Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty.

Mb. Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Appellant Marvin L. Pickering, a teacher in Township High School District 205, Will County, Illinois, was dismissed from his position by the appellee Board of Education for sending a letter to a local newspaper in connection with a recently proposed tax increase that was critical of the way in which the Board and the district superintendent of schools had handled past proposals to raise new revenue for the schools. Appellant's dismissal resulted from a determination by the Board, after a full hearing, that the publication of the letter was “detrimental to the efficient operation and administration of the schools of the district” and hence, under the rele [*565] vant Illinois statute, Ill. Rev. Stat., c. 122, § 10-22.4 (1963), that “interests of the school require[d] [his dismissal].”

Appellant’s claim that his writing of the letter was protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments was rejected. Appellant then sought review of the Board’s action in the Circuit Court of Will County, which affirmed his dismissal on the ground that the determination that appellant’s letter was detrimental to the interests of the school system was supported by substantial evidence and that the interests of the schools overrode appellant’s First Amendment rights. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Illinois, two Justices dissenting, affirmed the judgment of the Circuit Court. 36 Ill. 2d 568, 225 N. E. 2d 1 (1967). We noted probable jurisdiction of appellant’s claim that the Illinois statute permitting his dismissal on the facts of this case was unconstitutional as applied under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.[1] 389 U. S. 925 (1967). For the reasons detailed below we agree that appellant’s rights to freedom of speech were violated and we reverse.