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Speech & Press
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
Decided: 1969
In brief
Held that students retain free speech rights at school, absent substantial disruption.
The Court's ruling in depth
Mary Beth Tinker and other students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War and were suspended. Justice Fortas's majority opinion held that students do not 'shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.' Schools may restrict student speech only when it materially and substantially disrupts the educational process. Tinker remains the cornerstone of student-speech doctrine.