Tinker v Des Moines

Summary of Case

5 students decided to show opposition to the Vietnam War. The students planned to wear two-inch-wide black armbands to school for two weeks. The school district found out about the students' plan and preemptively announced a policy that any student who wore a black armband or refused to take it off, would be suspended from school after the student's parents were called. Three students still decided ti come in with the armbands. All three teens were sent home for violating the announced ban and told not to return until they agreed not to wear the armbands. Their parents filed suit against the school district for violating the students' First Amendment right to free speech. The federal district court dismissed the case and ruled that the school district's actions were reasonable to uphold school discipline. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit agreed with the district court. The Tinkers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision, and the Court agreed to hear the case.

Key findings in the majority decision

7-2 majority in favor of the Tinkers. The justices said that students retain their constitutional right to freedom of speech while in public schools. They said that wearing the armbands was a form of speech because they were intended to express the wearer's views about the Vietnam War. The Court said, "First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. If schools could make a reasonable prediction that the speech would cause a "material and substantial disruption" to the discipline and educational function of the school, then schools may limit the speech. In this case, though, there was no evidence that the armbands would substantially interfere with the educational process or with other students' rights.

Constitutional Principles

First amendment, right to freedom of speech