Tinker V. Des Moines

Tinker V. Des Moines began with a student protest against the Vietnam War. A local church youth group in Des Moines, Iowa agreed to protest the war by wearing black armbands with a peace sign to school. The administration heard about the protest plans and informed students that anyone who participated would be suspended. Three students decided to wear the armbands anyway and were suspended. They sued the school district claiming that the suspension violated their First Amendment right to free speech.

The case made its way to the Supreme Court where the justices determined by a 7-2 decision that the students rights had been violated. This ruling impacted scholastic media by granting student journalists the same press freedoms as professional journalists. Students could publish any content they wanted as long as it didn’t do any of these five things:

• Publish material deemed libelous or obscene
• Publish material that was libelous or slanderous
• Publish material that encouraged readers to break the law
• Publish material that encouraged readers to violate school rules
• Publish material that caused a material and substantial disruption to the school day.

This ruling stood in place from when it was handed down in 1969 until a case specifically about student media came before the court almost 20 years later.