Premium Essay

Tinker V. Des Moines

In:

Submitted By nathanmiller
Words 341
Pages 2
Most of all of Supreme Court case from the time of Tinker V. Des Monies case have restricted the student rights of expression, student must be free to express themselves without unfair limits and the Tinker vs. Des Moines cases affirmed the rights of students to express themselves and the 1st Amendment prohibits laws that limit free expression. The case of Tinker v. Des Monies was rather a simple one. The case of whether the first amendment applied to students or just adults. The students argued that they should be allowed to wear armbands to display their praise for the people of the dead during the war. The staff thought this shouldn’t be allowed, mostly because of their influence of their actions might disrupt the learning environment of the class and (possibly) the school. This is understandable. They only wanted was best for the students. Although they are doing this for the best for the students, isn’t this a little restricting? Yeah sure, they don’t want the students to form a riot, but not allowing them to express their feelings from the war by not letting them wear arm bands, worse case not allowing them to return until they didn’t wear it? That’s the reason why the case was started in the first place. This could be avoided if they were allowed to wear the armbands in school…to a certain extent that is. Besides, this could be the exact reason why a riot might form, the restrictions is causing a stressful strain to the students and couldn’t take much more of it.

In 1965, 3 students Mary Beth and John Tinkers and one other student in Des Moines, Iowa decided to wear black arm bands to school in representation of mourning the dead and protest the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was a military conflict fought primarily in the Southern Vietnam in the year between 1959 and 1975, the Vietnam War cost the United States 58,000 lives, 350 causalities’ and resulted

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Tinker V. Des Moines. Needs Revision

...Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District In December 1965, students from Des Moines held a meeting in reverence to a truce in Vietnam War held a public showing in the house of a sixteen year old teenager named Christopher Eckhardt. They decided that they would show their respect by wearing black armbands through out the holiday season. They also decided that they would fast on December 16 and New Years Eve. When the principals of Des Moines’ schools heard of this news, they banned the use of armbands and made a policy which stated any student wearing the apparel would be suspended. On December 16, Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt were sent home and suspended as they ignored the policy. John Beth Tinker, another student, did the same thing and was also suspended. The students did not come back to school until after New Years Day. The children later sued the school, through their parents, on the basis of violating the rights of students. The Supreme Court dismissed the case on the fact that schools had the right to discipline their students. The Court had a 7-2 decision on the case for the schildren. The Court argued that the students had not lost their freedom of expression or rights when they entered the school. In order to justify the suppression of speech, the school officials proved that the armbands would “materially and substantially interfere” with the operation of the school. The Court upheld [505] the constitutionality of the school authorities'...

Words: 333 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Supreme Court Cases: Tinker V. Des Moines

...everyone will agree with everything. Even the supreme court seems to diverge when it comes to certain cases, for instance in case of Tinker v. Des Moines. In 1965, Tinker, his sister, and a friend were sent home from school for wearing black armbands protesting the Vietnam War, the wearers did not disrupt the daily classroom activities and was simply performing an act of symbolic speech. The school emplaced a policy banning the black armbands refusing to allow the children to attend school until they were removed. Upon this action, the students’ parents sued the school district. Eventually, the Tinkers appealed to the supreme court, which agreed these actions were unconstitutional. Tinker v. Des Moines is well written and clearly organized that uses relevant evidence to back up its arguments. Similarly, the dissent is well written, but claims lead to an overall weakened dissent. Therefore, the majority opinion is much stronger argument than the dissent....

Words: 486 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Case Study: Tinker V. Des Moines Independent Community Schools

...Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School of 1969 was a defining moment in American education history that ultimately gave school districts power against entitled student free speech. The court decided that “students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate”, but rather enter into a special environment in which school officials may “prohibit student speech if that speech would substantially interfere with the work of the school or impinge upon the rights of other students” (Willard 2007). Although this court case was over 40 years ago, the same rules can still be applied to the battle against cyberbullying in the digital world that we live in today. Students are as connected...

Words: 2061 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Tinker V. Des Moines

...time of Tinker V. Des Monies case have restricted the student rights of expression, student must be free to express themselves without unfair limits and the Tinker vs. Des Moines cases affirmed the rights of students to express themselves and the 1st Amendment prohibits laws that limit free expression. The case of Tinker v. Des Monies was rather a simple one. The case of whether the first amendment applied to students or just adults. The students argued that they should be allowed to wear armbands to display their praise for the people of the dead during the war. The staff thought this shouldn’t be allowed, mostly because of their influence of their actions might disrupt the learning environment of the class and (possibly) the school. This is understandable. They only wanted was best for the students. Although they are doing this for the best for the students, isn’t this a little restricting? Yeah sure, they don’t want the students to form a riot, but not allowing them to express their feelings from the war by not letting them wear arm bands, worse case not allowing them to return until they didn’t wear it? That’s the reason why the case was started in the first place. This could be avoided if they were allowed to wear the armbands in school…to a certain extent that is. Besides, this could be the exact reason why a riot might form, the restrictions is causing a stressful strain to the students and couldn’t take much more of it. In 1965, 3 students Mary Beth and John Tinkers and...

