1st Amendment By Haley & Briana

1st Amendment The first amendment is the rights to freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. The government may not prosecute you because of your beliefs or the statements you make.

Tinker v. Des Moines: Reason In December of 1965, Mary Beth Tinker and a group of friends totaling out to five people decided to wear black armbands in protest to the Vietnam War. On December 16th upon arriving at school Tinker was request to remove her armband and upon refusal was sent home. Four others were suspended for doing that same thing, one of whom was her brother John Tinker. The students were not permitted to come back to school until they agreed to remove their armbands. As a result the children upon returning to school wore all black in replacement of their armbands.

Tinker v. Des Moines: Court Under representation of the ACLU, the students embarked on a four-year court battle. On February 24, 1969 the court ruled 7-2 that the students do not qoute, “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The Court had ruled that the 1st amendment applied to public schools and that students had to the right to represent themselves unless it disrupts the educational process.

Works Cited: Staff, LII. “First Amendment.” LII / Legal Information Institute, 5 Feb. 2010, www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment. “Tinker v. Des Moines - Landmark Supreme Court Ruling on Behalf of Student Expression.”American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/other/tinker-v-des-moines-landmark-supreme-court-ruling-behalf-student- expression.