Tinker v. Des Moines and Island Trees School District v. Pico
There have been many cases on the Freedom of Speech, but some more controversial cases are Tinker v. Des Moines and Island Trees School District v. Pico. Each case revolved around school students and the material they were exposed to in school. They took place two decades apart, but both concerned the Freedom of Speech. These Landmark Cases would help define the First Amendment’s Freedom of Speech.
In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, fifteen-year-old John Tinker and thirteen-year-old Mary Beth Tinker were suspended for wearing black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War. The school had created a policy that stated that any children wearing black armbands to school would be asked to remove them. If They refused, their parents would be called; if they still refused, they would be suspended. Mary Beth Tinker wore her armband on the first day of school and was called to the principal’s office. She removed her armband but was still suspended. Her brother wore his armband the next day and was also suspended. They appealed to the court, which ruled in favor of Tinker, with a 7–2 decision. In this case, it was decided that a student’s rights did not go away as soon as they entered a school building.
In the case of Trees School District v. Pico, Francis Pico sued the Tree School District on behalf of other students. The Tree School District had decided in a board meeting to ban books from the school library that they considered anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and vulgar. Pico lost in the court, so he appealed to the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court, the original Court’s ruling was overruled and favored Pico 5–4.
Tinker and Pico both opposed the School Boards when they believed their rights were violated. Tinker was not able to wear black armbands to school, and Pico could not read certain books the school deemed unorthodox. Des Moines and Island Tree both instituted rules that they believed were for the safety of the students. They both initially won in the lower courts but were overruled in the Supreme Court. Frequently a case has to reach the National level to receive a Constitutional ruling.
The Tinkers wanted to make a statement, but Pico wanted to judge reading material and not be restricted from certain information. A similar case to the Island Tree revolved around the restriction on Harry Potter books in school libraries. The Island Tree School District acted out of fear that certain books would negatively influence students, while Des Moines acted out of fear that the students’ peaceful statements would turn violent. The students had not displayed any of the traits that they had feared, so it was ruled that it was an irrational action in both circumstances.
These cases are important because they gave the students rights. If it were not for these cases, there would have probably been other similar cases, but that does not mean they are any less critical. These cases proved that Freedom of Speech is essential in all environments.
