Admittedly, some high school students (including those who use drugs) are dumb. Most students, however, do not shed their brains at the schoolhouse gate, and most students know dumb advocacy when they see it. The notion that the message on this banner would actually persuade either the average student or even the dumbest one to change his or her behavior is most implausible.

This quote comes from Justice John Paul Stevens’ dissent in Morse v. Frederick, a student free speech case decided by the Supreme Court in 2007.

In Morse, a five-member Court majority found that a high school principal did not violate the the constitutional rights of student Joseph Frederick when she suspended him for unfurling a banner that read BONG HiTS 4 JESUS near school property.

Justice Stevens disagreed. He argued that the banner’s message was “nonsense,” and that even if Frederick had, as some justices argued — but Frederick himself denied — intended to promote illegal drug use, his suspension would still have been a huge First Amendment violation.

Stevens’ dissent, a ringing endorsement of students’ rights to free expression, was joined by two other justices. (Justice Stephen Breyer took no stand on the First Amendment issues raised by the case, arguing that it should have been decided on other grounds.)

Student speech is embattled in today’s society. If such speech is to be respected in America’s schools, Justice Stevens — who announced his retirement last week — must be replaced by a justice who shares his commitment to students’ rights.