The students were suspended from school for showing their support of the anti-war movement. Wearing the armbands was protected by the First Amendment. It is implied that there are limitations to free speech in a school area, but the principal lacked the reasoning for imposing the limitations in this case. It was not shown that the conduct from the students would substantially interfere with appropriate school discipline.…
Before Tinker v. Des Moines the opinions students could and couldn’t voice was decided on by the schools. This changed when three students, John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker and, Christopher Eckhardt decided to voice their opinions on the Vietnam War by wearing black arm bands (“Tinker V. Des Moines”1). The School system demanded the students to take off their arm bands or they would be suspended. The students refused to take them off didn’t attend school till after their winter break (“Tinker v. Des Moines” 1). John Tinker’s father thought this was unfair that their children were singled out for wearing armbands while other students were allowed to wear other…
On April 26, 1983, Matthew Fraser gave a speech nominating another student for an elected position. The speech was given to about 600 fourteen year olds that chose to attend this assembly. The speech contained sexual innuendo. Before giving the speech Fraser received advise from several teachers that he should change the speech or not give one at all. But he refused to take their advice (2). The next day, he was called in to an administrative office and was suspended for three days and was told he would not be able to give his speech during graduation even though he was at the time the salutatorian. The family of Fraser filed a grievance with the Pierce County school board, but the officer upheld the suspension. In response, to that decision Matthew’s father filed a case against the school district. The District Court ruled that the student’s First Amendment right was infringed upon. The students was awarded a monetary judgment and allowed to give his graduation speech. Later, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the District Court (4). Later, the US Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals in a 7-2 vote to reinstate the suspension, saying that the school district's policy did not violate the First Amendment (3).…
In another case where a student filed suit for violation of his First Amendment rights, Matthew Fraser was suspended for three days by the Bethel School District after he gave a speech at a school assembly. Bethel Sch. Dist. v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986). The student, Fraser, delivered a speech nominating a fellow student for a student elective office. Over 600 high school students, many of whom were 14-year-olds, attended the assembly. The assembly was part of a school sponsored educational program in self-government. Id. at 677. All students were required to attend or to report to study hall. During the entire speech, Fraser referred to his candidate in…
The Tinker vs Des Moines case is a land-mark case in upholding the rights of school children, and their freedom to express their opinions and views. Many have heard of the case, while others are unaware of its existence. The real conflict however is whether the defendants, John and Mary Beth Tinker were right or wrong. In December of 1965, the Tinker siblings decided to wear black armbands with peace signs on them to protest America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. After getting suspended from school, The Tinkers brought the case to the U.S. District Court, which raised the question: Were their rights violated? The answer is obvious. The school was incorrect in their actions, and the Tinkers rights were impeded upon because they did not cause…
The Tinker v. Des Moines, New Jersey v. T.L.O., and Ingraham v. Wright are just three Supreme Court cases about student rights. The first one, the Tinker v. Des Moines is a case that took place in 1965. The issue of this case was the freedom of speech in school. It all started on one day when John and Mary Beth Tinker along with their friend Chris Eckhardt chose to wear black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam. School officials told them to take off the bands, but they refused. In effect they were suspended from their high school in Des Moines, Iowa. All their parents sued the school district, because they claimed it was a violation of the First amendment, the right of freedom of speech. The significance of this case is having a right to express yourself. The court limited the right of self expression. They limited the right by not giving students unlimited self expression. Another way they limited it was by explaining that if the act of…
It was simple to me. The school newspaper is about representing the whole school, not individual students themselves. Both sides could agree that the students were presenting their own views, but then this is where the sides start to split. The minority believed that since the students were expressing their own views, that the Tinker standard should apply. But, this was not applied because the students are not suppose to use the school newspaper as a public forum for discussion. The school newspaper is suppose to represent the whole school, and not just those writers. Therefore, the principal was doing nothing wrong by restricting the student’s rights when he censored and prevented the release of the articles in the…
December 1965, a group of students met at Christopher Eckhardt's home and discussed that they wanted to show support for the truce in the vietnam war. They decided they would wear armbands to school to support it, but the principles of the Des Moines school found out about their plan. A new rule in school was passed. That all students wearing any armband would be asked to remove it, and if they refused, they would be suspended. On the 16th of December, Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt both wore armbands to school, were asked to remove the armbands, and when they refused, they were send home. The next day, John Tinker had the same situation and and resulted the same way. In response to the suspension, the students sued the school district…
Justice Fortas ruled in favor of Tinker because he viewed symbolic speech as similar to pure speech as protected by the Constitution. The armbands were a passive expression that did not involve disorder or disturbance to school. He believed that the fear of a disturbance was not enough to take away their freedom of expression.…
Facts In December of 1965 fifteen year old Mary Beth Tinker, sixteen year old Christopher Eckhardt, and a group of other adults and students gathered at the house of the Eckhardts’ to hold a meeting. At the meeting the group of people decided to support their truce to what happened during the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands during the holiday season. The principle of Des Monies School (the defendant) found out about the plan and held a meeting to that created a policy that any student wearing armbands would be asked to take them off, refusal to do so would result in suspension. On December 16, 1965 Mary Beth Tinker (the plaintiff) and Christopher Eckhardt wore black armbands to school, and were sent home.…
Students have the right to peaceful protests and demonstrations that do not inflict harm on others individuals or disrupt the learning environment. Tinker v. DesMoines Independent Community College School District (1969), supported the student’s peaceful protest and determinized that the students would not face suspension or other disciplinary action as a result. Cloud states that students are consumers that have a contractual relationship with the institution in which frames and regulates the rules, state laws, and federal statutes. In the end, it is the college that has the authority and responsibility to maintain an environment that is free from disruption, respects the rights of others and conducive to…
The petitioners led, “a silent, passive expression of opinion, unaccompanied by any disorder or disturbance” (Source 1). It is important to note that while the, “armbands caused comments, warnings by other students, the poking of fun at them” (Source 2), there, “were no threats or acts of violence on school premises” (Source 1).. The raising of a new generation also plays an important part in the case. Schools are places where students are free to exchange ideas freely and gather information on how people perceive the world differently. Because schools are breeding grounds for ideas, and, “The Nation’s future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to that robust exchange of ideas which discovers truth” (Source 1), the new generation’s minds are being shaped by their young…
Another example is when a young 13 year old and a group of her friends showed up for school one day. They were wearing black arm bands to mourn the death of Vietnam and all of them including her were suspended. They also faced harassment and many death threats. The ACLU came to her defense, winning a landmark Supreme Court decision in “Tinker v. Des Moines (19969)”.…
In the case of Brown versus Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled school segregation to be unconstitutional. This landmark case was a stepping stone in the long fought struggle for equal rights. Following the ruling many issues were left unsettled resulting in immeasurable violence, riots, and mobs. However, the main social problem to overcome is that of racism and inequality. Activists faced many dimensions of defiance in federal law, government, and education systems. This was exhibited in Little Rock, when nine African American teens were met by an angry mob as they attempted to attend their newly integrated school. Furthermore, federal law continued to be defied as the National Guard was sent to keep the students out. However, a development in its own occurred when President Eisenhower sent army officers to assist the students into school.…
United States Supreme Court 1969 stated that: The issue of school speech as it relates to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is one that has been of much debate and the subject of…