U7A1 Supreme Court Cases

I think this court case had a really bad reason for being made into a court case. Even though there was a reason they should have found a better one to make a court case. In this court case we somehow argued for five to ten minutes with each argument that the lawyers laid on the table. We then went out and voted for money to be given to the Tinkers and to let them wear their armbands. So now the school should think of how they’re going to treat matters better instead of just kicking kids out for wearing an armband that says what they think of the Vietnam War. So I think that armbands are allowed because they’re armbands why make a big deal out

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 says that the schools did not have the right to suspend the students

In this text, the case hinges on whether the students created a disturbance. There was a fear that they might create one, but since they never did, the court held that their self-expression was protected.

armbands at school, the Court established that students do not shed their Constitutional rights at

Ever since,Tinker vs. Des Moines in 1969 there has been a debate about students can and cannot wear to school. This Tinker vs. Des Moines Supreme Court Case also along the way within the debate brought in the school uniforms. Three young students wore black armbands to school to protest the fighting in Vietnam. Teachers told the students to take the armbands off the students refused to take off the armbands. As a result, the students were suspended. The parents held a meeting at one of the student’s who were suspended. The parents decided to take this case to the District Court. However, the District Court dismissed the complaint that it was constitutionally wrong ,but the Supreme Court disagreed with a ruling of Seven to two. From then on

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

The court stated the arm bands were a sign of symbolic speech and that students have the right of exercising this kind of expression in schools. They also stated that in order to suppress symbolic speeches, school officials must have a valid reason such as the disturbance of that symbolic speech to the education of others. Since the black arm band was used to express the feelings of the students, the school was incorrect for the suspension of those students who participated.

The excuse of the school board president was, that the armband policy was aimed so it won’t cause a disturbing influence on the students. However, in the book Illustrated Great Decisions of the Supreme Court by Tony Mauro says “Students and a lawyer for the Iowa Civil Liberties Union reminded the board that other students had been allowed to wear armbands in other situations, such as to mourn the death of people killed in the civil rights movement” (Mauro151). The Supreme Court was asked to reverse the suspensions and to make it illegal to violated the freedom expression of the young youth even in schools. The lawyer argued that students should enjoy the same level of First Amendment protection like adults. Besides, the students, at Des Moines public school, protested without disturbing anyone. In Fact, the students’ protest was a silent expression of opinion by just wearing the armbands (Mauro). According to Illustrated Great Decisions of the Supreme Court “The Court decided that allowing the Tinkers to wear their armbands protesting the Vietnam conflict would not substantially interfere with the work of the school or impinge upon the rights of other students. Wearing the armbands was a silent, passive expression of opinion that did not involve any disorder or disturbance, and was unlikely to cause a material and substantial disruption in the school” (Mauro 151). Also, Teachers and

The 3 teenagers ended up filing a Civil Rights lawsuit in federal court through their fathers, asking the court to issue an injunction that would bar the school system from further disciplining students in the same situation as well nominal damages. The district court sided with the school board, deciding that the school’s fear of this protest causing disruptions of school discipline was within reason. The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this ruling on an evenly divided vote. The students ended up bringing their case to the Supreme Court after that.

The Tinker vs. Des Moines case helped determined and interpret legal rights of young citizens for the first time. A group of students made a decision to wear black armbands to school to support a peace establishing agreement during the Vietnam War. As a result, the participating students; Mary Beth Tinker, Christopher Eckhardt, and John Tinker got suspended for their actions (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District).The school outlawed and attempted to penalize petitioners for a “silent, passive expression of opinion”, that didn’t cause any commotion (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist). The parents decided to sue the school for disrespecting the student’s constitutional rights of expression.

Gobitis and Barnette are two very important cases whose rulings had a big significance on a specific minority and the State. In the Gobitis case the Gobitis kids were expelled from public schools in Minersville School district for refusing to salute the flag. Saluting the flag involved standing and placing your right hand over your heart as you say the pledge of allegiance. It was not done in disrespect but due to their religious belief. The Gobitis’ religion looks down upon saluting the flag or symbols like that. Saluting the flag is a daily exercise that is done by students and teachers. Whoever refuses is expelled and the parents are prosecuted also. When the kids were kicked out of all public schools they had to go to private school where their dad could barely afford it but had no choice. Later on the Barnette case reversed the ruling of the court. It focused more on the constitution and what was legal. It was unconstitutional to punish a student for exercising their freedom of religion and speech. Citizens have rights and it had to be acknowledged, not just kick students out of school for their belief. As stated in the Bill of Rights in the first amendment people have freedom to religion and speech and can freely exercise that. The Barnette case made that obvious and gave the people back their rights. The justices from each case had their own opinion on what they thought was best and what wasn’t. Some were all for giving citizens their freedom of speech

The majority opinion leaned towards letting the 4 petitioning kids, seeing that in a multitude of court cases before showed similar conduct. An example of such was the case West Virginia v. Barnette, where students in the public school system are not held to salute the American flag. “The Fourteenth Amendment, as now applied to the States, protects the citizens against the State itself and all of its creatures- Boards of Education not excepted. These have, of course, important,

The Supreme Court is the courtroom where all the legal cases dealing with congress or the constitution go to get a final decision. The Court is currently composed of a chief justice, eight associate justices, and nine officers. Their main goal as members of the Supreme Court is to make sure everything and anything abides by the constitution. It has many powers when it comes to law and especially the constitution, but it is not overly powerful due to the other two branches of the government. Checks and balances helps keep their powers level and just as important as the executive and legislative branch powers. The Court has the ability to remove a law or refute anything that violates the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court, on average, receives around 7,000-8,000 petitions for a writ of certiorari every term. The Court grants and hears oral arguments for eighty cases. One case specifically was Printz v. United States. This case focused on dealing with background checks when purchasing a firearm. Jay Printz deemed the provisions to the Brady Bill unconstitutional, decided to take it to the District Courts and eventually the case ended up in the Supreme Court, where Stephen P. Halbrook fought and won the case based on a five to four ruling in favor of Printz.

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