Words: 1314 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Court Case Study: Tinker V. Des Moines School District

...Court cases The first court case being discussed is Bethel School District v. Fraser in 1986. What happened includes Matthew Fraser using obscene sexual references in a speech in front of 600 students at a school assembly and being punished. The question in the case was whether the First Amendment protected students from being punished at school for using lewd speech. The court said no the First Amendment does not protect a student from being punished ("Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser." Oyez, 5 Apr. 2018, www.oyez.org/cases/1985/84-1667). Ultimately I agree with this court decision on the basis that the school has the right to enforce their rules to maintain order in the learning environment. The second court case being discussed...

Words: 1170 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

The Importance Of The First Amendment

...The most important amendment of the Bill of Rights is the First Amendment. There are five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment: the freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition. Another way to express this amendment is that it gives us our most basic freedoms as American citizens. The reason this amendment is important is because it protects an American’s citizen’s basic rights. There have been many challenges to this amendment over the years. Two of the primary challenges to the amendment are Bethel School District v. Fraser and Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. In the case, Bethel School District v. Fraser, Fraser, a public school student, was suspended for using sexual references in a speech endorsing one of his friends for a student government position. Bethel School District decided to suspend Fraser which led to Fraser suing Bethel School District for violating his freedom of speech....

Words: 808 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Hazelwood School District V. Kuhlmeier

...Running head: Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier Hazelwood School District V. Kuhlmeier in APA style Wilkes University Abstract In 1982, the principal of Hazelwood High School deemed two articles submitted by students to be unsuitable for circulation in the school newspaper, and had the pages removed. Principal Renalds felt the content of the articles, which referenced teenage pregnancy and divorce, would disrupt the learning environment at the school and endanger the wellbeing of students. The students felt that their first amendment rights were violated, and filed a suit against the school district. The case eventually reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that as long as the school had “a substantial and reasonable basis (Brandsberg-Engleman et al., 2002).” in removing the pages from the newspaper, it did not offend the first amendment rights of the students. The students of Hazelwood High School have the opportunity to add journalism to their curriculum. Journalism I is an introduction to the profession, and completing the requirements of the class allows students to advance to Journalism II. One requirement and privilege for Journalism II students is the responsibility of producing and publishing the school newspaper, titled “SPECTRUM.” The main goal of this project is to familiarize students with the “legal, moral, and ethical restrictions imposed upon journalist within the school...

Words: 1401 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Tinker Vs. Des Moines: Controversial Court Cases

...Tinker v. Des Moines (Independent Community School District) was a controversial court in 1965 were multiple students in Des Moines wear black arm band in protest of the Vietnam War by doing so they were suspended from school. In December of 1965, a group of kids from throughout the city of Des Moines, Iowa congregated at the home of Christopher Eckhardt a sixteen year old student from Des Moines. The meeting was called discusses a plan to wear black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War and to also fast on December 16 and New Year’s Eve. But on December 14 two days before the protest were set to begin the principals of the school found out about the plan to protest and quickly created a policy that would prohibit the wearing of...

Words: 295 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Compare And Contrast Tinker Vs Moines

...CITATION Tinker v. Des Moines ISD, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) FACT Plaintiffs, John Tinker (15), Mary Beth Tinker (13), Hope Tinker (11), Paul Tinker (8), and Christopher Eckhardt (16) chose to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. The armbands were additionally worn in support of Senator Robert Kennedy’s Christmas Truce, and to show respect for soldiers who have lost their lives. The plan was to wear the armbands over the holidays, as well as participate in a couple of days of fasting. Administration of Des Moines School learned to the activities and met to discuss the implications wearing the armbands might place on the culture of their school as well as what disruption it might cause to the daily educational process if they were...

Words: 518 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Tinker Vs Moines Case Study

...Tinker v. Des Moines was a significant Supreme Court case, which tested the limits of student’s First Amendment rights on school grounds. It was December 1965, and a group of students in Des Moines, Iowa, planned a civil demonstration to protest the war in Vietnam. The Des Moines school district became aware of this plan, and adopted a policy stating “any student wearing armband would be asked to remove it, with refusal to do so resulting in suspension,” (The Oyez Project 1969). The school district banned the armbands due to the belief that the armbands may disrupt class, yet other forms of campaigning, such as buttons, were permitted in school (Bill of Right Institute 1969). On December 16th, Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt were...

