The initial concerns of John Tinker’s parents after participating in a school protest of the Vietnam War led to a meeting of other community activists and the decision to sue the Des Moines Independent School District in federal court in 1966.

Additional resources, including the an audio recording of the U.S. Supreme Court opening arguments for the Tinker Case and the text of the Court’s case decision, are available on the Iowa PBS 50th Anniversary of the Tinker v. Des Moines Schools Decision and Students’ Right to Freedom of Speech: The Tinker Case websites.