BETHEL SCCHOOL DISTRICT

The Supreme Court said Bethel High School officials in Washington did not violate the First Amendment by punishing 17-year-old Matthew Fraser for a campaign speech that was considered lewd. Both of the lower courts had ruled for Fraser because there was no disruption following the speech given in the school auditorium. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger distinguished between political speech (protected in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District in 1969) and vulgar or lewd speech. Because it was a school-sponsored activity, the Supreme Court said school officials had the right to punish the risque content of his speech. After Bethel, rather than providing evidence of substantial interference, as is required in the Tinker standard, school officials must meet a standard of reasonableness if they choose to restrict school-sponsored expression.