Tinker V. Des Moines Speech In Schools

In 1969, a group of students filed a lawsuit against their school district claiming that their First Amendment rights were violated because the school district wrote a policy that prohibited them from wearing black armbands in a silent protest of the Vietnam War. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) ruled that students are entitled to their First Amendment rights as long as they are not causing a disruption to the school environment. This paper outlines the procedure and rulings in the case as well as other legal rulings that have expanded on when censorship of students is protected in public school settings as well as provides a personal reflection on how such matters can impact my future as a school administrator.

The District Court decided that the students who petitioned the Vietnam War sought nominal damages. Also the court believed what the school did was under its constitutional authority to prevent the disturbance of school discipline, 9258 F. Supp. 971 (1966). The case moved on to the Court of Appeals. The case was considered en banc, which means all the appellate judges were there to hear it. The court was equally divided on the case, so the District Courts decision was affirmed with no opinion from the Court of Appeals, 383 F.2d 988 (1967). The court recognized the action of the students wearing the armbands to protest the Vietnam War was protected by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. This case was so close to “pure speech”, which is entitled to comprehensive protection under the First Amendment. The District Court figured that it can’t be argued that neither teachers nor students should lose their constitutional rights when at school. The problem was that the students freedom of speech rights collide with the school authorities rules. There was no evidence showing that the protest disrupted any classes or work of the schools. The District Court came to their final conclusion after looking the case over again. They decided that the action of the school authorities was reasonable because it was based upon their fear of a disturbance from the wearing of the armbands. In no way was the school authorities trying to deny the student’s constitutional rights. Although the students were suspended from school for protesting the Vietnam War, it was not because they weren’t protected by the First

"It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." This was the main argument from Justice Abe Fortas that came into play at the Tinker v. Des Moines School District Case of 1969. The case involved a small group of students who silently dissented against the government’s policy during the ongoing Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to school. In response by the school administration, each of those students was suspended from the public schools they attended in Des Moines, Iowa. This case is a prime example of the Constitutionally protected symbolic speech we have

The Vietnam War was a very long and messy war that started in 1954 and ended in 1975, although the United States joined in 1965. The united states projected the idea of stopping a Communist takeover of Vietnam as their main reason for joining the war. Soldiers fighting in the war were about two thirds volunteer and the rest were selected through the draft. This sparked outrage in many military aged men and was the beginning of the defiance towards the war. (thevietnamwar.info) With so many people fighting the war it was really supported overall by Americans at the start of the war. The Vietnam War affected the relationship between Americans and the government in many ways, some people it strengthened the idea of the government, and many people who were against the war rebelled in many ways to test the governments powers such as skipping the draft, protesting, or anti-war marches.

The Supreme Courts court's 7–2 decision held the First Amendment which applied to public schools. The administrators would have to establish "constitutionally valid reasons for any specific regulation of speech in the classroom". The court said you can't expect students or teachers to "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate". They felt that school district's actions evidently stemmed from a fear of possible disruption rather than any actual interference. The court ruled that the actions of the students did not disrupt school and their activity was "constitutionally protected symbolic speech".

A reason why opposition expanded over time is because the American people frequently seen the results that the war caused. There was an abundance of deaths and the federal government was contributing a great deal of money. The war endured and the U.S. forces were still not defeating the Vietnamese forces. Due to this fact, American citizens viewed the Vietnam War as avoidable and irrelevant. In my personal opinion, I believe that the criticism of the war was

The Vietnam War in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia lasted from November 1st, 1955 to around April 30th, 1975. The war was split up between two sides, North Vietnam, who were allied with the Soviet Union, China, and most of the communist countries during this time period, and South Vietnam, who were allied with the United States and many countries that were against the belief of Communism. Although the United States did not necessarily have to get involved in the war, they believed that they had too so that South Vietnam would not join the Communist party. During this time period there was a belief that if a region began to fall underneath communist control then other countries around them would do the same, this was known as the domino theory. As a result, the United States were committed for the long run to try and contribute to South Vietnam, so that Communism would not spread across the world. While the United States government was simply trying to stop Communism, what they did not know was that this war would begin the movement of anti-war by the citizens of the United States. Peace movements began to appear all across the country in major cities such as New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, and in smaller towns as well. Surprisingly, numerous veterans joined in on the movement too. This may have been due to the fact that many veterans have struggled from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, but it also enlightened an abundant amount of citizens for if those who are

The freedom of speech is something that everybody should have a right to in the United States. Not everyone around the world has this right, because some countries are corrupted, abandoned, and even nearly messed up politically. In the 1876 Constitution it talks about how free speech was specified along with the right to bear arms, and the right to petition. The first amendment gave the people power to stand up against a power hungry nation to let the nation know what the people wanted to change. Tinker vs. Des Moines was a case that involved a situation with freedom of speech. They both, along with their parents, wanted to protest a way of how they can prevent the Vietnam War by wearing arm bands to symbolize their way of protesting. This

A group of students had gathered in Des Moines to celebrate the truce of the Vietnam War. The children had chosen to wear black armbands and fast as well. However, the principals of the schools in Des Moines created a policy which stated that if the bands were not removed by the student, that student would then be suspended. After a few kids were sent home by the administration, the students had ended up suing the school district for not allowing them to express their “voices”. The act of the school administration had violated the First Amendment, which states that Congress may not prohibit “free speech”.

The Vietnam conflict began in the mid-1950s. As it continued, the US feared the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. In pursuit of containment, the US decided to intervene by sending American Troops to Vietnam. Initially the population was okay with this decision. Only when atrocities became known, conscription was introduced and many US soldiers came home in “body bags” did the people start voicing their disapproval. As the war intensified, so did anti-war ideas. Factors such as pop culture and the Countercultural population of the 1960s influenced the formation and development of US peace movements and the resistance against the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War was unsettling to Americans, causing a divide in the nation. Hundreds of thousands of men were drafted to fight overseas. Americans were confused as to why, after a decade of fighting, there was no victory in this lengthy and costly war. Military policy was difficult for Americans to grasp and presidents were unable to put an end to this dragged out war. As more troops were deployed to Vietnam, more Americans protested. It was a time of political and social upheaval, where Americans lost faith in their government. American soldiers were also disenchanted. One Vietnam veteran explains,

The Vietnam War, which occurred in the period of 1961 to 1975, proved to be an event that evoked antiwar activity amongst American citizens due to foreign policies of involvement that only brought domestic chaos thus leading to mistrust of the government and presidential authority

The Vietnam war is unpopular in this country. It is becoming increasingly unpopular as it escalates - causing more American casualties, more fear of its growing into a wider war… and more distress at the amount of suffering being visited on the noncombatants in Vietnam, South, and North. Most Americans do not know how we got where we are, and most… are convinced that somehow we should not have gotten this deeply in. All want the war ended and expect their President to end

The Vietnam War was not always a hated war. When the United States first introduced the idea of declaring war in Vietnam, there were few reasons to protest it. The United States believed that in order to stop the threat of communism spreading to countries south of the Soviet Union, the United States must be the ones to intervene. The United States had a containment policy in act to try and prevent the spread of communism from the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea. As the war raged on, protests began to become common place in the Unites States for a plethora a reasons. Beginning a war in Vietnam was thought to be a quick war in order to prevent communism from spreading to South Vietnam. But yet, the United States ended up having to enforce

The Vietnam War was controversial from the start of American intervention. While the majority American believed that intervention and American military involvement began in the late 1950s, this was not the case. Participation in the Vietnam War was heavily promoted as a war against communism, and at a time where McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare was prominent in people’s minds, Americans were initially accepting of the war effort.