First Amendment Library

Bethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser (docket #: 84-1667) (1986) [Findlaw]
Secondary Link	Bethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser [Legal Information Institute]
Argument Date	03/03/1986
Decided	7/07/1986
Supreme Court Vote	7-2

Issue	Whether school officials may prohibit a vulgar and lewd student speech at a student assembly even if the speech does not create a substantial disruption.

Case Summary & Additional Resources

Majority Opinion

Burger, C.J.

Concurring Opinion

Brennan, J. (concurring in judgment), & Blackmun, J. (concurring in result)

Dissenting Opinion

Marshall, J. & Stevens, J.

Lower Court

9th Circuit

Lower Court Ruling

First Amendment claim denied.

Oral Arguments

Oral Arguments (audio) [Oyez]
-- edited transcript in Irons, Peter, editor, COURTS, KIDS, AND THE CONSTITUTION (2000), pp. 193-201

Lawyers

For Petitioner

William A. Coats

For Respondent

Jeffrey T. Haley

News Stories & Commentary

Hechinger, Fred, "Political Shift on 'Vulgar' Speech," New York Times, Jul. 15, 1986, C-1

"Court Backs School on Student's 'Vulgar' Speech," New York Times, Jul. 8, 1986, A-18

Marcus, Ruth, "Students' Rights Restricted; High Court Rules On 'Vulgar' Speech, Adult Bookstores Court Curbs Free Speech For Students," Washington Post, Jul. 7, 1986, A-1

Matthew Fraser speaks out on 15-year-old Supreme Court free-speech decision

Interview

Other

Barron, Jerome & Dienes, C. Thomas, FIRST AMENDMENT LAW IN A NUTSHELL (3rd ed., 2004), pp. 331-340

Case Note, "Constitutional Protection for Student Speech in Public Schools," 55 University of Cincinnati Law Review 1349 (1987)

Chemerinsky, Erwin, "Students Do Leave Their First Amendment Rights at the Schoolhouse gates: What's Left of Tiner?," 48 Drake Law Review 527 (2000)

David Hudson, "Student Online Expression: What Do the Internet and MySpace Mean for Students' First Amendment Rights?" (Dec. 2006)

Dienes, Thomas & Connolly, Annemargaret, "When Students Speak: Judicial Review in the Academic Marketplace," 7 Yale J. L. & Policy Rev. 343 (1989)

First Amendment Schools, Overview

Hudson, David, "Student Expression in the Age of Columbine" (FAC First Report, Oct. 2005)

Saunders, Kevin, SAVING OUR CHILDREN FROM THE FIRST AMENDMENT (2003), pp. 190, 192-197, 238-240, 243-249

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