Students & the First Amendment

Students' Limited First Amendment Protection

Tinker v Des Moines School District (1969)

(Non-verbal, non-disruptive student protest)

• STUDENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS DO NOT "SHED THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AT THE SCHOOL HOUSE GATE" BUT SCHOOL OFFICIALS HAVE "COMPREHENSIVE AUTHORITY...TO PRESCRIBE AND CONTROL CONDUCT IN THE SCHOOLS."
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• SCHOOL AUTHORITIES HAVE THE POWER TO BAN/PUNISH SPEECH THAT "MATERIALLY AND SUBSTANTIALLY INTERFERE[S] WITH REQUIREMENTS OF APPROPRIATE DISCIPLINE IN THE OPERATION OF THE SCHOOL" OR SPEECH WHICH OFFICIALS FORECAST WILL HAVE SUCH AN EFFECT.

Also see:

Chandler v. McMinnville Schl. Dist., 978 F.2d 524, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 27834 (9th Cir.,1992).

"The passive expression of a viewpoint in the form of a button worn on one's clothing 'is certainly not in the class of those activities which inherently distract students and break down the regimentation of the classroom.'"

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeirer (1988)

(School-sponsored student newspaper)

• "FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF STUDENTS ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY COEXTENSIVE WITH THE RIGHTS OF ADULTS...[THEY] MUST BE APPLIED IN LIGHT OF THE SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT."
  
• "A SCHOOL NEED NOT TOLERATE STUDENT SPEECH THAT IS INCONSISTANT WITH ITS BASIC EDUCATIONAL MISSON, EVEN THOUGH THE GOVERNMENT COULD NOT CENSOR SIMILAR SPEECH OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL."

Also see:

Alternative or Underground (Unofficial) Student Publications

BETHEL School District v. Fraser (1986)

(Student speech at official school assembly)

• THE FIRST AMENDMENT DOES NOT BAR SCHOOL DISTRICTS FROM PROHIBITING AND PUNISHING THE USE OF"VULGAR SPEECH AND LEWD CONDUCT"