Whatever Happened to Mary Beth Tinker and Other Sagas in the Academic Marketplace of Ideas

Over twenty years have passed since the Tinker case was decided. In that time, well over 40 major education law cases have been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court; exclusive of those dealing with public school integration and public assistance to parochial schools. Cases of the last two types add significantly to that number. In the forty years prior to Tinker, the Supreme Court decided roughly ten education law cases. The gradual erosion of the sweeping guarantees implied by the Tinker decision was neither consistent nor uninterrupted. Generally speaking, however, students and teachers have lost rights over the past twenty years. In the process, the Supreme Court has established a new Constitutional balance and new legal standards