15 Armbands Justice Abe Fortas and Justice Hugo Black are arguing if certain kinds of speech should or should not be prohibited in an educational setting. Justice Abe Fortas is arguing the majority opinion which says that speech should not be prohibited in an educational setting. The Justice says, “Undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right of expression,” (4). This means that just because you think something will cause a disturbance and will be bad, that does not give one the right to ban freedom of expression. One must have evidence that a disturbance has been make. Fear cannot take away freedom. In one of the court cases mentioned, it says, “the vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools,” (13). This is saying that our constitutional freedoms are most valuable in American school communities. The freedom of expression is one of the reasons that makes America a superior country. “Our nation’s future depends upon leaders who gained exposure to a wide variety of …show more content…
Black quotes the court case Cox v. Louisiana which states,”… the rights of free speech and assembly ‘do not mean that everyone with opinions of beliefs to express may address a group at any public place ant at any time.’” This means that one cannot just show up somewhere and give their opinion and force people to listen. Although his point is valid, Black’s argument is not effective. One court case does not thoroughly support his argument. Justice Black expresses concern multiple times that the Court is responsible for “the function of deciding how the pupil’ school day will be spent” rather than school officials. However, he did not discuss ramifications. Black expresses more opinions than facts which makes his argument less
Blacks were also prohibited from expressing their freedom of speech and testifying
In the “Bethel School District v. Fraser” case, Fraser believed that the school violated his first amendment “freedom of speech” rights. Fraser gave a speech with some inappropriate content in it and the school gave him a three day suspension because two teachers warned him before he gave the speech. Fraser took it to court and the justices said they would shorten the suspension and let him have his right to speak at graduation because the school was taking away his freedom of speech.
As seen in previous cases like Tinker vs. Des Moines, students have the right to political say, unless it causes disruption at school of students are promoting something that goes against the law. In the case of Tinker v Des Moines the students were not promoting anything illegal but showed their thought on the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands (Tinker). Argued in court by Kenneth W. Starr in the Morse v. Frederick case, he gave the idea that the foundation for school censorship was the case of Tinker v. Des Moines (Morse). The Justices responded back saying, that case was a different scenario as the students weren 't doing anything against the law while Frederick was encouraging the use of marijuana which was illegal (Morse).
The Tinker versus Des Moines court case involved three minors, John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhart. These three wore black armbands to their schools to protest the Vietnam War and were suspended following this action. Circuit courts and the Court of Appeals in Iowa ruled that the black armbands were inappropriate attire for school. This case was then brought to a higher-up court. Eventually, this case was brought before the Supreme Court.
The issue in this case was whether school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violates the Establishment clause of the first amendment (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This case dealt with a New York state law that had required public schools to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a nondenominational prayer in which the students recognized their dependence upon God (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This law had also allowed students to absent themselves from this activity if they found that it was objectionable. There was a parent that sued the school on behalf of their child. Their argument was that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as made applicable
Bethel School District will introduce a last recourse before the United States Supreme Court and have the Supreme Court justices delivered a controversial opinion about the exercise of the freedom of expression within American schools. Mainly, as noted before, the Bethel School District v Fraser case was related the right of freedom of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, in its exercise and its limitation within the school boundaries. On July 1986, by a majority vote of 7 against 2, the United States Supreme Court delivered a determinant opinion that will put a limitation on the exercise of the freedom of speech at school. In that opinion, Chief Justice Warren Burger set up a new rule opening the door for a legal limitation of the freedom of speech at school.
Case: New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) Facts: A high school freshman (T.L.O) had her purse searched by the Assistant Vice Principal at her school because a teacher found her and another student smoking in the lavatory. The Assistant Vice Principal uncovered cigarettes and marijuana. Procedural history: T.L.O. motioned to suppress the evidence because her Fourth Amendment rights were violated and was denied by the Juvenile Court stating the search was reasonable. The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court agreed there was no violation of the Fourth Amendment. The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the decision stating the search was unreasonable.
Armband protesters suspended from school Everyone is aware of the first amendment which states that citizens should have free speech. In the Tinker v. Des Moines case, the right was violated. What actually happened in the Tinker v. Des Moines case? There were a brother and sister named John and Mary Beth Tinker who went to a Des Moines school. The Tinkers went to school one day wearing armbands to protest the Vietnam war.
I can’t fully express anything that I want and its due to the security and general welfare of other fellow peers. A lot of class work has to be censored and cant be used for the sole purpose of education. We too, students, are persons under the American Constitution . So so this extent, i can say that our government has altered the first amendment.
Essay #2: Argumentative Analysis Martin Luther King Jr. introduced a very controversial argument about why he believed that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”(264). In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King stated that justice is never given by the oppressor and the reason why his protests were very relevant and wise was because the issues needed to be addressed right then and not later. Moving along throughout his entire letter his primary thesis seemed to be that if the people wanted to be free from racial injustice they needed to participate in nonviolent protests. Given his setting and atmosphere, MLK did an extremely impressive job of using kairos and other rhetorical techniques in his piece.
According to Charles Lawrence in his article “On Racist Speech,” the First Amendment should not be all inclusive, especially in the case of hate speech (27-30). The first argument Lawrence brings up is the court case Brown vs. Board of education, which stated that separate but equal was unconstitutional. Lawrence sees the case in a different way than most, saying that idea of separate but equal was a violation of speech. The message that black school children received was that they were “unfit to go to school with white children” (28). Lawrence believes today we still fight these harmful messages, especially places such as college campuses where some students refuse to leave their dorm rooms to avoid these damaging comments (27-28).
In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District upheld the right to freedom of speech of students to protest the Vietnam war by wearing black armbands. The case explained the problem that “students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” (Student) As students, we are free to express ourselves through what we wear. As students, we have every right to proclaim our beliefs
The idea of free speech on college campuses and the complications of it stem from those on campuses expressing views that don’t align with popular views. Implications for students who use the idea of free speech as a method for hateful actions and comments should be reprimanded, but the question remains as to whether schools should enforce tougher limitations. The freedom of speech on college campus expands to the freedoms of religion, assembly, press, and protest as well. Freedom of expression allows students to show their own political, social, and cultural views. Removing freedoms of speech and expression have consequences deeper than surface issues.
At a moment when America should be more equal and free than ever, why do so many citizens feel their freedom is being threatened? Freedom of speech is a
As human beings, we are all born with an entitlement of freedom of speech or synonymously known as freedom of expression as it is a basic human right. It is stated in the Federal Constitution and it is important for us human beings to protect our rights to freedom of speech and expression as it is the backbone for a democratic society. Having the right to express oneself freely without any restrictions is an essential part of what it means to be a free human being. Article 10 in the Federal Constitution states that; (a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression; (b) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) all citizens have the right to form associations.