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what influenced the supreme court's decision in the tinker v. des moines case
an essay on first constitutional amendment of the freedom of speech
tinker vs des moines case arguments
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During the winter of 1965, the Cold War had reached its peak, the Space Race was in full swing, and The Beatles became the world’s most popular entertainers. Meanwhile in Iowa, three kids made plans to protest the ongoing War in Vietnam by wearing black armbands to school on December 17. When the school authorities learned about this plan, they decided to punish anyone who was wearing the armband as part of the protest. When their parents decided to sue the school, what followed was one of the most hotly debated cases at that time. The case, dubbed Tinker v. Des Moines, established that all students did not lose their first Amendment rights when they went to school. It could be argued that the court’s decision was correct because everyone has their own opinions about the good and bad in society and have a constitutional right to express their approval or disapproval in a peaceful manner. On December 17, John Tinker, his friend Christopher Eckhardt, and his younger sister Mary Beth decided to Protest the ongoing war in Vietnam. The school eventually learned of this. Consequently, ...
Justice Hugo Black dissented and feared that the Court’s ruling would cause more revolutionary actions from students. However, Justice Fortas addressed this potential outcome. He says, “Certainly where there is no finding and no showing that engaging in the forbidden conduct would "materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school," the prohibition cannot be sustained.Burnside v. Byars, supra at 749.” The school’s ban of the armbands could not be upheld because the expression had not caused any harm. If the students underwent another expression, the school would still have the power to make a decision. If their actions were disruptive, the school would still have the power to limit these actions. The students’ rights are still protected, and the school still has the authority to operate the
The 1960’s was a time society fantasized of a better world. However, the horrors of the Vietnam War soon became evident; the mass amounts of death occurring because of the war became a reality. It created a “movement”, especially in American colleges, in order to stand up for what they believed to be “right”. By 1970, many Americans believed sending troops to Vietnam was a mistake, however there were also various individuals becoming increasingly critical of the student antiwar movement
Mary Beth Tinker was only thirteen years old in December of 1964 when she and four other students were suspended from school because they wore black armbands. The black armbands were a sign of protest against the Vietnam War. The school suspended the students and told them that they could not return to school until they agreed to take off the armbands. The students did not return to school until after the school’s Christmas break, and they wore black the rest of the year, as a sign of protest. The Tinker family, along with other supporters, did not think that the suspension was constitutional and sued the Des Moines Independent Community School District. The Supreme Court’s majority decision was a 7-2 vote that the suspension was unconstitutional (Tinker V. Des Moines).
With the rights given to Americans by the Amendments, this group of eighteen-thousand petitioners wore black armbands to school during the holiday season of December 1965. The petitioners did this to peacefully protest against the Government’s policy in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The Des Moines, Iowa schools found out about this armband idea and adopted a policy on December 14 that states: anyone wearing the armbands would be asked to remove it and if they did not comply they would be suspended. John Tinker, a fifteen year old, and Christopher Eckhardt, a sixteen year old, are both high school students in Des Moines, Iowa. Mary Beth, a thirteen year old junior high student, is John’s sister. Mary and Christopher wore black armbands to their schools on December 16 and John Tinker wore his armband the next day. They were all sent home and suspended from school until they would come back without their...
Student court cases against schools, or vice versa, are not as uncommon as they may seem. Tinker v. Des Moines was a court case that ended in 1969 regarding students protesting the Vietnam War. The three students involved in the trial wore black armbands to school, which was prohibited, and were suspended. Since the students felt that their First Amendment right was abused by the school therefore they took the issue to a local court, then eventually the Supreme Court. The case has left a mark on First Amendment rights for students since then. The Tinker v. Des Moines court case impacted the United States by questioning the First Amendment in public schools, spreading awareness of student rights, and by challenging future court cases using
Amendment one, freedom of speech is a very important factor for all citizens to have. Amendment one protects citizens to freely speak their mind without disturbing the educational process. The government may not put any consequences to any citizens from accessing information and freely speak. The government must protect citizens from unreasonable consequences, such as making signs, posting honestly, and letters that do no threat. The court case that involved amendment one is Tinker vs. Des Moines in 1964. Mary Beth Tinker and her brother wore black armbands to memorialize the Vietnam War. The principle, Des Moines suspened both of them because they refused to take them off. The court case was sent to the Supreme court because Des Moine interfered with Tinker’s right of freedom of speech. The ruling was seven to two in Tinkers favor. The Supreme court stated that students...
