Tinker vs Des Moines Law Essay Research Paper Coursework (Essay Sample)

Name
Instructor’s name
Course
Date
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
The case decision of Tinker v. Des Moines of 1969 is one of the essential breakthroughs as far as student rights are concerned. For a very long time, student expression got considered non-existent and taboo. Before the case, it was imprecise whether constitutional rights extended to school students. It got assumed that freedom of speech was not applicable in school institutions. However, the ruling by the United States Supreme Court on Tinker v. Des Moines of 1969, determined that students are entitled to their freedom of expression of their views. The case confirmed that students are eligible for all First Amendment rights so long as the way the students exercise the rights does not result in a disruption in the school. The goal of this paper is to give an insight into the case. Why the case happened and the ruling of the court. It also looks into the impact of the verdict of the case to criminal justice today.
In December 1965, Mary Beth Tinker, a 13-year old junior High School student, and a group of students decided to wear black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War. The board of the school deemed the protests illegal and decided to ban it (Soder 3182). The following day on December 16th, Mary Beth Tinker was asked to remove her armband and was consequently suspended from the school. She was suspended along with four other students including her brother John Tinker and Chris Eckhardt. All five students got told they were suspended from school unless they agreed to remove the armbands. After the Christmas festive season, the five students decided to go back to school without the black armbands, but as another show of protest, they wore black outfits to school for the remainder of the academic year. They also did file a First Amendment lawsuit.