out of school to watch the Olympic Torch, IIRC), it was not on school property. It still seems contradictory to me. The court ruled in the political ad case that the benefit of the doubt is given to the sender. That is, if the people airing the political ads say that they are only raising an issue and not endorsing a candidate they are to be taken at their word. And yet it would be naïve to believe that. In the Bong Hits case, why should the student not be taken at his word, especially since it seems more reasonable (IMO) to believe that he was not promoting drug use but making a joke?

6

You’re looking at the wrong thing. The SCOTUS isn’t concerned about whether you’re “sending” or “receiving” free speech. The consistency in their approach is that they give the benefit of the doubt to the moneyed interest.

If you have money to spend on an election, you may. If you are the school board and not a poor student, you win.

Sailboat

7

If you think school boards are “moneyed interests” then you have a lot to learn about education in this country.