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But the groups take issue with the school's argument that it has a right to squelch speech that promotes illegal behavior and runs afoul of school policy. Given that broad power, schools could engage in "viewpoint censorship" and muffle all contentious speech—from anti-abortion T-shirts to student-run Bible clubs, Christian lawyers said.

"It would give schools the authority to regulate all unpopular, controversial speech," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice.

Still, a number of conservative Christian groups, fearful of being linked to drug promotion, have kept their distance from the case, said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for Plano, Texas-based Liberty Legal Institute.

Providing a hypothetical example, Shackelford said: "Imagine the headlines: `Lutherans Support Student Promoting Drugs.' Most people wouldn't get it; it looks to them like their denomination is supporting drugs."

In a sound bite culture, that's a legitimate concern, said Theriot. Though ADF usually promotes its involvement in free-speech cases, the firm has taken a low-profile approach to Morse v. Frederick.

"It's very difficult to explain our position in a news release," Theriot said.

The potential misunderstanding from supporters is worth it, says Shackelford. "I've been doing religious (legal) work for almost two decades, and in my opinion this is probably one of the most dangerous cases to religious freedom in the last decade," he said, "because you don't think it's about religion."

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The Supreme Court has a full transcript of the oral arguments.

Supreme Court Times offers background and links to briefs filed by the Rutherford Institute, Liberty Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund, Christian Legal Society, American Center for Law and Justice, and others.

The Rutherford Institute, Liberty Legal Institute, Liberty Counsel, Christian Legal Society, and American Center for Law and Justice also have information on the case on their websites.

SCOTUSBlog has two backgrounders and two analysis pieces on of the oral arguments.

Other summaries and analyses of the oral arguments are available from Legal Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, Los Angeles Times, Anchorage Daily News, and Juneau Empire.

The New York Times , Los Angeles Times, and Cincinnati Enquirer have editorials supporting the student's speech.

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March (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51