Haley Jurbala Derek Hegna Ashley Hitchcock Andrew Howard COURT CASES- GROUP 2

Argued: November 11, 1968 Decided: February 23, 1969 TINKER V. DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

VIOLATION OF FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS December A group of students planned to support a truce for the Vietnam War As a symbol of protest, they wore black armbands Administration made a ruling to ask the students to remove the armbands or to be sent home if refused (Dec 14 th ) The first day they wore them (Dec 16 th ) Christopher Eckhardt and Mary Beth Tinker were sent home. On the second day, John Tinker was asked to leave the campus. The parents sued the school district for suppressing their right to expression. Also sought out an injunction

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Were the students in the wrong? Was the school wrongly punishing these students? Do you lose your rights when entering a public school?

ULTIMATE DECISION 7-2 decision in favor of Tinker The Court held that the armbands represented pure speech which is completely separate for the actions or conduct of those participating in it. The Court also held that students do not lose their First Amendment rights when walking on to a school campus

RULES AND GUIDELINES FOR SCHOOLS To justify suppression of speech, the school officials must be able to prove the conduct in question would “materially and substantially interfere” with the operation of the school. They tell the school they acted from fear of a possible disruption.

Argued: April 13, 1923 Reargued: November 23, 1923 Decided: June 8, 1925 GITLOW V. NEW YORK

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Benjamin Gitlow charged with criminal anarchy Published a “Left Wing Manifesto” The Manifesto represented historical analysis rather than advocacy Sentenced on February 11 to 5-10 years in prison Motion appealed after two years, he was then set on bail State courts of appeal upheld his conviction

This was the first major First Amendment case that the American Civil Liberties Union argued before the Supreme Court What do you think the Court decided, why?

DECISION The Court had to decide if it could review a challenge to a state law on the basis that it violated the federal constitution Upheld Gitlow’s conviction, 7-2 with Brandeis and Holmes dissenting Sone felt the decision should be reversed due to the First Amendment

Argued: March 19, 1997 Decided: June 26, 1997 RENO V. ACLU

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Communications Decency Act- Aimed to limit sexually explicit material by criminalizing the transmission of “obscene and/or indecent” material to recipients under 18 Reno = Janet Reno, who brought up the case on behalf of the Federal government ACLU= American Civil Liberties Union This was the first case having to do with cyberspace

OPINIONS What do you think about the Communications Decency Act? Do you think it was appealed?

DECISION The Court appealed both of the provisions of the CDA They believed it violated the rights held within the First Amendment 7-1 decision, Justice concurred in part and dissented in part

Argued: October 12, 1987 Decided: January 12, 1988 HAZELWOOD V. KUHLMEIER

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Hazelwood refers to Hazelwood East High School, located in St Louis County, Missouri Cathy Kuhlmeier was a journalism student at the school The case revolved around the censorship of the school’s newspaper, The Spectrum The premise was an article written about two student and their pregnancy stories, but names were changed to keep privacy The principal, Robert Reynolds prohibited the printing of the article due to “inappropriate” content Concerns that the articles didn’t adhere to journalism standards (the divorce article didn’t allow for the parents to comment, and he believed the pregnancy article didn’t give adequate protection)

CONT… Due to the lack of time for editing, the pages where the article appeared were censored. Kuhlmeier and two other students brought the case to court, believing their First Amendment rights had been violated The Supreme Court granted certiorari to the case after the ruling that these rights had been violated

What do you think they decided, and why?

DECISION Court voted 5-3, in favor of Hazelwood Court stated that the school has the right to censor material that seems inappropriate The First Amendment was not violated as the school could edit the content of student speech as long as the editing was appropriate and for “legitimate pedagogical concerns” The Court saw the newspaper as not a forum of free speech for students, but a limited forum