Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District is a significant and seminal case that the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1969. The ruling has been described as the most important student First Amendment case in American history, one that provided an important step forward in student rights and became one of the landmarks in the American history of freedom of expression. But as telling as those comments are, there are many more sides to the story. Behind the Tinker case is the story of three students, their families, those who wanted to silence them, and a nation that struggles with tolerating dissenting viewpoints, especially during wartime. The ruling stands for the notion that free expression is important and vital in a democracy and that ...