ABSTRACT
The Tinker case involved the suspension of students who violated a Des Moines, Iowa, school district regulation by wearing black armbands to school in protest against US military involvement in Vietnam. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 US 503, marked the first time the US Supreme Court formally established the doctrine of symbolic free speech. Tinker also was the first major case in which the Supreme Court agreed to consider cases of public elementary and secondary school student disciplinary cases. Many unresolved questions remain concerning the long-term impact of Tinker on how far school officials may go in student disciplinary matters. Justice Hugo L. Black registered a vigorous dissent, arguing that the opinion had severe implications for federalism because the majority took away from elected local and state officials the power to control the discipline of pupils and in effect transferred that power to the Supreme Court.
