What was the case about? In 1965, some of the students attending Des Moines school met at a young students house named Christopher Eckhardt where they decided to show their support for the Vietnam war truce by publicly wearing black armbands though the winter and fasting on December 16 and New Year's Eve. When the school heard about this, the principals banned all students from wearing an armband or they would be suspended. Mary Beth Tinker, Christopher Eckhardt, and John Tinker ignored the rule and decided to wear the armbands anyways, so the school suspended them. They didn't go to school until after the New Year. The students and their parents sued the school for not letting students express themselves