1. Tinker v. Des Moines Public Schools, 1969
By: Elissa Wentt & Eunice Marbella

2. Case Description
In 1965, three Iowa public school students (John F. Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker Christopher Eckhardt), wore black armbands to their schools to protest the Vietnam War. All three of them violated the school policy banning the wearing of arm bands to school. As a result, they were all suspended until after January 1, 1966 when their protest was scheduled to end.
Soon after, The Iowa Civil Liberties Union confronted the families which then resulted in the ACLU agreeing to assist the family in filing suit with the U.S. District Court. They then upheld the decision of the school board. The suit then made its way to The U.S. Court of Appeals, where it received a tie vote, and then to the U.S. District Court. Finally, in 1969, the case made its way directly to the Supreme Court where the court ruled in a 7-2 decision that the students had the right to wear armbands to school to protest the war.

3. Historical Setting President: Richard Nixon Chief Justice: Earl Warren
Year:
Events:
Martin Luther King Jr. begins a drive to register black voters
Nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
USSR performs nuclear test at Easter Kazakh. Semipalitinsk
Martin Luther King Jr. begins march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

4. Explain Key Terms
Promulgated – To declare something to be known publically.
En banc – French term that means “on (a) bench” and it is often used to consider cases of greater importance.
Certiorari – It is a writ or an order which a higher court reviews a the decisions of a lower court.
Memorandum – It is a short note that is something to be remembered for future reference.
Respondent – A person/company/institution sued (defendant) in a lawsuit.

5. Constitutional Grounds
U.S Constitution amends I,XIV; 42 USC 1983
The first amendment being applied through the fourteenth amendment does not permit a public school to punish students for anti-war protests.

6. Opposing Viewpoints For
The policy adopted denying the students the right to protest by wearing armbands was adopted as a result of a family meeting held in the Eckhardt home a few days earlier.
The policy infringed upon the first amendment right of speech.
Against
The students violated a school policy and should therefore be punished accordingly
The armbands caused disruption during school including: comments and warning from other students, teasing, and threats

7. Court Opinions
Majority opinion: Fortas, Warren, Brennan, White, Douglas, Marshall
Concurring opinion: Fortas, Warren, Douglas, Marshall
Dissenting opinion: Black, Harlan

8. Significance of Decision
This case is a frequently-cited court precedent for speech rights for students. The significance of this case is that the U.S. Supreme Courts decision gave students’ the rights to a freedom of speech and symbolic speech rights in school if it does not disrupt or gain too much attention in school.

9. Support or Oppose
Before all the information on the case had been collected, we believed that the students deserved to be suspended, but with a little more research our opinion changed. The rule stating that any student wearing an armband would be suspended was adopted a few days after the Eckhardt family congregated for a meeting to protest the Vietnam War. This was infringing upon their rights. The armbands did not violate any previous dress code; it was only adopted to silence the family.

10. Works Cited
"Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District." Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 15 Apr <
 "Historical Events for Year 1965." Historyorb.com. History Orb, n.d. Web. 15 Apr <
"Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 19 Apr <
"Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)." Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969). Bc.edu, n.d. Web. 15 Apr <
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 15 Apr <