feb 24, 1969 - Tinker v. Des Moines

Description:

A group of students in Des Moines wore black armbands to school to support a truce in the Vietnam war. The principals found out and decided to suspend any student who refused to remove their armband. Mary Beth Tinker, Christopher Eckhardt, and John Tinker were all suspended and they stayed out of school until the planned end of the protest. They sued the school through their parents and it made its way to the Supreme Court. They decided 7-2 in favor of Tinker, ruling that students did not lose their First Amendment rights when they went to school, and the school would have to prove that their conduct interfered with the operation of school.

This is probably one of the most well-known First Amendment cases that deal with free speech in schools. It set forth a precedent of peaceful protests being allowed in schools as long as they don't detract from the school day. It proved that students don't lose their rights when they're at school. It's also dealing with war and protests during a wartime, and it establishes a right to protest war as long as it was peaceful and didn't interfere with the war or the military.

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