Tinker v. Des Moines

Tinker v . Des Moines

Factual and Procedural History

In Tinker v . Des Moines Sch . Dist , 393 U .S . 503 (1969 , a dispute between three students and the Des Moines School District raised important and fundamental issues which directly implicated the meaning of the Free Speech Clause contained in the First Amendment

The factual background involved a symbolic protest by three students against the Vietnam War . Two of the students were in high school and one was in junior high school they wore black armbands to their respective public schools in to

protest America 's actions in Vietnam and to express through the armbands their hope that America would cease hostilities in Vietnam . This symbolic protest was done with the parents ' approval and it took place during the Christmas holiday season . The principals of the schools in Des Moines were not surprised by the black armbands quite the contrary , they had learned of the students ' intentions in advance and they had created and implemented a school regulation to deal with this problem specifically . The regulation was twofold and clearly publicized to the students . First any student found to be wearing a black armband would be asked to remove the armband . Second , if any student refused to remove the armband then that student would be suspended from school until such time as that student returned to school without the armband . In the instant case the three aforementioned students wore the black armbands to their respective schools . When they refused to remove...