Washington, DC
Tuesday and Wednesday, June 19th and 20th

The students spent the day at Georgetown University with Robert Gallucci. The former Deputy Secretary of State and current dean of the School of Foreign Service was an engaging speaker the students really seemed to respond to him. He was witty as he was informative.

In the evening I slipped out and went out to eat with Bill and his cousin John from Greece. It was his last night in DC and of course in the Greek tradition he wanted…., Outback. We enjoyed our Kookaburra Wings and bacon cheese fries. We had a great time.

On Wednesday the students studied, prepped, made oral arguments, and adjudicated the Supreme Court Case of Morse v. Fredrick. If you don’t want to read the 71 page oral argument transcript here is a link to the Wikipedia citation of the case. (Link) It is more popularly known as “Bong hits for Jesus”. Who would guess that a principal’s suspension of smart ass stoner kid would turn into a Supreme Court case of freedom of speech? What I think is hilarious is that when the principal hauled the kid into her office and informed him he would be suspended for five days he responded by paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson's warning that "speech limited is speech lost". She promptly doubled the suspension. The Washington Post has a great article about the case after it chosen by the Court. The students did a great job with the responsibilities. The two lawyers who led this endeavor and have taught at law school said the students did better than about 50% of their law school students.

The banner that caused the uproar.

Stuart Gerson speaks to SPS about Supreme Court procedure