Student First Amendment Speech and Expression Rights: Armbands to Bong HiTS (Law and Society: Recent Scholarship)

Ramey examines the legal boundaries of student speech and expression rights in school, as developed and defined by the U.S. federal courts. At issue is the proper extent of student speech and expressive conduct protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The purpose of discussing these decisions is to better enable educators to make informed decisions regarding student speech and expression in school. Ramey focuses on the Supreme Court's four main student speech and expression decisions: in Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Sch. Dist. (1969), Bethel Sch. Dist. v. Fraser (1986), Hazelwood Sch. Dist. v. Kuhlmeier (1988), and Morse v. Frederick (2007). It also examines the lower federal courts' interpretation and application of these opinions to a variety of student speech and expression situations.