Words: 493 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Practicing Online Research

...Name Kaplan University Practicing Online Research PA201 – Unit 2 Assignment November 22, 2014 1. Give the proper Bluebook citation for the source and also one paragraph summary of its contents: a. Case: 393 U.S. 503 [the case came out in 1969] In December 1965, students of public schools in Des Moines, Iowa wore a black armband to school to show their objections to the hostilities in Vietnam. The principals of these three schools became aware of the student’s plan to wear the armbands on December 16, 1965, and adopted a policy forbidding students to wear the armbands two days prior. Any student wearing an armband would be asked to remove it, or would be suspended for refusal until after New Year’s Day. Though the petitioners, Mary Beth and John Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt, were aware of the regulation that the school authorities adopted, they still wore their armbands to school as planned and were suspended when they refused to remove them. Tinker v. Des Moines Sch. Dist. 393 U.S. 503 (1969) b. Case: 655 S.E.2d 232 Leilani Capp, Grandmother and guardian of Brian Hunter Sykes, filed a suit against Carlito’s Mexican Bar and Grill to recover compensatory and punitive damages when an incident occurred that resulted in Sykes obtaining injuries from a car crash. Sykes’ mother took him to Carlito’s bar, where she drank heavily, drove herself and this child home intoxicated, and then crashed her vehicle on the way home. Capp alleges that a bar...

Words: 920 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Tinker Vs. Des Moines: The Most Important Supreme Court Cases

...Tinker v Des Moines  One of the most popular amendments, the first amendment, is also one of the simplest, but it still has cases based around it. For example, the Tinker v Des Moines case. In the case of Tinker v Des Moines, two siblings, John and Mary Tinker, had worn armbands with peace signs on them to express their opinion to drop out of the Vietnam War. School staff had told them to take off the bands but the students had refused. The school had decided to suspend them since they didn’t listen to them. After that series of events, the parents sued the district and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had ruled with the students because the school had violated their 1st amendment rights. I agree with the court justices and I see the ruling as constitutional compared to some others who say that it wasn't constitutional....

Words: 646 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Unit 2

...1. After viewing the tutorials on finding a case in Westlaw, please locate the following legal sources. Give the proper bluebook citation for the source and also one paragraph summary of its contents. a. Case: 39 U.S. 503 (the case came out in 1969) Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969). John and Mary Beth Tinker and their friend Christopher Echardt decided to protest the Vietnam War. They decided to wear black armbands to school during the Christmas season. The principal heard about this and feared there would be a disturbance so the armbands were banned. If the students refused to remove them, they would be suspended until the protest ended, which was New Years. They were suspended for wearing the armbands. b. Case: 655 S.E.2d 232 Capp v. Carlito’s Mexican Bar and Grill No. 1, 655 S.E.2d 232 (2007) A trial court erred in granting summary judgment to a restaurant in a suit brought by a guardian of an injured child pursuant to Georgia’s Dram Shop Act. O.C.G.A. ? 51-1-40, as an issue of fact existed whether or not the restaurant’s server knowingly served alcohol to the child’s mother while she was in noticeable intoxication state. c. Statute: 29 U.S.C. §621 Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §621 The purpose of this chapter is to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than by their age. It is also to prohibit any age discrimination in employment...

Words: 759 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Tinker V Moines Case Study

...The case Tinker v. Des Moines originated in Des Moines, Iowa in 1965. Two kids named John, and Mary Beth Tinker, and their friends, were two kids that were planning to wear armbands to express their feelings about the Americans in the Vietnam War. After the school board overheard them they decided to make a rule that if kids were to wear armbands they would be asked to remove them. If they said no they would be suspended until they agreed not to wear them. When the kids showed up two days later knowing the rule they were asked to take them off, and they said no, so they were suspended. On January 1, 1966 (The scheduled end of the protest) they returned to school without the armbands, however their fathers were filing a suit in the district...

Words: 375 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Quad-Fecta of Student Speech

...about freedom of speech, especially in the school setting. These controversies led to four very important cases that have paved the way for the freedom of speech that is or is not allowed in school today. These four cases are Tinker v. Des Moines, Bethel v. Fraser, Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, and Morse v. Frederick. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District was the first case of freedom of speech for students. This case took place in 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa. John F. Tinker and his siblings and friends decided to wear black armbands to school in order to protest the Vietnam War. The principals and other parents and students were not fond of this gesture because they thought it was disrespectful to the people who were serving in the war. The principals of the school heard about this before it occurred and decided to make a policy that stated that any student that wore these black armbands would face consequences. These consequences included taking off the armband and being suspended until the student agreed to not wear the armband anymore. The children wore the armbands to school and were suspended. The Tinker family decided to take this to court. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court where they ruled in the favor of Tinker. The case law that resulted from this case stated that schools could only suspend speech if: 1) the speech causes problems or disrupts the educational process; 2) the speech has caused problems in the past; 3) the speech violates...

Words: 934 - Pages: 4