SUPREME DECISION
Student Free Speech
Brewer v. Hamilton High School
Guide your students through the fictional case of Ben Brewer, a student at Hamilton High School who was suspended for violating the school dress code. Students will assume the roles of Petitioner, Respondent, or Justice as they examine the First Amendment right to free speech and apply the precedent of Tinker v. Des Moines to answer the question: Does the Constitution protect Ben’s right to wear a band t-shirt to school?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This fictional case draws on real precedents set in the 1969 landmark Supreme Court case, Tinker v. Des Moines. The Tinker siblings were suspended for wearing black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam. The court ruled in favor of the Tinkers, protecting students' rights to freedom of speech in school. However, the ruling also established the Tinker Test, which allows school administrators to limit speech if it will cause substantial disruptions to learning.
Your students will:
Explore the limits on a student's right to Freedom of Speech in a public school
Weigh the need for school administrators to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment
Debate what qualifies as political speech
Analyze the First Amendment
Draw on precedent established in the case of Tinker v. Des Moines
Cases take roughly 60-80 minutes for a class to play through. To run the role-play over multiple days, use the link VOXPOP will send you to re-open your session.
Create a different session for each class that you intend to use this case with.
Not sure how sessions work? Feel free to create a session and step through it to get a feel for the content. You can create as many sessions as you need. Or watch a video walkthrough.
PREPARE TO LEAD THE ROLE-PLAY BY REVIEWING THIS OUTLINE
OUTLINE
The VOXPOP software will deliver this content to students during the role-play. Use this outline to familiarize yourself with the content of the scenario, the roles students will be assigned and the choices they will be asked to make.
DETAILS
Students: 6 to 50
Running Time: 60-80 minutes (the role-play can be broken into multiple sessions)
BACKGROUND
This video provides historical context.
FACTS
This video breaks the case down into facts.
ROLES
Students are assigned to the following groups:
Justices
The Justices review the facts and prepare questions for the Petitioners & Respondents that help clarify the case. Justices have different perspectives on the law. Some Justices focus on the Constitution, while others may prioritize precedents or future outcomes.
Petitioners
The Petitioners have brought the case. They argue that the suspension of Ben Brewer was a violation of his freedom of speech. They are fighting to defend free speech in schools.
Respondents
The Respondents represent the Hamilton High School administration, defending their decision to suspend a student that refused to remove a banned t-shirt. They are fighting to make sure that school administrators can create space where everyone can learn.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Here are a few suggested discussion questions to pose at the end of the role-play. Please feel free to use your own.
Do you think that speech in school should have limits?
How should limits be set?
How did the First Amendment play into this case?
CREDITS
Production
Amanda Setters, iCivics
Carrie Ray-Hill, iCivics
Mattia Romeo, VOXPOP
Greg Trefry, VOXPOP
Media
Library of Congress
Art Lien / The Court Artist
Eric Castro / Flickr
Wikimedia
iStock
Lorie Shaull / Flickr
Rickelle Pimentel / KOMU News, Flickr
Elvert Barnes / Flickr
Charlene Butts Ligon
William David Bell / Time/Life, Volume 17, Number 6, p 25
Don Cravens / Getty Images.
Patrick Semansky / AP Photo
Bettmann / Getty Images
State Library and Archives of Florida
Special Thanks
Thomas Sangermano and the History department at Danvers High School, Danvers, Massachusetts