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Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
Students at a school decided to wear black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War. The school created a policy in which if students wore armbands they would be suspended. The students the next day were suspended for wearing the arm bands. The case made it all the way to the supreme court and the court ruled that the first amendment can't be limited in school if there is no disruption to the classroom or the learning environment. -
Board of Education vs Pico
The Board of Education took away books from middle and high school library's that they believed were "anti-american" and "anti-christian". Parents and students brought the case to court and it reached all the way to the supreme court. The court ruled that the school couldn't take away books unless the books were unstable or hurt the learning environment. In conclusion of this the school voted to bring the books back but if rented out students would have to get a parents signature. -
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser
Fraser was campaigning for his friend in a speech to become a school officer. In the speech some observers felt as if Fraser had used sexual metaphors. The school created a rule that students couldn't use profane language and Fraser was suspended for 2 days. Fraser brought the case to court and they ruled that the school was justified to suspend Fraser because the obscene language affected the students environment. -
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
Students created a paper in which talked about teen pregnancy's at the school but the names were changed to protect the students privacy. The principal prohibited the articles the students wrote to be published in the school paper. The students brought the case to court because the felt as if their first amendment was being violated. The court ruled in the students favor because nobody was harmed by the paper and didn't affect the learning environment. -
Poling v. Murphy
A student used rude remarks about school teachers during a school assembly. The student was disqualified for running for office because of his remarks. The student brought the case to district court in which they ruled that the student should be disqualified because his remarks affected the learning environment and it was at a school event. -
O'Brien v. Westlake City Schools Board of Education
A student by the name of Sean was suspended 10 days by Westlake City School for creating a website by the name of raymondsucks.org. Sean ended up failing band because of his absence from class. In court the judge ruled that the school was limiting Sean's first amendment rights and he should not have been suspended. This was because the website was published outside of school and did not derail the learning environment. The school wrote Sean an apology for the suspension. -
Beussink v. Woodland R-IV School District
Brandon Beussink put information containing criticisms of teachers administrators at the school. The website was eventually showed to a teacher who was concerned and brought it to the attention of the principal. The principal suspended Brandon for 5 days, but was later extended to a 10 day suspension. Brandon brought the issue to the District court and they ruled that the school was limiting Brandon's first amendment rights because the website did not affect the school's culture. -
J.S. v. Bethlehem Area School District
An 8th grade student created a website that enjoyed information threatening teachers and talking about hiring a hitman. The school expelled him and a teacher had to take emergency leave because she was scared and felt uncomfortable. The student brought this to court in which they ruled that the students first amendment rights were not limited because he disrupted the school environment and threats were made. This was evident because of the teachers emergency leave. -
Emmett v. Kent School District Number 415
Emmett created a website in which people could vote on who should die next. The school learned of the website and expelled Emmett, later the expulsion was converted to a suspension. Emmett brought this case to court and argued that the website was just for entertainment purposes while the school said the website was a hit list and threatened the environment of the school. The court ruled that Emmett's website was not a hit list and the school had to remove the suspension and pay Emmett a dollar. -
Beidler v. North Thurston School District Number Three
Beidler created a website about the assistant principal. The website accused the principal of things such as "Nazi" and "drunk". The principal put Beidler on emergency suspension and had him go to a different school in the district. Beidler brought this to the district court and the judge ruled that the suspension limited Beidler's 1st amendments rights. The court said that there was nothing disruptive towards the school. -
Guiles v. Marineau
A student wore a shirt to school with George Bush as a chicken on it. There was also drug references on the t-shirt. A teacher told the student to turn the t-shirt inside out or cover up parts of the shirt because students and parents complained. The student was then sent home because he refused. The students parent brought it to district court in which they ruled that the school was justified because there were drug references and the school was against dress code. -
Morse v. Frederick
A student brought a banner saying "Bong hits 4 Jesus" to the Olympic Torch ralley that was a school supervised event. A teacher asked the student to put the banner away and the student refused. The student was then suspended for 10 days. Morse brought the case to court in which they ruled the punishment was unconstitutional because there was no disturbance to the school environment.
