The Tinker Vs. Des Moines Case

The case was heard by the Supreme Court on November 12th, 1968 to a packed court house. The main constitutional question at hand was if a prohibition against the wearing of armbands in public school, as a form of symbolic protest, violates the First Amendment's freedom of speech and expression. Attorney Dan L. Johnson argued on the Tinker’s behalf, proclaiming that the students had the constitutional right, as per the 1st amendment freedom of speech and expression, to wear the black armbands as a form of symbolic speech. On the other hand, attorney Allan A. Herrick defended the school board’s actions, inciting that the prohibition of armbands was necessary to prevent and stifle any violence or disorder. The topic of discussion during the oral arguments centered largely upon whether Tinker’s protest was disruptive to the class environment. Johnson argued that the anti-Vietnam protest, although sparking some talk, was undisruptive to school, citing that there was no evidence of disruption in any of the classes. Herrick, conversely, argued that the Vietnam War was an inflammatory issue, and that armbands invoked violence, especially since a

The majority opinion of the Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines can be reasoned

The first amendment, which is considered the right to freedom of speech, is a misconception to many. Not all citizens, but some, think that because of the first amendment; they can say whatever they want. Although citizens of the United States have the right to freedom of speech, this freedom of speech is viewed differently by others. Which leads to confusion as to what can be said and what cannot be said. Both court cases: Tinker v. Des Moines, and Bethel v. Fraser involved the confusion and misunderstanding of this first amendment.

The First Amendment states that “everybody has freedom of speech, press, and religion.” The First Amendment allows us, as U.S. citizens to speak freely about our feelings throughout the government. The First Amendment could possibly be the most important in the whole Bill of Rights. This amendment affects us in our daily life, whether we're teenagers or adults

In December of 1965 Mary Beth Tinker, John Tinker, and Christopher Eckhardt were suspended from the Des Moines public school system for wearing black armbands supporting a truce during the Vietnam War (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, n.d). Mary Beth and John’s younger siblings, Hope and Paul, also participated in the protest (Tinker v. Des Moines, 2013). Mary Beth, John, and Christopher’s suspension was lifted following the Christmas break when the students’ planned protest ended and they no longer were going to wear the armbands (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, n.d). The students’ parents sued the school district on behalf of their children (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community

Many freedom of speech and expression issues that receive media attention have to do with the adult population and what they feel their rights are. What many fail to recognize is the fact that the youth today are also dealing with freedom of speech and expression issues in their own lives. The freedom of speech and expression issues that young people deal with are just as important and are handled in the same manner as any other freedom of speech issue. Three articles from The Associated Press deal with freedom of speech and expression of middle and high school aged young people. These articles shed light on what types of First Amendment issues the youth today are dealing with.

John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Echardt all attended the same public school. They decided to wear black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. They were asked by the school to remove the armbands but the kids refused to do so. This resulted in the suspension of all three students. Through their guardians, the scholars sued the school region for infringing the scholar’s right of expression and looked for a directive to keep the school from suspending them. The Tinkers took to court. The Tinkers claimed that they were suspended for essentially expressing their views on the war. They thought this move made by the school

The 1969 Tinker v. Des Moines court case attested the First Amendment privileges of understudies in school. The Court held that a school region abused the students’ freedom of speech rights when it singled out a type of typical discourse – black armbands worn in dissent of the Vietnam War – for denial, without demonstrating the armbands would bring about significant disturbance in class.

John and Mary Beth Tinker were public school students in Des Moine, Iowa in December of 1965. The school directly violated and broke their 1st and 14th amendment by making them take off their armbands or get suspended until they agreed to go to school without them on. Tinkers had the right to wear the armbands and the school could not say otherwise

Introduction of Case: In the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District case, three students, John F. Tinker, Christopher Eckhardt, and Mary Beth Tinker were all suspended from school for wearing black armbands to school to protest the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The three students who had been suspended from school filed a claim stating that the banning them from wearing the armbands and the suspension was against their Constitutional right, under the First Amendment (Tinker

First, the court had to determine if the constitutional right to freedom of speech applied to students at school. Secondly, the court had to determine if the students had actually demonstrated speech. Lastly, the court had to determine to what degree did the school extinguish the students’ speech in conjunction with school’s expectations. In 1969, in a 7-2 majority vote in favor of Tinker (students), the United States Supreme Court ruled, “It can hardly be argued,” declared the Court, “that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression at the schoolhouse gate” (Imber et al p83).

In December 1965 a few students in Des Moines planned to wear black armbands throughout the holiday season and they planned to fast on December 16th and New Year’s Eve to support a truce in the Vietnam War. The principal and other school officials learned that the students hatched this plan and immediately adopted a no armband policy and students would be suspended if they wore armbands. On December 16th Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt wore their armbands to school and were sent home. The following day John Tinker wore his armband to school and the same result occurred. They were suspended until they wouldn’t wear the armbands anymore. The students sued for violating their first amendment right of free speech. How should individual rights and the common good be balanced when they come into conflict? The common good should be put before individual rights because we have to think of the big picture not this little tiny problem. I think the school was wrong to censor the student’s free speech because they didn’t cause a substantial disruption of education.

The case I chose was the 1969 Tinker v. Des Moines case, where the key arguments discussed by the U.S. Supreme Court were regarding student rights and freedom of speech. I chose this case because it was the only case in which the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students and not the school. This case was about students who organized a silent protest against the Vietnam War. They planned to wear black armbands to school in order to protest the fighting. However, the principal found out and told the students they would be suspended if they wore the armbands. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the students because they believed that the armbands weren't truly disruptive, therefore were protected by the First Amendment. Students’ free speech

These studies also challenge the existing Tinker Material Disruption Standard, which limits the constitutional rights of public school children while they are in a school setting. School administrators used the Tinker standard to enforce penalties on high school athletes who participate in national anthem protests on campus. This is controversial because administrators are not supposed to enforce this standard unless students’ expressions cause a substantial disruption to the school learning environment or interferes with the rights of others; a decision based on interpretation (146-148, vol.78, no.1).

Starting off by examining the Bill of rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S Constitution. More specifically, the amendment that will be focused on is the first. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” (Madison). In other words the first amendment talks about the freedom of speech and expression. Freedom of speech is something everyone has and can not be taken away unless in a specific setting; such as, school because schools do not want a student to get distracted when trying to learn their education (Hinds, 15), but it can also harm other students as well as cause a distraction to the classroom environment. On the other hand, parents