Tinker v.
Des Moines
By: Martin Chladek
Background Information:
At a public school in Des Moines, Iowa students were planning
to wear black armbands to silently protest the Vietnam War.
When the principal learned of this plan he warned that the
students would be suspended for disrupting the learning
environment. Regardless of the warning some students still
decided to wear the armbands and in turn were suspended.
While the students were suspended, their parents sued the
school for impeding on their first amendment rights. The US
district court of the southern district of Iowa sided with the
school. The students repealed and the case was taken to the
Supreme court. This case was important because it would set a
precedent for the freedom of speech and its application in
schooling nationwide.
Decision and Reasoning:
In this case it was decided in a 7-2 that the ruling was for the kids and against the
school. This meant that it was unconstitutional to prevent the students from
exercising their right to the freedom of speech within school. The majority opinion
of the judges was that “Students don't shed their constitutional rights at the school
house gates.”
The Concurring and Dissenting Opinion
Justice Potter Stewart argued that children aren’t entitled to the same first
amendment right as adults are. He believe that the state could limit a child's first
amendment right in certain places though he still agreed with the majority opinion.
Justice Byron White also agreed with the majority opinion but he “noted” the
distinction between communication with words and actions in the opinion. The
dissenting opinion believed that students don’t have the full right to express their
opinions at school, and that the armbands were enough to be distracting to other
students at school.
My Reflection:
I agree with the majority opinion in this decision. I don’t believe that students
shouldn’t be able to express themselves when at a school. Of course there are
times when things shouldn’t be said, but I believe that in those cases punishment
should be allowed, but in this case, a silent protest, I believe that there isn’t a
conclusive enough reason as why they can’t wear their armbands and attend
school at the same time. I think the judges made the right decision and I believe
that schools should be able to punish freedom of speech when it does impede on
other students ability to pay attention but I believe that in most cases where the
protest is silent then most other students wouldn’t be harmed greatly or at all.
Sources:
https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-ti
nker-v-des-moines
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/393/503/
Image2
Image1
Image3
Image4
Image5
image6
