The Tinkers
When the North Vietnamese showed that they would not back down no matter what, many people began to grow tired of the war. Many opposed it soon and began questioning why a Vietnamese Civil War was an American concern. Eventually, Vietnam War protest sprung up all across the United States and an anti-war Movement was formed. These anti-war protesters were angry that young Americans were dying in another country. (1)
In December of 1965, students and adults gathered in Des Moines, Iowa at the Eckhardt's house, to find a way to protest American involvement in the Vietnam War. They came to an agreement to wear black armbands with a peace symbol on it for the remainder of the holiday season. (2) Fifteen year old John F. Tinker, thirteen year old Mary Beth Tinker, and their sixteen year old friend Christopher Eckhardt also decided to fast with the rest of the group on December 16th and on New Year's Eve. John and Eckhardt attended High School in Des Moines while Mary Beth attended Junior High.
When the three learned of the policy banning students from wearing black armbands, John and Mary Beth chose to ignore the policy anyways and wore their armbands in school on December 16. Eckhardt followed them the next day by wearing his armband as well. (3) The students were suspended and were told they could not return until after New Year's Day, when they had decided to call their protest off. When the three did in fact return to school on January 1st, they agreed with the school's decision to not wear their black armbands. (4)
Unlike their children however, the fathers of John, Mary Beth, and Christopher filed suit with the U.S. District Court. (5) This suit asked the court for a small amount of money for damages and injunction to restrain school officials from enforcing their armband policy. (6) While the Court recognized the students right to wear their armbands in school because of the First Amendment, they sided with the school districts decision that a protest could lead to a disruption and refused to issue an injunction. The Tinkers then went to the U.S. Court of Appeals but were unfortunately disappointed when a tie vote meant that the District Court's decision stood. (7) As a last effort, the Tinkers appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1968, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case of Tinker vs. Des Moines School District and consider the constitutionality of the Des Moines principals' anti-armband policy. The two groups met in Capital Building on November 12, 1969. (8)
Years later, Mary Beth Tinker said in an interview "Plus, we'd gotten a lot of threats in 1969. A man who had a radio talk show threatnend my father on the air. Red paint was thrown on our house. A woman called on the phone, asked for me by name, and then said, " I'm going to kill you!"" (9)
(1) - Landmark cases of the Supreme Court, Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)Student Speech, Symbolic Speech , http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark/cases/tinker_v_des_moines
(2) - ibid
(3) - American Civil Liberties Union, Tinker v. Des Moines (393 U.S. 503, 1969) , http://www.aclu.org/free-speech/tinker-v-des-moines-393-us-503-1969
(4) - Ibid
(5) - Ibid
(6) - Ibid
(7) - United States Courts, Tinker v. Des Moines(1969) , http://www.uscourts.gov/multimedia/podcast/Landmarks/tinkervdesmoines.aspx
(8) - Ibid
(9) - Mary Beth Tinker, as quoted in, Education for Freedom, Lesson plans for teaching the First Amendment, Case Summary: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District , 2007 , http://www.freedomforum.org/packages/first/curricular/educationforfreedom/supportpages/L08-CasesSummaryTinker.htm
In December of 1965, students and adults gathered in Des Moines, Iowa at the Eckhardt's house, to find a way to protest American involvement in the Vietnam War. They came to an agreement to wear black armbands with a peace symbol on it for the remainder of the holiday season. (2) Fifteen year old John F. Tinker, thirteen year old Mary Beth Tinker, and their sixteen year old friend Christopher Eckhardt also decided to fast with the rest of the group on December 16th and on New Year's Eve. John and Eckhardt attended High School in Des Moines while Mary Beth attended Junior High.
When the three learned of the policy banning students from wearing black armbands, John and Mary Beth chose to ignore the policy anyways and wore their armbands in school on December 16. Eckhardt followed them the next day by wearing his armband as well. (3) The students were suspended and were told they could not return until after New Year's Day, when they had decided to call their protest off. When the three did in fact return to school on January 1st, they agreed with the school's decision to not wear their black armbands. (4)
Unlike their children however, the fathers of John, Mary Beth, and Christopher filed suit with the U.S. District Court. (5) This suit asked the court for a small amount of money for damages and injunction to restrain school officials from enforcing their armband policy. (6) While the Court recognized the students right to wear their armbands in school because of the First Amendment, they sided with the school districts decision that a protest could lead to a disruption and refused to issue an injunction. The Tinkers then went to the U.S. Court of Appeals but were unfortunately disappointed when a tie vote meant that the District Court's decision stood. (7) As a last effort, the Tinkers appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1968, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case of Tinker vs. Des Moines School District and consider the constitutionality of the Des Moines principals' anti-armband policy. The two groups met in Capital Building on November 12, 1969. (8)
Years later, Mary Beth Tinker said in an interview "Plus, we'd gotten a lot of threats in 1969. A man who had a radio talk show threatnend my father on the air. Red paint was thrown on our house. A woman called on the phone, asked for me by name, and then said, " I'm going to kill you!"" (9)
(1) - Landmark cases of the Supreme Court, Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)Student Speech, Symbolic Speech , http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark/cases/tinker_v_des_moines
(2) - ibid
(3) - American Civil Liberties Union, Tinker v. Des Moines (393 U.S. 503, 1969) , http://www.aclu.org/free-speech/tinker-v-des-moines-393-us-503-1969
(4) - Ibid
(5) - Ibid
(6) - Ibid
(7) - United States Courts, Tinker v. Des Moines(1969) , http://www.uscourts.gov/multimedia/podcast/Landmarks/tinkervdesmoines.aspx
(8) - Ibid
(9) - Mary Beth Tinker, as quoted in, Education for Freedom, Lesson plans for teaching the First Amendment, Case Summary: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District , 2007 , http://www.freedomforum.org/packages/first/curricular/educationforfreedom/supportpages/L08-CasesSummaryTinker.htm