Government and politics concepts · AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP U.S. History
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969): The Supreme Court case holding that students do not lose their First Amendment rights at school unless their expression substantially disrupts the school.
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What it means
Students were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The Court held that the armbands were symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment and that schools must show substantial disruption to justify restricting student expression.
The case set the standard for student speech that later cases have refined.
Example
A school that punishes a student for a quiet political button, with no evidence of disruption, would likely violate the standard set in Tinker.
On the exam
Tinker v. Des Moines is a required case and a common choice for the SCOTUS comparison question.