Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

Students including John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker, and Christopher Eckhardt (plaintiffs) were suspended by their school district (defendant) for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, even though other students were permitted to wear other political or religious symbols; the district court ruled for the school district, an evenly divided court of appeals let that ruling stand, and the students appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.