Question

read the scenario.
a group of middle school students have worn large green buttons on their jackets to protest government failure to clean up a polluted site near the school. the principal told them to remove the buttons, and they refused. the principal suspended the students for a week.
which supreme court case supports the students’ right to wear the buttons at school?
○ engle v. vitale
○ tinker v. des moines school district
○ griswold v. connecticut
○ miranda v. arizona

Explanation:

• Engle v. Vitale dealt with school-sponsored prayer, not student symbolic speech.
• Tinker v. Des Moines School District established that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate," specifically upholding the right to wear symbolic protest items (black armbands) in school, which directly matches the scenario.
• Griswold v. Connecticut focused on privacy rights related to contraception, unrelated to student speech.
• Miranda v. Arizona established Miranda rights for criminal suspects, not school speech issues.

Answer:

B. Tinker v. Des Moines School District