Tinker vs Des Moines Independent School District

In December of 1965, three students wore black armbands to school in Des Monies, Iowa, to protest the war in Vietnam. They were suspended after refusing to take off the armbands. Their parents sued the school district claiming that their First Amendment right of freedom of speech had been violated.

 

The Supreme Court sided with the students and their parents. However, they do not grant students an unlimited right to self-expression. They said that the First Amendment guarantee must be kept at a balance between the schools need for order, and the act of self expression. As long as the students don't disrupt class work, school activities, or invade the rights of others, its acceptable. The court said that they didn't disrupt anything, so there was no reason to suspend them.

This ruling helped the supreme court with others like this one. In 1986, the Supreme Court upheld the suspension of a 17-year-old senior who gave a school speech containing sexual innuendos. The Supreme Court said that it is highly appropriate for a school to prohibit the use of vulgar and offensive speech in a public discourse. Lower courts have relied on the courts decisions in school attire allowing nose rings and dyed hair but not allowing a t-shirt displaying a confederate flag.

Today, this ruling allows people to dress how they please and say what's on their mind, but with limitations. For example, most schools let you wear whatever you want, as long as it fits the dress code, and say what's on your mind, as long as it doesn't offend someone else.