Mary Beth & John Tinker
Siblings, Mary Beth Tinker & John Tinker, were suspended from school in 1965 for wearing black armbands to school in protest against the Vietnam war.
Christopher Eckhardt
Christopher Eckhardt was one of the three plaintiffs in Tinker v. Des Moines. Eckhardt, along with the Tinker siblings, wore black armbands to protest U.S. policy in Vietnam.
Justice Abe Fortas
Abe Fortas (June 19, 1910 - April 5, 1982) was a lawyer, politician and raised as an Orthodox Jew. Despite Fortas’ short career on the Court (1965-1969) and his financial scandals, he made an impact as an advocate for civil liberties and his support for students’ rights to protest. He delivered the majority opinion in Tinker v. Des Moines stating “students in school, as well as out of school, are 'persons' under our Constitution.”
Justice Hugo Black
Hugo Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was a politician and former Ku Klux Klan member eventually known for his civil rights rulings. He was a Supreme Court justice (1937 – 1971) and an advocate for the Fourteenth Amendment. Black was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first appointment to the Court. Justice Black penned one of two dissenting opinions in Tinker v. Des Moines stating “It is a myth to say that any person has a constitutional right to say what he pleases, where he pleases, and when he pleases. Our Court has decided precisely the opposite.”
Justice John M. Harlan II
John M. Harlan II (May 20, 1899-December 29, 1971) was a conservative Supreme Court justice (1955-1971) who regularly voted for the expansion of civil rights. He was best known for dissenting in cases where police officers were restricted of interrogation practices, Miranda v. Arizona. Harlan often had opposing ideology to Justice Black, but in Tinker v. Des Moines, both offered dissenting opinions of the case.