Supreme Court watchers, myself included, have felt from the outset that the high court would rule against the government in the now notorious “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case. There’s nothing to change that view based on yesterday’s oral arguments.

If you’re unfamiliar with the case, it involves Juneau, Alaska, student Joseph Frederick, who was suspended from high school in 2002 after he unfurled a banner reading “Bong Hits 4 Jesusâ€? across from the school while the Olympic torch passed by.

Frederick said the banner was a joke and a publicity stunt and sued the school district over his suspension.

Frederick’s position was affirmed by an appeals court, which ruled that the school principal had violated his First Amendment rights, but the district — with the help of Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr), took the case to the Supreme Court.

Marty Lederman writes at SCOTUSBlog that only Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia seemed to be persuaded by Starr’s argument that that a school district can suppress any student speech “inconsistent with the school’s basic educational mission.”

There are some strange bedfellows involved in the case, notably religious groups that once were in Starr’s thrall who are siding with Frederick and civil libertarians because they fear that schools will punish students who talk about their religious beliefs.

Stay tuned.