Tinker v. Des Moines

Tinker v Des Moines Summary

During the height of the Vietnam War, five high school students in Des Moines, Iowa decided to voice their opposition to the War by wearing two-inch wide black armbands to school. The school district created a policy that stated that any student who wore an armband and refused to take it off would be suspended.

Mary Beth and John Tinker, and Christopher Eckhardt, ages 13-16, wore black armbands to their schools and were sent home for violating the armband ban. Their parents filed a suit on behalf of their children against the school district on the basis that the district violated the student's First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The first court, the federal district court, dismissed the case, ruling that the school’s actions were reasonable. After the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the federal district court, the parents asked the Supreme Court of the United States to review the decision of the lower courts, and the Supreme Court agreed.

Arguments for Tinker:

• Students are people with Constitutional protections
• Wearing armbands was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment
• Wearing armbands was not disruptive
• Wearing armbands did not infringe on anyone else’s rights
• Schools should be places where discussions can take place and students can express their opinions

Arguments for Des Moines Independent School District:

• Free Speech is not absolute - you can’t say whatever you want when you want
• Schools are places to learn curriculum, not be distracted from lessons
• The Vietnam War was controversial and emotional, and bringing attention to it causes disruption and could lead to violence and bullying
• Deciding with the students would mean that the Supreme Court would be overstepping its bounds by interfering with local government powers

Tinker v Des Moines Amendment

The Constitutional Amendment in question in Tinker v. Des Moines is the First Amendment Freedom of Speech clause,

The right to freedom of speech goes beyond the spoken word. Armbands and other forms of expression are considered symbolic speech. The Supreme Court has granted protection for some symbolic speech under the First Amendment.

Tinker v Des Moines Ruling

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Tinkers, and in the majority opinion, they asserted that students retain their constitutional right to freedom of speech while in a public school. They decided that the prohibition against the wearing of armbands in public schools, as a form of symbolic speech, violated the students’ freedom of speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment.

That doesn’t mean that schools can’t limit student speech. In fact, schools may limit student expression when it is considered disruptive to the educational process. However, in the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, wearing a black armband did not interfere with the educational function of the school nor did it interfere with any other students’ rights.

In the majority opinion, Justice Abe Fortas wrote,

The two dissenting judges in the minority disagreed on the basis that the First Amendment doesn’t give anyone the right to express whatever they want at any time. They argued that the armbands did cause a disruption by distracting other students and reminding them of the emotional subject of the Vietnam War. They warned that the ruling would usher in a new age of permissiveness and lack of discipline.

Fig. 1, U.S. Supreme Court, Wikimedia Commons

Tinker v Des Moines Impact

The landmark decision of Tinker v. Des Moines expanded students’ rights in the United States. The case has been used as a precedent in numerous instances that have followed. It solidified the idea that students are people and have constitutional rights that do not disappear just because they are minors or are in public school.

The ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines increased the knowledge of First Amendment protections among American students. In the era that followed, students challenged various policies that infringed upon their freedom of expression.

Fig. 2, Mary Beth Tinker wearing a replica of the armband in 2017, Wikimedia Commons