A landmark Supreme Court case known as Tinker v. Des Moines was argued on November 12, 1968 and decided on February 24, 1969. The parties involved in the case where the plaintiff, the Tinker family and the defendant, the Des Moines Independent Community School District located in Des Moines, Iowa. The issue or focus of the case was the extent of the first amendment to students on school grounds and whether or not the school district acted in accordance to the constitution when prohibiting the use of armbands as a symbol of speech.
As seen in previous cases like Tinker vs. Des Moines, students have the right to political say, unless it causes disruption at school of students are promoting something that goes against the law. In the case of Tinker v Des Moines the students were not promoting anything illegal but showed their thought on the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands (Tinker). Argued in court by Kenneth W. Starr in the Morse v. Frederick case, he gave the idea that the foundation for school censorship was the case of Tinker v. Des Moines (Morse). The Justices responded back saying, that case was a different scenario as the students weren 't doing anything against the law while Frederick was encouraging the use of marijuana which was illegal (Morse).
In Des Moines, Iowa, a group of individuals met at a home to discuss ways to protest the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. The group decided beginning on December 16th and lasting until New Year’s Day, the members of the group would fast and wear black armbands to show their opposition to the war. School officials became aware of the students’ protest and implemented a policy that any student wearing a black armband would be asked to remove it. If the students did not remove the armband, then the student would be suspended. The suspension would last until they returned to school without the armband. Three students were suspended until they returned to
This case Tinker v. Des Moines Schools was a very interesting case argued in 1968. A lawsuit was filed against the school after three students, Two of which in high school and one in middle school were suspended from school. The school suspended the students for wearing black armbands protesting the Vietnam war. Two other students wore armbands, but were in elementary school and weren't suspended. The students were fifteen year old John Tinker, sixteen year old Christopher Eckhardt, and thirteen year old Mary Beth Tinker.
The two Supreme Court cases Korematsu v. United States 1944 and Schenck v. United States 1919 are similar in how they deal with people who stood up for their rights and dealt with Constitutional Amendments but differ in their time periods and the amendments they deal with. Both of the cases took place during times of war, Schenck during World War I and Korematsu during World War II. Charles Schenck did not believe in the Conscription Act so he urged people to protest it through words and papers and when he was brought to court the main case issue was if his actions were protected by the First Amendment. Much like Schenck, Fred Korematsu did not agree with the Japanese Exclusion Act and refused to be removed from his home. When he was brought
The Melton v. Young case is about a high school student that was suspended for wearing a jacket with a Confederate flag. The issue that was discussed is, whether or not the school officials could suspend a student for wearing Confederate flag. The clothing sparking racial tension was also discussed. The racial tension from the previous year was an argument for the defense because it can be said that the jacket could have refueled this. The defense also stated that the Melton family was informed of the new rules and chose to break them. The plaintiff’s argument was that the student’s suspension was unconstitutional and the confederate flag is a part of his heritage. The district court ruled the school’s dress code policy unconstitutionally
On October 15, 1975 Nine students were suspended from Central High School from Columbus, Ohio. They had destroyed school property and disrupting students from learning and were suspended for 10 days.One of the students amoung them was Dwight Lopez. It was required that the student's parents be informed of the suspension within 24 hours with given reason. If the student were expelled, they would allowed to appeal to the Board of Education. The principal gave the students suspension without holding a hearing, it was okay because Ohio law did not make it required to do so.But they were also later expelled without a right to have due process. The federal courts believed that the students rights were being violated.The District Court held Central High School accountable for its violation of the 14th Amendment, it stated that
The public school officials violated the fifth and sixth amendments of the student. The student’s right to a hearing as well as notice of his suspension was stripped from him. A public entity or in this case a school is not permitted to void the people’s rights. Constitutionally this is not a sound
They were all suspended without being given a hearing prior to their suspension, or they weren’t given a hearing within a reasonable time after their suspension. Federal court mandated that the suspensions of the students be removed from their cumulative record. The Columbus Public School System and school board appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the due process clause of the 14th amendment had been violated. SCOTUS ruled 5-4 in favor of the students of the Columbus Public School
The Tinker V. Des Moines had a huge impact on history and school districts. Des Moines was community school district. The Tinker’s were a family that attended it. There were two children from the Tinker family that attended Des Moines and they are John F. Tinker and his sister Mary B. Tinker. They were suspended for protesting. 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.
On April 26, 1983, Matthew N. Fraser (Respondent), a student at Bethel High School in Bethel, Washington, delivered a speech nominating a fellow student for student elective office. Approximately 600 High School students were in attendance, many of whom were 14 years old, the assembly was a part of a school sponsored educational program in self government. Students were required to either attend or go to study hall during the assembly. Prior to reciting the speech, Fraser sought guidance from two teachers, who both informed him that the speech may be seen as lewd and improper, as well as met with potentially severe repercussions. During his entire speech:
With end of year on the horizon, many students are making the most of their final days of schooling by browsing Facebook with a newfound sense of liberty. However, for a student enrolled in one of Brisbane’s elite private schools the failure to submit an English assignment has caused a spark of interest as to why. The assessment piece in question was presented to the students generate a written work with the gruelling submission date of the 30th of October. This short time span was seen as “totally unfair” with students claiming “it’s like they want us to fail or something”. These claims were especially relevant to Mackenzie Poshworths, whose inability to submit the assignment has caused a storm of accusations and controversy. The matter has become so unstable Mackenzie’s mother has launched a class action lawsuit against the school.
The idea of free speech on college campuses and the complications of it stem from those on campuses expressing views that don’t align with popular views. Implications for students who use the idea of free speech as a method for hateful actions and comments should be reprimanded, but the question remains as to whether schools should enforce tougher limitations. The freedom of speech on college campus expands to the freedoms of religion, assembly, press, and protest as well. Freedom of expression allows students to show their own political, social, and cultural views. Removing freedoms of speech and expression have consequences deeper than surface issues. Free speech and hate speech can be classified as different topics and when arguing for one, we can also criticize the other. Free expression and free speech on campuses are crucial for sparking important conversations about equality and social justice, and the suspension of free speech and expression may have dire consequences on college campuses.
In Today’s world freedom of speech is highly appreciated but its limits are largely debated on different platforms. The constitution of US give the right to the people to say whatever they want and wherever they want as long as it does not affect a person physically and the means of communication [written or published] are peaceful. There has never been a complete freedom of speech or freedom to offend or be blasphemous. For example the Bestselling Novel Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling was reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom for being anti-family/anti-social, Satanism and religious viewpoint. Also in 2008 the book His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman was reported on the basis of political and religious viewpoint and violence. It is the right of freedom of speech that these books are still available to read on the library shelves. Similarly not all but the intellectual, controversial and
Any girl who has attended a public high school understands the daily dilemma of dress code. On those scorching hot days as the school year approaches summer, many girls can be found scavenging through their closet for a “school appropriate” outfit or one they won’t melt into a sweaty puddle in. Her dresses will show too much leg, her tops will inappropriately expose her shoulder or collar bone, and her shorts will be too short — at least that 's what the school says. Dress code in modern day high schools should be boycotted because they are a violation to student and parents rights, sexist, out of date, a double standard, and they disrupt a female students education.