Freedom Of Speech : Tinker V. Des Moines

In the Tinker vs. Des Moines court case the judges decided for Tinker even though both arguments from the lawyers where not well made. The judge’s decision was made by who they thought they should go for even though both sides had bad arguments and made a bigger deal of this case than what it should really be.

The dissent argues that there should be a limit on expression in school to allow students

“Congress shall make no law... prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech...”. This is what our first amendment speaks about. The freedom of speech and expression. Schools have been violating this law in the place of school dress codes. There should not be a dress code in school because it violates the first amendment, they do not support creativity and they are expensive.

The hearing took place on November 12,1969. During the hearing, leading attorney for the Tinkers, Dan Johnston, argued that the action of the students was censored under the First Amendment and their symbolic speech caused no disturbance. On the other hand, the school argued that they should have the duty to enforce and maintain order and all discretion should be left at the hands of the school and not the court (Anker 379). Around the same time, another case with the same problem arose. In the Burnside v. Byars case, there was a group of black students that attended an all-black public school in Philadelphia, Mississippi. To protest the racial segregation happening in their state, they wore freedom buttons. About thirty of the students who wore the buttons were suspended. The Court of Appeals, in the fifth circuit, said that the students have free speech rights and in order for the school to ban the buttons, the school must have evidence of disruption; otherwise, it is considered arbitrary and unreasonable and cannot be sustained (“Tinker…1969”). In the ruling of the Burnside v. Byars case, the Court of Appeals stated that in order for the school to interfere with students’ free rights, they must have evidence that it was interfering with school orders. However, Judge Stephenson, judge in the United States Court or Appeals, claimed that schools should not be limited to how they restrict

Des Moines is an important case for free speech in the United States. It affirms that students don’t lose their rights when they go to school. However, it also affirmed that schools can limit speech that “materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others” (Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969). However, the Court has ruled that there are times that the school can limit speech. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled in Bethel v. Fraser that students can be disciplined for using vulgar and offensive language in school (Gooden, Eckes, Mead, McNeal, & Torres, 2013, p. 25). This case differed from Tinker v. Des Moines because that case was about political speech or expression. Another example of where school can limit the First Amendment is school sponsored newspapers. This was affirmed by the Court in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988). That decision stated that schools can reasonably limit the content of school-sponsored newspapers (Gooden, Eckes, Mead, McNeal, & Torres, 2013, p.

Citizens in America are born with a various amount of rights. One of these rights include the freedom of speech and expression. However, school administrators have the ability to restrict a student’s expression. The Supreme Court Cases ‘Bethel School District v. Fraser’ and ‘Frederick V. Morse’ gave schools the right for the administrators to discipline children when they see fit. Students should be able to express themselves in any way without fearing that their school administrators will discipline

Everyone in America should be guaranteed the freedom of speech granted by The Constitution. In 1988, the court ruled in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier that schools \could limit freedom of speech in school if they had “educational concerns” (Jacobs). The problem is that “educational concerns” is too vague and school districts are able to use this as a loophole to get away with removing articles that do not need to be removed. Often, the concern is based on perception and image more than anything else. Angela Riley’s article “20 years later: Teachers reflect on Supreme Court’s Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier ruling” quotes Frank LoMonte, executive director of

The ruling of Tinker. V. Des Moines is a good example of how well the Supreme Court used to highly value First Amendment rights. In the early Supreme Court case, which happened in the 1960s, seven out of nine justices, the vast majority of the Supreme Court (Gold), voted in the students’ favor. This fits in with other early Supreme Court rulings, such as the 1940 court ruling in Thornhill v. Alabama where they stated that First Amendment rights applied to picketers as long as they did not cause property destruction or harm others (Gold), or the ruling in West Virginia v. Barnette later in the 1940s in which the court stated that “students also had a right to express themselves symbolically” (Gold). Early U.S. Supreme Court opinions supported Americans’ right to symbolic speech as long as it did not cause a “clear and present danger” to others (Gold), and the fact that the aforementioned early rulings were in favor of this right supports this. How often the Supreme Court voted in favor of the First Amendment in the era Tinker v. Des Moines took place shows that they used to highly value First Amendment rights.

One of the most well-known Supreme Cases involving student rights was the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District decision of 1969. The verdict quickly became a precedent for many other decisions involving school issues and is very relevant today.

Constitutional Question: Does a prohibition against the wearing of armbands in public school, as a form of symbolic protest, violate the students' freedom of speech protections guaranteed by the First

The final decision of the Court found the act of compelling students to salute the flag was unconstitutional. They described the salute as a form of communication and having it be a “compulsory unification of opinion," was contradictory to the First Amendment. Despite the Barnettes focusing on the religious component of the case, the Court only addressed the issues dealing with the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment and protecting students from being forced to recite the pledge. As Justice Jackson mentioned, “ no higher authority can navigate the “orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion”. 319 US 624 (1943) Thus requiring children to recite the pledge goes against our liberties.

As an educator, it is extremely important to know educational policies. On top of the knowledge, it is also imperative to respect the rights granted to students in the democratic society. Attached above is an article, published by the first amendment center, regarding how the first amendment is employed within public schools. The first topic in the article is titled speaking out in school. Here I learned that the school cannot limit the student’s freedom of speech, unless it is hindering the environment to learn, and even then, there is a lot of grey area. Here the school must be able to provide substantial evidence that the student’s writing, speech, or expression would cause great disruption. This also ties directly into school dress code and uniforms required by the school corporation. Students, in many

Despite the many positive view points of students having complete freedom of speech in school, it can be hardly argue that there are many drawbacks from the idea. Students in public school are still adolescence which many people view as still consider immature and irresponsible to themselves and others around them. In school settings it can be said that “Learning is more important in the classroom than free speech” (Hudson David L.). The general purpose of school is to teach students about the

Should students' rights to free speech and expression be limited in schools? "Speech as defined by the constitution is not just words." Well, (in some situations) students can take their rights of freedom of speech and expression out of context or too far. However, that's not the case with all students. Some students in a way use their freedom of speech and expression to their advantage. For example, maybe they are in a club, or wanting to start up a club so they where a sweatshirt (that may have the club logo on it). So should students' rights to free speech and expression be limited in schools? Honestly, it depends on who the students are and the school they go to.

Freedom of speech in school is necessary because it provides students with a voice, it provides motivation , it causes less violence.