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1964 United States Supreme Court case
Baggett v. Bullitt Full case name Baggett, et al. v. Bullitt, et al. Citations 377
U.S.
360 (
more ) Prior Appeal from the
United States District Court for the Western District of Washington A State cannot require an employee to take an unduly vague oath containing a promise of future conduct at the risk of prosecution for perjury or loss of employment, particularly where the exercise of First Amendment freedoms may thereby be deterred.
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black ·
William O. Douglas
Tom C. Clark ·
John M. Harlan II
William J. Brennan Jr. ·
Potter Stewart
Byron White ·
Arthur Goldberg
Majority White, joined by Warren, Black, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Goldberg Dissent Clark, joined by Harlan
U.S. Const. amends.
I ,
XIV
Baggett v. Bullitt , 377 U.S. 360 (1964), was a
United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a state cannot require an employee to take an unduly vague oath containing a promise of future conduct at the risk of prosecution for perjury or loss of employment, particularly where the exercise of
First Amendment freedoms may thereby be deterred.
Background
Washington state passed two laws which required teachers and employees to swear oaths as a condition of employment. A 1931 law required them to swear allegiance to the United States. A 1955 law, passed in the
McCarthyism era, required the employee to swear he is not a subversive person: that he does not commit, or advise, teach, abet or advocate another to commit or aid in the commission of any act intended to overthrow or alter, or assist in the overthrow or alteration, of the constitutional form of government by revolution, force or violence.
Faculty and staff of the
University of Washington sued to overturn the laws.
Opinion of the Court
The Supreme Court overturned both the 1931 law and 1955 law, holding that they were too vague, and that they violated the employees' First Amendment rights of association and speech.
External links
Public displays and ceremonies Statutory religious exemptions Public funding Religion in public schools Private religious speech Internal church affairs Taxpayer standing Blue laws Other
Unprotected speech
Incitement and
sedition
Libel and false speech
Fighting words and the
heckler's veto
True threats
Obscenity
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Friedman v. Rogers (1979)
Consol. Edison Co. v. Public Serv. Comm'n (1980)
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Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego (1981)
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State University of New York v. Fox (1989)
Peel v. Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois (1990)
City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network (1993)
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Campaign finance and political speech Anonymous speech State action
Official retaliation Boycotts Prisons
Organizations Future Conduct Solicitation Membership restriction Primaries and elections