In 1965 John Tinker made the decision that he and others from his school would wear black armbands to their school in Des Moines, Iowa in protest of the ongoing Vietnam war. The armbands, which were plain besides a white peace symbol, were meant to signify the teenagers support of the Christmas truce called for by Robert F Kennedy as well as the end of the United States involvement in the Vietnam war. The reason of the students opposition was the high amount of United States soldiers that were killed and wounded in a war that many deemed unnecessary. Principals at the Des Moines schools came together to make the decision that any students that refused to remove the armbands in school would be suspended, so when Tinker was forced to leave school because he would not remove the armband many said this was a violation of his first and fourteenth amendment rights. Reasons given to these suspensions was that the school system did not allow for students to wear armbands in school.
Alfonzo once again claimed that Commerce Clause which is basically where Congress is granted separate power, which Alfonzo thought was a direct violation of the Constitution Of The Unites States. The Fifth Circuit overturned the original conviction by stating the charges and the laws are past the powers of the Congress and in response to that the U.S. government then appealed to the Supreme court. The reason they did this was so the Commerce Laws could stay in effect. The Governments argument was the possession of a firearm on or within a school facility would likely be to commit a act of violence which would effect the school and how it is run and also the well being of the population, and because of all this the government believe that the commerce clause should be upheld. In
When the courts first started to object to jury nullification, judges tried to make the jurors listen only to their instructions. They also forbid lawyers from arguing about laws
Q: The Texas high court held that the expert testimony relied upon the plaintiffs to establish their case was not reliable. Why did the court not order a new trial? After the cases have been presented, but before the case goes to the jury, a party may request that the court enter a judgment and it’s favor because there is not legally sufficient evidence on which a jury cannot find for the other party. The defense is more likely to prevail on such motion. That is, the judge holds that the plaintiff failed to provide sufficient grounds, even what is claim is true, to be able to win a verdict.
Case Study: Counts vs. Cedarville School District Situation The Counts v. Cedarville School District court case was about the Harry Potter book series. After receiving a complaint from a parent, the Cedarville School Board voted 3-2 to remove all of the books from the Harry Potter series from the open shelves of public school libraries. Students who wished to read or check out these books could do so only with written parental permission. Several students and their parents filed suit, seeking the return of the books to the open shelves. In the course of discovery, the School Board members who voted to remove the books acknowledged that they had not read many of the books and that they removed them because they exposed students to the "religion of witchcraft."
Jury Nullification CJA/344 May 2, 2013 Jury Nullification When juries believe a case is wrong or unjust they may acquit a defendant who has violated a law. This is known as jury nullification. In the United States, jury nullification has been an option for the jury. The jury plays an important role in interpreting and upholding the laws that the American government has outlined. Today’s society finds it necessary question to what range a jury can take the laws of America, change them, and make them their own.
Des Moines Independent School District (1965) Issue: You Have the Right to Express Yourself Up to A Certain Point Three teens wore black armbands to a school in Des Moines, Iowa, to protest the war in Vietnam. School officials told them to remove the armbands, and when they refused they were suspended, and the parents sued the district, claiming it was in violation of their first amendment right of freedom of speech. When the Supreme Court got the case and looked it over they sided with the students they said “students and teachers don’t shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate”. The court did not grant students to an unlimited right ti self
The Board of Education meant for the prayer to be non offensive and non denominational but the prayer began to receive negative attention. Parents of some of the students filed legal action and lost in lower court and continued on to file an appeal to the Supreme Court. The legal question that the Supreme Court faced was; does the use of this prayer violate the establishment clause of the 1st amendment which was made applicable to the states by the 14th amendment? The Supreme Court upheld that yes; the prayer does violate the establishment clause of the 1st amendment. The Court defended its decision with a lengthy history of the importance of separation between church and state.
The Supreme Court recognized that Judicial Review must also be cultivated into Judicial Sovereignty; the idea that a law may be held unconstitutional and binding on the other branches. The nation-state relationship served as the greatest obstacle for the Supreme Court in preserving the Union. In order to preserve the American Union the Supreme Court steered the cases, of the period, in order to create a consolidated nation-state. Preserving the American Union is reflected in all decisions of the cases the cases that fallow. In the case Marbury v. Madison the Supreme Court invalidated a law, passed by Congress, by declaring an act unconstitutional for the first time.
If this is the case then the student will be held up against a wall and the object of question will be removed from their person, or if they try to resist they will be forced out of the school and suspended for one week. This may be taken as adding more violence to the school, but the student should not be harmed and this action is only being