Elrod v. Burns
- Decided
- June 28, 1976
- Docket
- 74-1520
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 4,553 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- recognizing that loyalty is a legitimate hiring criteria for an elected official to use when selecting individuals to serve in policymaking positions under him — Alexander v. Fulton County (2000)
- concluding that a political patronage case involving dismissal of employee by county sheriff did not present a political question — Neeley v. West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District (2005)
- holding that if a constitutional right is being threatened or impaired, a finding of irreparable injury is mandated — Memphis Planned Parenthood, Inc. v. Donald Sundquist, Governor of the State of Tennessee, and John Knox Walkup, Attorney General (1999)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Mr. Justice Brennan announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion in which Mr. Justice White and Mr. Justice Marshall joined.
This case presents the question whether public employees who allege that they were discharged or threatened with discharge solely because of their partisan political affiliation or nonaffiliation state a claim for deprivation of constitutional rights secured by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
I
Statutes cited
Cite this
Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347 (1976)Read the full opinion
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