Term Paper on "First Amendment Student Rights vs. School Authority"

Term Paper 10 pages (3906 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

20th century in the United States, the struggle to balance the First Amendment rights of students with the educational institutions' need to maintain a safe and orderly environment has been a constant source of difficulty. Circuit courts, Appellate courts, and even the United States Supreme Court have heard cases in which students, fearing the revocation of their rights, have challenged the educational institutions. In contrast, the institutions have sought, through the judicial system, an affirmation of their rights as educators to maintain control and balance, particularly in light of growing violence within the school systems.

While the courts have certainly clarified many of the laws regarding student's rights, the struggle to balance the issues remains constant.

Before analyzing the issues, it is imperative first to understand the Amendment in question. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads, as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; of abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (U.S. Const., Amendment 1).

Simply put, the First Amendment seeks to protect the right of all persons to practice any religion, speak freely of their beliefs, assemble in groups, understanding that those groups must be peaceful in nature, and to petition the government when needed. Additionally, the First Amendment seeks to maintain freedom of the press, to ensure that the press is free to publish and write about whatever topics in whatever form they feel necessary.

In dealing with so many protected freedoms, set forth in such a broad manner, there are bound to be difficulties with interpretation and enforcement. As early as 1943, in West Virginia Sate Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the issue of First Amendment rights violations was brought to a national level. In the Barnette case, a group of Jehovah's Witnesses sued in the United States District Court on behalf of their children, and other children in West Virginia. A previous court decision had inspired the Board of Education of West Virginia to order that saluting the flag become a "regular part of the program of activities in...public schools" and that all students were required to participate. Refusal to salute would result in expulsion of the student.

However, due to their religious beliefs that the flag was a "graven image," and that saluting the flag would be in violation of God's commands, the Jehovah's Witness members sought to avoid the forced expulsion upon their refusal to salute. The Supreme Court found in favor of the students, noting that the First Amendment protected the student's rights to dissent. In their decision, the Court also spoke strongly of the protection of that right, even when the matter at hand was "things that touch the heart of the existing order," (West Virginia Sate Board of Education v. Barnette, 1943).

Since cases such as West Virginia v. Barnette, issues such as the freedom of school newspapers, clothing choices of students, the right to assemble, the right to free speech within the public school, and freedom of religion has been an issue of constant controversy. Even the issue of the Pledge of Allegiance and the salute to the flag are still under fire on the lower courts, as non-religious parents and students seek to abolish the words "under God" from the Pledge (Russo, 2003). While students seek stabilization of their First Amendment rights, institutions seek to maintain control over an increasingly violent school population.

In current Supreme Court and lower court rulings, three landmark cases are often used as precedence, and used to determine if, in fact, student's First Amendment rights have been violated. In fact, in a 2001 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th circuit, in Canady v. Bossier Parish School Board (2001), Judge Robert M. Parker discusses these three cases, and explains that the Supreme Court uses each case to assist in categorizing First Amendment issues before the Court (Dowling-Sendor, 2001). Each case, and its influence on those categories, is discussed below.

The first case, and quite possibly the most influential case on later Court rulings, is that of Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969). At the time, the United States was at the height of their involvement with the Vietnam Conflict. A group of Des Moines public school students planned to wear black armbands to school in protest of the U.S. involvement, as well as to show mourning for those killed in the conflict. When school officials heard of the plan, they implemented a speedy no armband rule, even though the school generally permitted other symbols. The students, intent in their protest, wore the bands nevertheless, and were suspended (Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 1969).

The students sued, believing their First Amendment Rights had been violated. The issue at hand, according to the Court, was whether the school district had the right to censor the student's speech, even though it was non-violent and without showing the expression would cause a disruption, or collide with the rights of others. In a vote of 7-2, the Court ruled that the school did not have the right to censor the expression, based on the apprehension of a conflict. In a landmark statement, Justice Abe Fortas stated, "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate," (Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 1969).

The Tinker decision was not without dissent. At the time, Justice Hugo Black voiced his concern over the decision, stating in his opposition that he did not want to have any part in a decision that gave control of the public school system to the students themselves (Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 1969). His belief was that the decision would influence cases in years to come, and would promote a level of permissiveness that would become intolerable.

Black was partially correct. Until 1986, the Tinker decision was used solely to determine censorship issues in both the Supreme Court and in lower courts. The Tinker case introduced the concept that schools could not censor any First Amendment right unless they had proof that the expression of those rights would cause disruption of school activities, or would interfere with the rights of other students (Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 1969).

In 1986, this precedent was slightly altered. In Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986), a student sued over a school decision to suspend him, claiming the school had violated his right to free speech, because the speech did not disrupt school activities, as Tinker prescribed. The student had given a nominating speech on behalf of another student during a student assembly. The speech contained sexual innuendo and elaborate profanity, as well as lewd and vulgar language. The issue was whether the school could censor such vulgar speech at a student assembly, even if that speech did not create a substantial disruption. In a vote of 7-2, the Court ruled that school officials had the right to prohibit "plainly offensive" speech during school activities (Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 1986).

In their decision, the court reasoned that the Tinker decision could not apply to the current case, because the issues were drastically different. While the Tinker verdict was given based on the concept that school officials were not allowed to ban speech based on viewpoint, the Fraser speech was not banned on viewpoint, but rather, for vulgar and offensive language at a school sponsored event. The suspension was given to punish the student for his offensive terms, not to counter his political views. In his assenting decision, Chief Justice Warren Burger noted, "The undoubted freedom to advocate unpopular and controversial views in schools and classrooms must be balanced against the society's countervailing interest in teaching student's the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior." He continued to point out that the offensive language may not have disrupted the assembly, but did violate those in attendance, thus negating the argument that the individual's First Amendment Right had been violated (Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 1986).

The Fraser decision showed the complexity of balancing a student's rights with the rights of those in the same school, and with keeping an orderly and safe environment for all. Additionally, the Courts' ruling left the door open for a tighter restriction on what constituted "free speech" within a public school system. While the right to hold dissenting viewpoints and to speak freely about those viewpoints remained secure, the right of students to say whatever they chose without regard to others was under more control.

The rules again changed in 1988 with Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. In this case, students producing a school sponsored newspaper elected to include articles about teen pregnancy and the impact of divorce on children. The principle, believing that the topic of pregnancy was inappropriate for younger… READ MORE

How to Reference "First Amendment Student Rights vs. School Authority" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Bethal vs. Fraser Term Paper

Bethel v. Fraser

L. Jones

Bethel School District v. Fraser:

The Bethel School District v. Fraser (478 U.S. 675) may on some levels seem to some to be a bit… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1672 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Civil Rights Movement in America the Struggle Term Paper

Civil Rights Movement in America

The struggle for the Civil Rights of the African-Americans have their roots in the slave trade era and the resulting pressure to let go the… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (2291 words) Sources: 6 Topic: American History / United States

---

Capital Punishment With Regards to Christian Ethics Reaction Paper

Christianity and the Death Penalty

A Christian View of Capital Punishment

The issue of capital punishment is as old as the Bible itself. God himself was the first to issue… read more

Reaction Paper 8 pages (2667 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Racial Profiling in the Legal System Term Paper

Civil Rights Movement

Whole books have been written on the subject of the civil rights struggle of African-Americans in the United States, a struggle that undoubtedly began when the first… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (3110 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: African-American / Black Studies

---

Civil Rights Movement: Learning Freedom the Plight Term Paper

Civil Rights Movement: Learning Freedom

The plight of African-Americans is one of the most challenging in history because of the plight of these people. When the first African-Americans arrived in… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2201 words) Sources: 10 Topic: African-American / Black Studies

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>