Landmark Court Cases

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 1969
In December 1965 in Iowa, three high school students wore black armbands to school to protest U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. School officials responded by enacting a no-armband policy even though there were no existing policies that prohibited the wearing of symbolic clothing or accessories. The school threatened to suspend any student who came to school wearing a black armband.

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students and affirmed that neither students nor teachers “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” 

Bethel v. Fraser, 1986
A high school student in Washington was suspended for making a speech that included sexual innuendos at a school assembly. The speech violated a rule the high school had that prohibited conduct which "substantially interferes with the educational process . . . including the use of obscene, profane language or gestures."

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the student’s suspension did not violate his First Amendment right to freedom of speech. In the court’s decision, Chief Justice Burger distinguished between political speech which the Court previously protected in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), and speech that was simply vulgar.

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, 1988
Students taking a journalism class at a high school in Missouri wrote stories about teen pregnancy and divorce. The principal blocked the articles from being published in the school’s newspaper.  A trial court ruled that the school had the authority to remove the articles because they were written as part of a class.

The students appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which reversed the decision of the lower court. The ruling stated that the newspaper was a "public forum" that extended beyond the school.  

In a 5-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the principal's actions were constitutional because the newspaper was not intended as a public forum, but rather as a part of a class. Therefore, the publication was subject to review by school officials. 

Morse v. Frederick, 2007
In 2002, a senior at a high school in Alaska attended the Olympic Torch Relay as part of a school-supervised activity. At the event, the student held a poster that read, “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”. The Principal confiscated the poster stating that it promoted illegal drug use and suspended the student for ten days. 

The U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska ruled in favor of the principal, stating that the First Amendment did not protect the student’s actions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the decision and held that the student’s poster was constitutionally protected. 

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment does not prevent school administrators from restricting student speech that can be reasonably seen as promoting illegal drug use.