Tinker+v.+Des+Moines

Interview with Mary Beth Tinker media type="youtube" key="epnazayU2wI" height="315" width="553"

3 students from schools in Des Moines, Iowa, were suspended from school because they wore black arm bands as a form of peaceful protest against the Government's policy on Vietnam.

The students were John F. Tinker (15 years old), Christopher Eckhardt (16 years old) both in high school, and Johns sister Mary Beth Tinker (13 years old) who attended junior high school.

On December 16th, Mary Beth and Christopher wore the black arm bands and John wore his the next day, all three of them were sent home from school and suspended because of a prior school ruling against wearing those armbands.

On behalf of the kids, their parents took this issue to court, first the District Court, where it was dismissed, and then to the Apeals Court, where it was also dismissed, and finally to the U.S. Supreme court where they ruled that the schools violated the students first amendment rights by not allowing them to wear the armbands


 * What year did the incident occur? When was the case decided on by the U.S. Supreme Court?**

The incident was argued on November 12, 1968, and the Court had it's final decision was on February 24, 1969.

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The argument the students used to justify their behavior was the 1st and the 14th amendment. The First Amendment protected people's free speech and the Fourteenth Amendment protected the Due Process, which prevents state and local government from taking away Federal rights. The Des Moines School District used the 10th Amendment, stating that they had the right to decide what the students could or could not do.
 * What were the arguments being made?**


 * Supreme Court Ruling**

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students, sustaining their rights to wear the black arm bands as part of peaceful protest. This ruling went against the rulings of the lower courts, because the Supreme Court deemed that the school officials did not have enough reason to justify that the protest would interrupt the natural process of school and it’s learning atmosphere


 * Majority View**

The court had a 7 to 2 decision held that the 1st Amendment applied to public schools, and administrators would have to demonstrate valid reasons for any specific regulation of speech in their classrooms


 * Dissenting View**

Justices Hugo Black and John M. Harlan II had a dissenting view on the court.

Hugo Black believed that no one should express their own opinion whenever and wherever they please to do so.