Elrod v. Burns

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Elrod v. Burns
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 19, 1976 Decided June 28, 1976
Full case name	Elrod, Sheriff, et al. v. Burns, et al.
Citations	427 U.S. 347 (more) 96 S. Ct. 2673; 49 L. Ed. 2d 547
Case history
Prior	Burns v. Elrod, 509 F.2d 1133 (7th Cir. 1975); cert. granted, 423 U.S. 821 (1975).
Holding
Firing decisions involving non-policymaking public employees may not be constitutionally based on party affiliation and support pursuant to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Plurality	Brennan, joined by White, Marshall
Concurrence	Stewart, joined by Blackmun
Dissent	Burger
Dissent	Powell, joined by Burger, Rehnquist
Stevens took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347 (1976), is a United States Supreme Court decision regarding political speech of public employees.^[1] The Court ruled in this case that public employees may be active members in a political party, but cannot allow patronage to be a deciding factor in work related decisions. The court upheld the decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the respondent.^[2]