Rebecca T. Klein - Your Legal Rights in School

The Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines that students and teachers do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate but retain those rights while in school.

If a school policy or the actions of someone in authority violates those rights, it is usually up to the student to speak up and challenge that policy or action on legal grounds. The specific applications of the laws can also differ from state to state. This book will help to inform you of your rights as a student in many situations that you might encounter at school and give you an idea of some of the variations in the laws of different states. It will share stories of students who have been affected by and challenged questionable policies. It will help you to learn how to protect yourself from legal trouble, and it will also help to empower you if you find your own rights being violated.

CHAPTER 1

EXPRESS YOURSELF! THE RIGHT To FREE SPEECH AND PEACEABLE ASSEMBLY

A s the Supreme Courts decision in Tinker v. Des Moines determined, students have the right to free speech when they are at school. However, the decision also states that this right is guaranteed only if the expression of speech does not create a significant disruption to the schools functioning and to the learning of others. The students who wore armbands to school in Des Moines in 1965 did not intend to create a disturbance. They were simply expressing their views. The district court decided that because those views were outside of the mainstream, they had the potential to cause a disruption. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that this perceived potential was not reason enough to ban the armbands or to punish the students for wearing them.

What does this mean for you as a student when you want to exercise your right to free speech? It means that although that right is guaranteed, you have to be wise and strategic in the ways you choose to exercise it. For instance, if an instructor is teaching something with which you disagree or advocating a view that is different from your own, you absolutely have the right to speak up and express your opinion. However, you do not have the right to create a huge scene, yell or swear at the teacher, or try to rile up the rest of the class. You want to be sure that you speak up in such a way that you protect yourself from disciplinary action. If you conduct yourself peacefully and within legal boundaries, and someone tries to silence you, you have legal grounds to challenge that person. If you disrupt class, however, you are giving up your rights by giving the teacher fair reason to take disciplinary action.

Another important issue to address when discussing free speech is the content of that speech itself. In addition to not having the right to disrupt class or harass the teacher, you also do not have the right to harass your fellow students through written or verbal means. Although the law is somewhat murky regarding the definition of hate speech, and although words that do not actively seek to incite violence cannot be deemed illegal, there are many ways in which hate speech could lead to legal or disciplinary consequences. Generally, speech that persecutes your fellow students could be considered verbal bullying. If that persecution is based on race, religion, or any other category protected by law, it qualifies as harassment and is illegal. A later section of this material will deal more extensively with bullying and harassment and the possible legal consequences of these actions.