Confirmed Speaker: Mary Beth Tinker

Mary Beth Tinker, her brother and another student were plaintiffs in Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969).  This landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision is commonly known as the "black arm bands" case and includes Justice Abe Fortas famous quote, "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." 

Mary Beth Tinker is still an active advocate for students' free speech rights and has visited the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism several times (e.g., the HSJW and the 2014 "Tinker Tour USA"). She has been in attendance during oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court involving other litigation that focused on students' free speech rights (e.g., the "Bong Hits for Jesus" case).