The Des Moines School District's Side
Once the principals of the Des Moines School district learned that they would have to go the Supreme Court after a tie vote in the U.S Court of Appeals, they hired lawyer Allan Herrick. (1) Allan believed that the Des Moines school district had the right to limit freedom of speech of children and argued that the school district had done nothing wrong. With him on the brief were Herschel G. Langdon and David W. Belin. Herrick led his argument with these three ideas; free speech is not absolute, wearing the armbands distracted other students from learning, and finally that the school district had the right to ask the kids to take off their armbands so that there would be no disruptive behavior to other students. (2)
Herrick focused his attention mostly on the fact that free speech is not absolute. Being absolute is "being, governed by, or characteristic of a ruler or authority completely free from constitutional or other restraint." yet he believed that students under the roof of a school building or house, do not have freedom of speech. Herrick tried to convince the Supreme Court that the First Amendment does not extend to symbolic speeches by students in public schools, and that all forms of protest were also forbidden. (3)
In 1919, during the "Schenck vs. The United States" the Supreme Court decided that an individual could in fact be punished if he or she distributed anti-World War I pamphlets urging non-compliance with the draft because they "created a clear and present danger that they will bring about a substantive evil[...] Congress has a right to prevent" - draft obstruction. (4)
While the war in Vietnam continued, many believed that the United States was doing the right thing in protecting the Western hemisphere from Communism. (5) Many Americans wanted the conflict to end and even tried to hide the fact that American troops were dying in another country. When the Tinkers wore the black armbands Allan Herrick argued, they were creating a distraction from school that would remind students about the Vietnam War. When the family did file suit, Herrick pointed out that the school district did not ban all political and controversial subjects, but created a policy that restricted wearing armbands for a short period. (6)
"While the record does not show that any of these armband students shouted, used profane language, or were violent in any manner, detailed testimony by some of them shows their armbands caused comments, warnings by other students, the poking of fun at them, and a warning by an older football player that other, non protesting students had better let them alone. There is also evidence that a teacher of mathematics had his lesson period practically "wrecked" chiefly by disputes with Mary Beth Tinker, who wore her armband for her demonstration." - Allan Herrick (7)
Lastly, the Des Moines School District did not want the three students to wear their black armbands during school hour because they feared that this anti-war protest would lead to a student uprising. This major disturbance would take away from the learning experience of going to school, a place of safety and stability. Arguing that that they gave the students fair warning of their new policy, Herrick defended the school district by criticizing the choices made by the Tinker family and Christopher Eckhardt were "irrational and unjust."
"A former student of one of our high schools was killed in Vietnam. Some of his friends are still in school and it was felt that if any kind of a demonstration existed, it might evolve into something which would be difficult to control." - Des Moines School District High School Principal. (8)
(1) - YouTube.com , "40th Anniversary of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District." , 24 Feb. 2009 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wjBoo1s8ik''
(2) - Ibid
(3) - Ibid
(4) - U.S Supreme Court, "Schenck vs. The United States" , 1919. Document 437. Boston College.
(5) - Youtube.com, "Tinker v Des Moines" , June 10, 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqQvygBVSxA
(6) - Ibid
(7) - ibid
(8) - U.S Supreme Court, "Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)." , 1968. Case (21) (Boston College N.p., 12 Nov. 1968.
Herrick focused his attention mostly on the fact that free speech is not absolute. Being absolute is "being, governed by, or characteristic of a ruler or authority completely free from constitutional or other restraint." yet he believed that students under the roof of a school building or house, do not have freedom of speech. Herrick tried to convince the Supreme Court that the First Amendment does not extend to symbolic speeches by students in public schools, and that all forms of protest were also forbidden. (3)
In 1919, during the "Schenck vs. The United States" the Supreme Court decided that an individual could in fact be punished if he or she distributed anti-World War I pamphlets urging non-compliance with the draft because they "created a clear and present danger that they will bring about a substantive evil[...] Congress has a right to prevent" - draft obstruction. (4)
While the war in Vietnam continued, many believed that the United States was doing the right thing in protecting the Western hemisphere from Communism. (5) Many Americans wanted the conflict to end and even tried to hide the fact that American troops were dying in another country. When the Tinkers wore the black armbands Allan Herrick argued, they were creating a distraction from school that would remind students about the Vietnam War. When the family did file suit, Herrick pointed out that the school district did not ban all political and controversial subjects, but created a policy that restricted wearing armbands for a short period. (6)
"While the record does not show that any of these armband students shouted, used profane language, or were violent in any manner, detailed testimony by some of them shows their armbands caused comments, warnings by other students, the poking of fun at them, and a warning by an older football player that other, non protesting students had better let them alone. There is also evidence that a teacher of mathematics had his lesson period practically "wrecked" chiefly by disputes with Mary Beth Tinker, who wore her armband for her demonstration." - Allan Herrick (7)
Lastly, the Des Moines School District did not want the three students to wear their black armbands during school hour because they feared that this anti-war protest would lead to a student uprising. This major disturbance would take away from the learning experience of going to school, a place of safety and stability. Arguing that that they gave the students fair warning of their new policy, Herrick defended the school district by criticizing the choices made by the Tinker family and Christopher Eckhardt were "irrational and unjust."
"A former student of one of our high schools was killed in Vietnam. Some of his friends are still in school and it was felt that if any kind of a demonstration existed, it might evolve into something which would be difficult to control." - Des Moines School District High School Principal. (8)
(1) - YouTube.com , "40th Anniversary of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District." , 24 Feb. 2009 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wjBoo1s8ik''
(2) - Ibid
(3) - Ibid
(4) - U.S Supreme Court, "Schenck vs. The United States" , 1919. Document 437. Boston College.
(5) - Youtube.com, "Tinker v Des Moines" , June 10, 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqQvygBVSxA
(6) - Ibid
(7) - ibid
(8) - U.S Supreme Court, "Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)." , 1968. Case (21) (Boston College N.p., 12 Nov. 1968.