Tinker v. Des Moines
Joao Raimundo
US History 10
Mr. Kegler
06/10/2013
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
The ‘Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District’ gained notice in 1968, when it first was argued in the Supreme Court of the United States. The case was introduced because in December of 1965, John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt took their black armbands to school. The black armbands were a symbol to their objections to the hostilities in the Vietnam War. In December 14th, the principals of the Des Moines school and adopted a policy that any student who wore a black armband to school would be asked to remove it, and if he didn’t remove it, the student would be suspended until he came back to school without the armband. A few days later, the petitioners went to school with the black armbands, and they were asked to leave school, and only returned after New Year’s Day. This court case was introduced to the Supreme Court by the fathers of the petitioners. (Tinker v. Des Moines) There were two opinions to this Case, the Majority and the Minority opinion, and the Minority opinion was correct. Schools have all the rights to impose any laws inside school campus, if the students don’t agree with these laws, they should change schools.
The Minority opinion was that the school had the right to do what they did, to impose a law against wearing black armbands inside the campus. What can, or can’t be worn in school is up to the principals to decide. As the court states about free speech and assembly “does not mean that everyone with opinions or beliefs to express may address a group at any public place at any time” (Tinker v. Des Moines). This means that although you have the rights to wear the armbands, you don’t always have the right to wear it in a public place, such as a school in this case. The Vietnam War could be a very emotional subject to some students, and those students may not like it to be referred. The armbands were
US History 10
Mr. Kegler
06/10/2013
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
The ‘Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District’ gained notice in 1968, when it first was argued in the Supreme Court of the United States. The case was introduced because in December of 1965, John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt took their black armbands to school. The black armbands were a symbol to their objections to the hostilities in the Vietnam War. In December 14th, the principals of the Des Moines school and adopted a policy that any student who wore a black armband to school would be asked to remove it, and if he didn’t remove it, the student would be suspended until he came back to school without the armband. A few days later, the petitioners went to school with the black armbands, and they were asked to leave school, and only returned after New Year’s Day. This court case was introduced to the Supreme Court by the fathers of the petitioners. (Tinker v. Des Moines) There were two opinions to this Case, the Majority and the Minority opinion, and the Minority opinion was correct. Schools have all the rights to impose any laws inside school campus, if the students don’t agree with these laws, they should change schools.
The Minority opinion was that the school had the right to do what they did, to impose a law against wearing black armbands inside the campus. What can, or can’t be worn in school is up to the principals to decide. As the court states about free speech and assembly “does not mean that everyone with opinions or beliefs to express may address a group at any public place at any time” (Tinker v. Des Moines). This means that although you have the rights to wear the armbands, you don’t always have the right to wear it in a public place, such as a school in this case. The Vietnam War could be a very emotional subject to some students, and those students may not like it to be referred. The armbands were
Cited: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. 21 S. Ct. 393-503. Supreme Court of the US. 1969. Print.