The Supreme Court Cases
BACKGROUND
The case is about two siblings who feel as though that they need to protest against the war in Vietnam. Mary Beth (13 years old) and John (15 years old) Tinker were siblings and they both attended public schools in Des Moines, Iowa. In the month of December 1965, the students held a meeting inside the school’s building and they decided to show their protest by wearing a black armband. This was their way of speech, but more like symbolic speech. They decided to wear the armbands on holidays and fast on December 16 and New Year’s Eve. The school didn’t allow them to wear armbands, but they still wore it to school. The school asked them to remove their armbands, but they refused to do so and they were suspended. They couldn’t come back to school until the armbands were off. That became the law of the school on December 14, 1965. Students were not allowed to wear black armbands to school and if they do, they would get suspended. After a while, the Tinkers decided to sue to school district because they felt as though that that their freedom of speech was not respected and it is the first amendment of the constitution. Although one of the side argues that it’s not considered a violation of the first amendment because they were using their voices, but the other side argues that their armbands representing their speech. In other words, they called it the symbolic speech. The Tinkers decided to appeal the case and take it up to the Supreme Court.
Outcome
With a 7-2 voting, the court agreed with the Tinkers. Since the student’s freedom of speech and expression was protected by the first amendment, there was no reason why the Tinkers were wrong for what they were doing. The court came to a conclusion that these armbands were not disrupting others learning because it was a way for the students to show their support and opinions in silence. It’s not like the Tinkers are creating a prep rally in front of the school and preventing other students from learning. So the court is in favor of the Tinkers. “ Students in school as well as out of school are "persons" under our Constitution. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views.”
". . . In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views."
“I realized how hateful, how irrational people could be. Subconsciously there was a part of me that withdrew. I got a little bit protective of myself and our family.”-Mary Beth Tinker
Tinker vs. Des Moines