Tinker V. Des Moines Case Study
Tinker v. Des Moines is a court case that happened in 1969 and was a dispute about wearing armbands to school for a protest against the Vietnam war. The principals did not like the idea of the protest and decided to shut it down by banning all armbands. The students weren't going to go down without a fight and wore them anyway.
This case all started with a meeting at Christopher Echardt’s house to do a silent protest of the Vietnam war. The “Tinker kids” decided the wear two-inch-wide black armbands to school for the protest. Before the students could wear their armbands, the principals of the Des Moines School District found out about what they were planning and fearing that the armbands would provoke disturbances, they resolved that all students
wearing armbands be asked to remove them or face suspension. Christopher Echardt, 16 years old, and Mary Beth Tinker, 13 years old, wore the armbands to school and they both were asked to remove them. The two wouldn’t take them off and both were suspended. The next day Mary Beth Tinker’s 15-year-old brother, John Tinker, wore his armband and the same thing happened and it ended with the same result. The students were not allowed to come back to school until after New Year’s Day.
The student's parents filed a complaint in a U.S. District Court asking for an injunction to prevent the school district from disciplining the students. The district court dismissed the case and held that the school district’s actions were reasonable to uphold school discipline. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the decision without opinion.
Can a student wear something to school that illustrates their opinions, or is it considered a distraction? Yes, wearing armbands was “closely akin to ‘pure speech’” and protected by the First Amendment. The principals had failed to show that forbidden conduct would substantially interfere with appropriate school discipline. The final decision was ruled 7-2 for Tinker.
This case all started with a meeting at Christopher Echardt’s house to do a silent protest of the Vietnam war. The “Tinker kids” decided the wear two-inch-wide black armbands to school for the protest. Before the students could wear their armbands, the principals of the Des Moines School District found out about what they were planning and fearing that the armbands would provoke disturbances, they resolved that all students
wearing armbands be asked to remove them or face suspension. Christopher Echardt, 16 years old, and Mary Beth Tinker, 13 years old, wore the armbands to school and they both were asked to remove them. The two wouldn’t take them off and both were suspended. The next day Mary Beth Tinker’s 15-year-old brother, John Tinker, wore his armband and the same thing happened and it ended with the same result. The students were not allowed to come back to school until after New Year’s Day.
The student's parents filed a complaint in a U.S. District Court asking for an injunction to prevent the school district from disciplining the students. The district court dismissed the case and held that the school district’s actions were reasonable to uphold school discipline. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the decision without opinion.
Can a student wear something to school that illustrates their opinions, or is it considered a distraction? Yes, wearing armbands was “closely akin to ‘pure speech’” and protected by the First Amendment. The principals had failed to show that forbidden conduct would substantially interfere with appropriate school discipline. The final decision was ruled 7-2 for Tinker.