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Tinker V. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist Case Study

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Recommended: Freedom of speech in Education

Originating Issue: In the cases of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist. (SCOTUS February 24, 1969), students wore black armbands to school to display their disgust for the Vietnam War. Their efforts were to support the Christmas Truce called for by Senator Robert Kennedy. The principal of the school got wind of the efforts and attempted to put a policy in place about the armbands. The students were asked to remove the armbands by school officials and when the students refused they were suspended. The concern is that the students First Amendment Rights were violated, specifically their free speech. The Des Moines, IA school district argued that the students First Amendment Rights were not violated because their actions created a disruption to the school environment. The parents appealed the school district’s decision through each of the federal courts and ultimately, landed at the US Supreme court. Progression: …show more content…

The jury in the appellate court was divided which meant by default Tinker would have lost the case because the ruling was upheld from the first district court. Soon thereafter, the civil liberties union who was responsible for supporting the activism of the bill of rights picked up the case sending it to SCOTUS. This was a significant case therefore SCOTUS decided to hear the case. Finally, at the SCOTUS hearing, the court sided with Tinker on a 7-2 vote, stating that their rights were violated because there wasn’t any significant distraction to the schools learning environment. Furthermore, this case involved the notion of “pure or symbolic” speech which continues to be a hot topic in society in most recent

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The wore black armbands in a protest against the government policies during the Vietnam war. The Tinkers tries to fight the suspension with the district court but the district court was in favor with the school so the Thinkers had to take it further. The next step was to take it to the supreme court. The tinkers took it to the Supreme court and the majority vote wat that it was unconstitutional for the school to

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The case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District is an important piece of history regarding the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and how it applies to students ' right to freedom of speech. The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech", and the Supreme Court has the job to judge whether or not the laws violate the Constitutional Amendments. The case was the result of three students suspended from school for wearing armbands protesting the Vietnam War. According the U.S. Supreme Court, students do not shed their rights as American citizens when the students enter the school, leading the students to wear what they desire as long as it does not disrupt class. The

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The issue in this case was whether school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violates the Establishment clause of the first amendment (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This case dealt with a New York state law that had required public schools to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a nondenominational prayer in which the students recognized their dependence upon God (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This law had also allowed students to absent themselves from this activity if they found that it was objectionable. There was a parent that sued the school on behalf of their child. Their argument was that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as made applicable

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Historical Background of the Case: Jonathan: In the wake of the Tinker v. Des Moines decision

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The group of students returned to school after the Christmas break without armbands. Nonetheless, they wore black clothing for the remainder of the school year. Through their parents, the students filed a suit. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agreed to help with the lawsuit. On September 1, 1966, Chief Judge Roy Stephenson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa upheld the prohibition against armbands (Iannacci, 2017).

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Issue - Kid (Taylor Bell) made slander, bullying, video of Coaches at Itawamba County School District. Rule - The court ruled the school district in favor and held that the sanctions imposed by a high school on a student who engaged in off-campus cyberbullying of two teacher-coaches did not violate the free speech rights of the student because such harassment satisfied the “substantial disruption” standard for restricting student speech established by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1969 decision Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. Analysis - At home, using his own computer hardware and software, Taylor Bell, a student at Itawamba Agricultural High School (Mississippi) posted for public viewing on Facebook and YouTube

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The students were suspended, and the Tinkers sued the school district. The district court ruled against the Tinkers as did the Eight Circuit United States Court of Appeals, causing them to appeal to the Supreme Court. In a seven to two vote, the Supreme Court ruled in the Tinkers’ favor and the students were allowed to wear the black armbands (United States Government: Principles in Practice 391-92).

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This landmark case serves as a precedent for future instances defending students' freedom of speech. Furthermore, Scott presents several cases in the article where outcomes differed significantly from the landmark Tinker v. Des Moines ruling. Instances of speech restrictions extended beyond school grounds to off-campus events. This ongoing suppression of student voices prompted parents and school boards to voice their concerns. For example, in the 2006 case of Gals v. Marinel, a student wore a shirt criticizing then-President Bush with vulgar language, resulting in disciplinary

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He aims to expound to the reader why hate speech shouldn't be included in the freedom of speech, at least on university premises, while reassuring the audience that he understands that the freedom of expression is highly essential and difficult to restrict in terms of hate speech. According to his statements, students who are subjected to racist instruction could even consider filing a lawsuit "on behalf of Blacks whose right to an equal education is denied by a university's failure to ensure a non-discriminatory educational climate" (Charles 18). To help the audience grasp the gravity of the issue, Charles chooses to explain how hate speech might escalate within legal

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In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District upheld the right to freedom of speech of students to protest the Vietnam war by wearing black armbands. The case explained the problem that “students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” (Student) As students, we are free to express ourselves through what we wear. As students, we have every right to proclaim our beliefs

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The principle noticed and warned them saying that if they didn’t take off the armbands that each student would get suspended. Ignoring the warning, the students continued wearing the armbands and many got suspended during the suspension they parents of these students thought this was unfair and a violation of their children's First Amendment rights and took this situation to court. In 1969, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of the students

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On February twenty-fourth 1969, the Supreme Court made a decision in the landmark court case Tinker v. Des Moines. Within that specific case, students were punished for wearing armbands as an act of protest against the Vietnam War. The court ruled as follows “In wearing armbands, the petitioners were quiet and passive. They were not disruptive, and did not impinge upon the rights of others. In these circumstances, their conduct was within the protection of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth” (Legal Information Institute).

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