Wearing Armbands In School

The basis of this court case was to determine whether or not wearing armbands in an educational setting is protected under Freedom of Speech. Justice Abe Fortas was against the prohibiting of armbands in school because it was protected by the First Amendment. However, Justice Hugo Black was for the prohibiting of armbands because he did not believe that people could express their opinions or beliefs anywhere or any time. 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.