Analogizing and Distinguishing Fact Patterns

Distinguishing Hazelwood from Tinker Tinker Facts: At a public school in Des Moines, Iowa, students organized a silent protest against the Vietnam War. Students planned to wear black armbands to school to protest the fighting but the principal found out and told the students they would be suspended if they wore the armbands. Despite the warning, students wore the armbands and were suspended. During their suspension the students' parents sued the school for violating their children's right to free speech.

Hazelwood Facts Spectrum was the school newspaper of Hazelwood East High School. It was written and edited by the Journalism II class, and the funds for its publication came from the Board of Education and were supplemented by sales of the paper. As part of an established process, the teacher of the class submitted page proofs of the paper to the principal of the school for his review prior to publication. The principal objected to two articles. One described three Hazelwood students’ experiences with pregnancy and another discussed the impact of divorce on students at the school.

Hazelwood Facts The Principal was concerned that the pregnant students’ identities (not revealed in the article) might be obvious to students at the school, and that a student interviewed in the divorce article had said some negative things about her father, which her father had not been given a chance to respond to. The Principal decided to cut the two articles from the paper. Three student staff members of the Spectrum brought suit against the Hazelwood School District, the teacher, and the Principal, claiming violation of their First Amendment Rights.

Distinguishing Tinker and Hazelwood HazelwoodTinker press—written newspaper articlessymbolic speech—armbands informative articles—not protestpolitical speech—protest school-published newspaperindependent student action part of school curriculum with established teacher and Principal editorial control not part of school curriculum potentially adverse effect on specific students and one parent no adverse effect on any particular individuals newspaper sponsored by school, and thus the views in it are implicitly promoted by the school speech merely tolerated, not sponsored by school—just happened to occur on school grounds

Analogizing Hazelwood and Tinker HazelwoodTinker Expressing a message that conflicts with the school’s position by publishing an article in which pregnant girls discuss pregnancy—and by inference sexual activity-- does not directly interfere with the school’s expression of its own message. Expressing a message that conflicts with the school’s position by passively sitting in class wearing a symbol protesting a government policy does not directly interfere with the school’s expression of its own message. uncomfortable, unpleasant subjects (= pregnancy, premarital sex and divorce) do not justify official suppression of student speech in high school uncomfortable, unpleasant subject (= Vietnam War) does not justify official suppression of student speech in high school