Today, the test that courts across the country apply in public free speech disputes is called the Pickering-Connick test. Myers, another important public employee free speech case. In 1983, the Supreme Court decided Connick v.
Case set precedent for public employee free speech cases White wrote a partial dissenting opinion, arguing that the Court should have remanded the case to the state courts for further fact finding.
Marshall concluded Pickering’s First Amendment rights had been violated because the school board had not produced evidence that Pickering had knowingly or recklessly made false statements in his letter.
Marshall noted that Pickering’s employment relationships with board members “are not the kind of close working relationships for which it can persuasively be claimed that personal loyalty and confidence are necessary to their proper functioning.” He then balanced Pickering’s free speech rights against the school board’s interests in a disruptive-free workplace. Marshall continued that the subject matter of Pickering’s letter - money spent by the school board on athletics and academics - was a matter of public concern. He wrote: “The problem in any case is to arrive at a balance between the interests of the teacher, as a citizen, in commenting upon matters of public concern and the interest of the State, as an employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs through its employers.” Justice Thurgood Marshall rejected the notion that public employees must relinquish their constitutional rights on accepting government employment.
The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the trial court by a 3-2 vote. A trial court ruled in favor of the school board. School board officials countered that the letter was detrimental to the interests of the school. Pickering contested his termination in state court, alleging a violation of his First Amendment right of free speech. He wrote: “To sod football fields on borrowed money and then not be able to pay teachers’ salaries is getting the cart before the horse.” Supreme Court ruled in favor of the teacher Pickering believed that the school board spent too much money on athletics and not enough on academics. The case began when school board officials in Will County, Illinois, terminated Lockport High science teacher Marvin Pickering for writing a letter to the Lockport Herald critical of the school board’s allocation of funds. Teacher terminated for criticizing school board in letter to newspaper The case established the principle that public employees do not relinquish their right to speak out on matters of public importance, or public concern, simply because they have accepted government employment. 563 (1968), remains the Supreme Court’s seminal case on the First Amendment rights of public employees. The case established the principle that public employees do not relinquish their right to speak out on matters of public importance, or public concern, simply because they have accepted government employment. The case began when school board officials in Will County, Illinois, terminated Lockport High science teacher Marvin Pickering for writing a letter to the Lockport Herald critical of the school board’s allocation of funds. 563 (1968), remains the Supreme Court’s seminal case on the First Amendment rights of public employees.