Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

E33468

First Amendment case United States Supreme Court case landmark decision

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District is a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court case that established students do not lose their First Amendment free speech rights at school, so long as their expression does not substantially disrupt the educational environment.

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All labels observed (7)

Label	Occurrences
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District canonical	20
Tinker v. Des Moines	2
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)	2
Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community School District et al.	1
Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)	1
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the student plaintiffs	1
U.S. student speech controversy	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T252942 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
Context triple: [First Amendment to the United States Constitution, hasLandmarkCase, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District]

A. Wisconsin v. Yoder
Wisconsin v. Yoder is a landmark 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case that held compulsory school attendance laws could not be applied in a way that violated Amish parents’ religious freedom.
B. Doe v. Bolton
Doe v. Bolton is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that, alongside Roe v. Wade, expanded and defined the scope of abortion rights by striking down restrictive state regulations.
C. Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 is a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited the use of race in public school student assignment plans under the Equal Protection Clause.
D. Printz v. United States
Printz v. United States is a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision that limited federal power by holding that Congress cannot compel state or local officials to implement federal regulatory programs.
E. Employment Division v. Smith
Employment Division v. Smith is a landmark 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision that significantly narrowed protections for religious practices under the Free Exercise Clause by upholding the enforcement of neutral, generally applicable laws even when they incidentally burden religion.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
Target entity description: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District is a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court case that established students do not lose their First Amendment free speech rights at school, so long as their expression does not substantially disrupt the educational environment.

A. Wisconsin v. Yoder
Wisconsin v. Yoder is a landmark 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case that held compulsory school attendance laws could not be applied in a way that violated Amish parents’ religious freedom.
B. Doe v. Bolton
Doe v. Bolton is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that, alongside Roe v. Wade, expanded and defined the scope of abortion rights by striking down restrictive state regulations.
C. Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 is a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited the use of race in public school student assignment plans under the Equal Protection Clause.
D. Printz v. United States
Printz v. United States is a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision that limited federal power by holding that Congress cannot compel state or local officials to implement federal regulatory programs.
E. Employment Division v. Smith
Employment Division v. Smith is a landmark 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision that significantly narrowed protections for religious practices under the Free Exercise Clause by upholding the enforcement of neutral, generally applicable laws even when they incidentally burden religion.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	First Amendment case ⓘ United States Supreme Court case ⓘ landmark decision ⓘ
areaOfLaw	constitutional law ⓘ education law ⓘ
arguedDate	1968-11-12 ⓘ
citation	393 U.S. 503 ⓘ
constitutionalProvision	First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ linked to: Fourteenth Amendment
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1969-02-24 ⓘ
dissentBy	Hugo Black ⓘ linked to: Hugo L. Black John M. Harlan II ⓘ
factualBackground	Students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War and were suspended by school officials ⓘ
fullName	Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community School District et al. ⓘ linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
holding	Public school students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate ⓘ Student expression may be regulated only if school officials reasonably forecast that it will materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school ⓘ
issue	Whether public school students retain First Amendment free speech rights at school ⓘ
joinedByInMajority	Byron White ⓘ linked to: Byron R. White Earl Warren ⓘ Potter Stewart ⓘ William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ William O. Douglas ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
keyQuote	It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. ⓘ
locationOfOrigin	Des Moines, Iowa ⓘ
lowerCourt	United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ⓘ United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa ⓘ
lowerCourtOutcome	Judgment for the school district ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	Abe Fortas ⓘ
page	503 ⓘ
petitioner	Christopher Eckhardt ⓘ John Tinker ⓘ linked to: Mary Beth Tinker Mary Beth Tinker ⓘ
relatedCase	Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser ⓘ Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier ⓘ Morse v. Frederick ⓘ
reporter	United States Reports ⓘ
respondent	Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ
shortName	Tinker v. Des Moines ⓘ linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
speechType	symbolic protest against the Vietnam War ⓘ
standardEstablished	material disruption test ⓘ substantial disruption test ⓘ
subsequentInfluence	Serves as foundational precedent for student speech cases in U.S. public schools ⓘ
supremeCourtOutcome	Judgment of the Court of Appeals reversed ⓘ
topic	public school discipline ⓘ student speech ⓘ symbolic speech ⓘ
volume	393 ⓘ
vote	7–2 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (28)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

First Amendment to the United States Constitution → hasLandmarkCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District → fullName → Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community School District et al. ⓘ

linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District → shortName → Tinker v. Des Moines ⓘ

linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

393 U.S. 503 → caseName → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

393 U.S. 503 → shortName → Tinker v. Des Moines ⓘ

linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

393 U.S. 503 → fullCitation → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) ⓘ

linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

Mary Beth Tinker → notableFor → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Mary Beth Tinker → legalCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Des Moines Independent Community School District → partyTo → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Des Moines Independent Community School District → associatedCourtCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Morse v. Frederick → distinguishedFrom → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser → distinguishedFrom → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser → relatedCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier → distinguishedFrom → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Christopher Eckhardt → participantIn → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

United States Supreme Court cases → hasPart → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Warren Court era → notableCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Goss v. Lopez → relatedCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

Mary Beth Tinker → partyToLegalCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

subject linked to: Hope Tinker

Tinker family → legalCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

The Ninth Circuit held that the school violated Frederick's First Amendment rights → standardApplied → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

subject linked to: The Ninth Circuit held that the school violated Frederick's First Amendment rights.

The Ninth Circuit held that the school violated Frederick's First Amendment rights → citationOfAuthority → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) ⓘ

subject linked to: The Ninth Circuit held that the school violated Frederick's First Amendment rights.

linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

BONG HiTS 4 JESUS → centralTo → U.S. student speech controversy ⓘ

linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

Tinker substantial disruption test → basedOnCase → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

John Tinker → notableWork → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

John Tinker → participantIn → Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ⓘ

John Tinker → hasNotableCourtDecision → Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) ⓘ

linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

John Tinker → legalCaseOutcome → U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the student plaintiffs ⓘ

linked to: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

All labels observed (7)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (50)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (28)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited