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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.
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 [ edit ]
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.
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 Defamation andfalse speech Fighting words and the heckler's veto True threats Obscenity
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Organizations Future Conduct Solicitation Membership restriction Primaries and elections