In the December of 1965 three students decided to express their view on the Vietnam war. John and Mary Beth Tinker, joined by Christopher Eckhardt wanted to wear black arm bands to show that they were against the war. The school learned of the idea the they banned arm bands. Fully knowing this, the students wore the arm bands. The students were given a chance to remove the arm bands but they refused. They were suspended right away. .
Later the students were expelled and sent to other school districts. The parents filed for an injunction. They wanted to restrain the school from discipline the students. In 1966 the United States District Court dismissed the case. The eighth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the case. The court has to decide whether wearing a symbol that expresses a political view is protected by the First Amendment.
Legal Argument.
Wearing the symbol was disruptive to the school environment. The student's armbands created arguments and fights in the school. Also, the First Amendment does not protect this situation. The students could have could have expressed their opinion somewhere other than school. School is no place to express political views. The principles were not taking the students First Amendment rights away. They just wanted to stop any conflict that the armbands would have caused. They also gave the students a chance to remove their armbands. The administrators just wanted to keep controversy out of the school. They wanted to keep an environment fit for learning. It was the students choice to get suspended because they knew fully well that the armbands were prohibited. The principles did the right thing by suspending then expelling the students because the students were going to be cause harm to the school.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, the principles of Des Moines school district were not out of line by suspending the students. The court just has to decide whether it was correct for the students to wear the symbol that expressed their view on a political issue.