Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205

391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
P
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205

United States Supreme Court
391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968)

JL
Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205

Facts

Marvin Pickering (plaintiff) was a teacher in Township High School District 205 (school) in Illinois. Pickering wrote a letter to a local newspaper that was critical of the Illinois State Board of Education (board) (defendant) regarding a proposed tax increase. Pickering took issue with the board’s previous handling of a bond issue and the board’s allocation of financial resources between the educational and athletic programs. Pickering signed the letter in his own name and did not represent his views as the views of the school. The content of the letter was not directed at any person with whom Pickering would normally work with in the course of his daily work. The board then terminated Pickering for writing and publishing the letter. The board held a hearing on the termination and determined that the letter contained numerous false statements that unjustifiably questioned the motives, honesty, integrity, truthfulness, responsibility, and competence of the board and the school administration. The trial court ruled in favor of the board. Pickering appealed, and the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted Pickering’s petition for certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Marshall, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 811,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Education Law
Employment Law
First Amendment

Key Terms