Mary Beth Tinker reminds students of free speech rights she won at Supreme Court in her VIetnam War protest at 13
Mary Beth Tinker
Students at the mock trial Thursday using the case of  Tinker  v. Des Moines Independent Community School District in the ceremonial courtroom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
As  she  stood before local students in a federal courtroom in Washington   Mary Beth Tinker  held aloft a replica of the black armband that had brought  her  notoriety â and students like them protections of their freedom of expression.
On Thursday  close to 50 years after  Tinker  wore an armband to  her  Iowa school to protest the Vietnam War â and was suspended â  she  appeared at a mock trial reenacting  her  case before students from the Washington area.
And their rights to those protests are bolstered by the 1969 Supreme Court decision in  Tinker âs case  when a majority of justices ruled that students and teachers do not âshed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.â
In a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union over  Tinker âs suspension  the Supreme Court ruled the First Amendment applied to public schools and that school officials could not censor student speech unless it disrupted the educational process. A black armband  judges ruled  was not disruptive.
Tatel and Judge Sri Srinivasan  also of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit  and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia  presided while experienced lawyers reenacted  Tinker  v. Des Moines Independent Community School District before about 200 students.
Some in the audience in the ceremonial courtroom of the appeals court were eighth graders  the same as  Tinker  when at 13 she wore the armband in 1965.
âThese kids need to speak up for themselves  and it is powerful when they do that â  Tinker  said Thursday.
 Tinker   a retired nurse who lives in Van Ness  arrived Thursday to court wearing a pin of the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall  a relentless voice for minorities and civil rights in a six-decade legal career  and a red ribbon for Yoselis Region Barrios  a 16-year-old student of Capital City Charter School who was killed last month in the District.
After the reenactment finished  students crowded around  Tinker  as she asked each of them what they wanted to change in the world.  Tinker  had described how she was raised in a family headed by her Methodist minister father and a mother who urged their children to act on their religious ideals.
 Tinker  âfought for something she believed in â said Eliora Brown-Egue  a 13-year-old eighth grader at Alice Deal Middle School in Tenleytown. âIt was amazing to learn about a part of history from someone who was there.â
Before starting a career speaking to students   Tinker  was a nurse at Prince Georgeâs Hospital Center.
When  Tinker  travels to speak as in Thursdayâs reenactment  she tells stories of other young people who spoke up in history.
 Tinker  and the case âmade us feel like we could do the same thing â Walton said.
Students at the mock trial Thursday using the case of  Tinker  v. Des Moines Independent Community School District in the ceremonial courtroom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
As  she  stood before  [TGT] held aloft a replica of the black armband that had brought  her  notoriety â and students like  [TGT]  protections of  [TGT]  freedom of expression.
On Thursday  close to 50 years after  Tinker  wore an armband to  her  Iowa school to protest the Vietnam War â and was suspended â  she  appeared at a mock trial reenacting  her  case before students from the Washington area.
And their rights to those protests are bolstered by the 1969 Supreme Court decision in  Tinker âs case  when a majority of justices ruled that students and teachers do not âshed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.â
In a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union over  Tinker âs suspension  the Supreme Court ruled the First Amendment applied to public schools and that school officials could not censor student speech unless it disrupted the educational process. A black armband  judges ruled  was not disruptive.
Tatel and Judge Sri Srinivasan  also of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit  and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia  presided while experienced lawyers reenacted  Tinker  v. Des Moines Independent Community School District before about 200 students.
Some in the audience in the ceremonial courtroom of the appeals court were eighth graders  the same as  Tinker  when at 13 she wore the armband in 1965.
âThese kids need to speak up for themselves  and it is powerful when they do that â  Tinker  said Thursday.
 Tinker   a retired nurse who lives in Van Ness  arrived Thursday to court wearing a pin of the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall  a relentless voice for minorities and civil rights in a six-decade legal career  and a red ribbon for Yoselis Region Barrios  a 16-year-old student of Capital City Charter School who was killed last month in the District.
After the reenactment finished  students crowded around  Tinker  as she asked each of them what they wanted to change in the world.  Tinker  had described how she was raised in a family headed by her Methodist minister father and a mother who urged their children to act on their religious ideals.
 Tinker  âfought for something she believed in â said Eliora Brown-Egue  a 13-year-old eighth grader at Alice Deal Middle School in Tenleytown. âIt was amazing to learn about a part of history from someone who was there.â
Before starting a career speaking to students   Tinker  was a nurse at Prince Georgeâs Hospital Center.
When  Tinker  travels to speak as in Thursdayâs reenactment  she tells stories of other young people who spoke up in history.
 Tinker  and the case âmade us feel like we could do the same thing â Walton said.