How the judicial branch rules in cases relating to the 1st and how they relate that to all the rights of public school students. This includes anything from flag burning to not saluting the flag to practicing religion in school. The main point of this paper is to focus on the fact that schools have a greater ability to restrict speech than government.
The first amendment states some of the freedoms we have. These are freedom of religion and freedom of expression. These include the right to free speech, press, assembly, and to petition the government. The reason for wanting to wear the black armbands was to show their anti-war belief in the Vietnam War. Rebelling against the authority figures’ ruling, three students wore the armbands and got suspended. The students’ names are John F. Tinker, who was 15 years old at the time, Christopher Eckhardt, 16 years old, and 13 year old Mary Beth Tinker (John’s younger sister). Getting suspended, the students did not return until after New Year’s Day (FORTAS). “This case was significant because the justices stated, “students do not abandon their civil rights at the school house door....” The school is not allowed to limit a student or teachers first amendment...
After the events that had spread-out the night before, on May 2nd several students helped with cleaning up the mess that they caused in downtown Kent. The events had only led to “rumors of radical activities” and put the Kent State ROTC building as a main target for militant students (Kent Chronology). This action reveals that the student’s intentions were to take down the presence of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) building. This action strictly shows that the students do not want graduates of the ROTC program to go into military service and fight in Vietnam. They are trying to do the impossible to stop the involvement of the U.S in the foreign war. This persistence in the students led to a success “in forcing the removal of the ROTC from their campuses”(Kent Chronology). Following the cleanup, a curfew was put in place on the entire city of Kent
The Vietnam War was arguably one of the most controversial wars the United States has gotten involved in. Not only did many men not have a choice about whether they joined the military during this time, but much of America was against getting involved with this war, especially college students. People and college students all over the country protested and picketed against the United State’s involvement. This was waged on from 1954 to 1975, but the U.S. was only fully involved with the fighting from about 1965 to 1973. This Vietnam War biography tells the story of a young Lowell Rogne, who served in the Marines during this time.
During the turbulent era of the 1960s, youth excelled boundaries and expectations to adequately improve the world. Throughout this time, many individuals were trying to juggle the conflicts between racism, sexism, and the turning point in the Vietnam War, the Tet Offensive. This battle occurred in 1968, and was a watershed moment in the Vietnam War that ultimately turned many Americans against bloodshed. “The total casualties – dead, wounded, and missing in action – had grown from 2,500 in 1965 and would top 80,000 by the end of 1967” (Willbanks 6). Destruction from the poignant fighting convinced rising numbers of Americans that the expense of United States’ commitment was too immense. The Anti-War movement gained momentum as student
Throughout its history, the United States of America has been faced with the question of just versus unjust concerning its laws and Supreme Court decisions, as they reflect the legal standards by which people are governed. Unjust decisions can result in an injustice by prohibiting conduct that should be permitted and encroach upon the citizen’s rights. The Supreme Court of the United States is considered to be the law of the land and the decisions it makes must be obeyed. However, the Supreme Court decisions, despite being the law of the land, can be unjust as they reflect on the common sense ideologies of the time and include the final say of the majority. The ruling made in Minersville School District v. Gobitis in 1940 was unjust because it was in violation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and because it reflected ideologies of the majority and neglected the opinions of the minority. This decision can be negated by making the flag salute a choice that does not encroach upon an individual’s First Amendment rights.
The district court found the disruptive-conduct rule unconstitutionally vague and broad, and that withdrawal of the student's name from the graduation speaker's list violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because the rule did not mention such removal as a likely sanction. The court made the case that nothing in the Constitution forbids the states from insisting that certain forms of expression are unfitting and subject to sanctions. (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 1969) The court affirmed that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."(Tinker) If the student had given the same speech off the school premises, he would not have been penalized because government officials found his language inappropriate.
The largest and first assault on the rights of students to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures occurred in the case of New Jersey v. T.L.O. In 1980 at Piscataway High School in Middlesex County, N.J. a few girls were caught smoking in the bathroom. After being brought to the principal's office one of the girls, T.L.O., denied that she had been smoking. The principal then searched her purse looking for cigarettes. After finding a pack of cigarettes the search continued until the principal discovered evidence of drug dealing. This evidence was used to prosecute T.L.O. and ultimately she received a year of p...
In the 1969 case of Tinker vs Des Moines, one of the most well-known student rights cases it has considered, the US Supreme Court ruled that students had a constitutional right to wear a black armband to school to protest