FIRE Starters: Bethel School District v. Fraser

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In this brief educational video, First Amendment Scholar David L. Hudson Jr. explains the story and significance of the Supreme Court’s Ruling in Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986).
In this case, high school student Matthew Fraser was suspended after giving a speech supporting a classmate’s candidacy for student government at a school assembly. Fraser’s speech contained numerous sexual innuendos, and the school found that he violated several school district policies, including against disruption and vulgar language.
Fraser sued the school district on First Amendment grounds, and prevailed at the district and intermediate court levels. The district appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed the lower courts, ruling that Fraser’s rights have not been violated. Where the Court’s earlier ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) had defended students’ basic right to political expression in schools, the Fraser decision defended schools’ rights to prohibit indecent or vulgar expression.

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