Tinker+v.+Des+Moines


 * __Tinker v. Des Moines__ **

The whole case started in December of 1965, when the Tinker kids wore wristbands to school in Des Moines. The case was brought to the Supreme Court on November 12, 1968 and was argued until February 24, 1969 when the case was decided.
 * __Date of Hearing:__**

__**Main Issue of the Case:**__ The Tinker siblings, John and Mary, attended the public school system Des Moines Independent Community School District. They wanted to wear a wristband with a peace sign on it to protest the Vietnam War. The school district saw this as inappropriate and banned the wristbands from the school. If a student were to wear it again, they were to be suspended. The Tinker siblings thought this was unfair, that they were just trying to encourage peace. Eventually, this issue went to court and eventually then the Supreme Court.

In December of 1965, two kids, John and Mary Beth Tinker, decided to wear wristbands in protest of the Vietnam War. These kids were supporting the Christmas Truce called by Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The administrators of the Des Moines Public Schools heard about the protest and made a rule stating that anyone who wore one of the wristbands would be suspended. The Tinker kids chose to break the rule and they were suspended from school until the start of the New Year. The Tinker family decided to take it to court and it eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court. After spending a long time in court, the decision came back in favor of the kids. The court's decision held that the First Amendment applied to children in schools. The court felt that the administration didn't have quality reasons for any regulation of the Freedom of Speech in schools.
 * __Summary of the Case:__**


 * __Members of the Court & How Long They Were On It__****__:__**
 * Earl Warren**- 16 years
 * Hugo Black**- 34 years
 * William O. Douglas**- 36 years
 * John M. Harlan II**- 34 years
 * William J. Brennan Jr.-** 44 years
 * Potter Stewart-** 23 years
 * Byron White-** 31 years
 * Abe Fortas-** 4 years
 * Thrurgood Marshall-** 24 years

__**Chief Justice:**__ The chief justice in the case of Tinker vs. Des Moines was named Earl Warren. Warren was a law school graduate and district attorney before he got nominated for __vice president__ of the United States in 1948 under the Republican Party. He was not elected, and later became the 14th __chief justice__ in 1953. Although Warren was a __republican__, he tended to have more liberal views in the decision making process. **Who nominated him??**

The court voted to allow the wristbands in the school. It was a 7-2 vote; 7 for Tinker, 2 against. The two court members against the case were Hugo Black and John M. Harlan II. They believed that the Tinker's behavior was just disruptive and was merely to cause conflict. The seven who voted for Tinker believed that not being allowed to wear wristbands in protest in schools is against everyone's freedom of speech. Abe Fortas wrote "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate" to show support for the kids.
 * __Decision Rendered by Court & Vote:__**

The seven who voted for Tinker agreed that not allowing the teenagers to wear their wristbands was a violation of the First Amendment. The majority of the jury thought that the principals of the school couldn't give a solid reason as to why the accessories would interfere with necessary school discipline. The two that voted against the Tinkers saw the wristbands as a violation of school rules, and if the kids were allowed to wear these, it would lead to more disobeying within the school. The two people that voted against Tinker were Hugo Black and John M. Harlan II. Harlan and Black believed that the Freedom of Speech could be disruptive in schools and they demonstrated this opinion when Black wrote, "I repeat that if the time has come when pupils of state-supported schools, kindergartens, grammar schools, or high schools, can defy and flout orders of school officials to keep their minds on their own schoolwork, it is the beginning of a new revolutionary era of permissiveness in this country fostered by the judiciary." The rest of the court members believed that Freedom of speech is everyone's right and that doesn't exclude children in Public Schools.
 * __Voter Decisions:__**

__**Documents or Amendments Relevant to the Constitution:**__ This case involved the First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Press, and Assembly. When the __Tinker's__ were told not to wear their wristbands, this violated the __first amendment__.

If the case went the other way, and sided with the School District in this case, schools under the control of the state would have a challenge of figuring out exactly how much power they had to control the freedoms of its students. Public Schools would then have the ability to restrict the freedom of many different kinds of speech like political, religious, and symbolic within its district. This could then bring about problems like children not being allowed to wear a cross to demonstrate their religion, or children not being allowed to voice their opinion in politics. All of these situations would violate a child's right to Free Speech and all of these situations would be unfair. My personal opinion of the case is that I agree with the outcome, but I don't think it needed to be taken to the Supreme Court. I think that the school should've just allowed the students to wear the arm bands in the first place. Also, the case was rendered after the Vietnam War was already over because this case took so long to be concluded.
 * __What if the Case Went the Other Way?:__**
 * __Personal Opinion of the Case:__**

> **6/7 Biblio - alphabetical** **25/28 - Good in spots but could use more analysis.** **4/5 Organization - this thing is totally out of whack.**
 * __Bibliography:__**
 * 1) "Tinker." //Silver Chips Online//. TIME Magazine, 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. [].
 * 2) "Earl Warren Biography." //Earl Warren College//. University of California. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. .
 * 3) //TINKER v. DES MOINES IND. COMM. SCHOOL DIST.//. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 09 February 2012. .
 * 4) "Freedom of Speech." //Advocatus Atheist//. 4 May 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. .
 * 5) "Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)." //Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com//. Pearson Education. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. .
 * 6) "Past U.S. Supreme Court Members — Infoplease.com." // Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com // . Pearson Education. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. .
 * 7) "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District." // Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia // . Web. 14 Feb. 2012. .

**35/40 Total**