Civic Literacy Practice Test 2025 - Free Civic Literacy Questions and Study Guide

The decision in Tinker v. Des Moines is based on the First Amendment because it addresses the issue of students' rights to free speech in a public school setting. This landmark case established that students do not lose their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate. The Supreme Court ruled that students were allowed to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War, as this form of expression did not disrupt the educational process. The ruling reinforced the importance of protecting free expression and clarified the extent to which First Amendment rights apply to students in public schools.

In contrast, other cases like U.S. v. Nixon primarily dealt with the balance of power between the executive branch and the judicial system, while Miranda v. Arizona focused on the rights of individuals in police custody. Engel v. Vitale, although dealing with the First Amendment as it relates to the establishment clause and school prayer, does not directly concern the breadth of free speech rights in the same nuanced way as Tinker v. Des Moines.