Student Dress and School Uniforms Is a students choice of dress protected by the First Amendment?
Yes, in some cases. Courts have recognized that students’ choice of clothing can communicate certain messages and ideas, ranging from their stance on political and social issues to their social standing or religious beliefs. This protection is largely the result of the Tinker case, in which the Court said that the decision of several students to wear black armbands to protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam was “akin to pure speech” and entitled them to constitutional protection. However, the high court also made the following statement with regard to student dress: “The problem posed by the present case does not relate to regulation of the length of skirts or the type of clothing, to hair style or deportment.” Proponents and opponents of dress codes cite different parts of the Tinker opinion to support their respective positions. Most lower courts recognize that student clothing, at the very least, implicates the First Amendment. In other words, student clothing may be a form of expressio
