Socialist Labor Party v. Gilligan

406 U.S. 583 (1972)

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

Socialist Labor Party v. Gilligan

United States Supreme Court
406 U.S. 583 (1972)

  • Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD

Facts

Ohio election law required any political party seeking access to the ballot to take an elaborate loyalty oath and disclaimer of subversive activities unless the party had been on the ballot in elections since 1900. In other words, Democrats and Republicans were exempt. In 1968 the Socialist Labor Party (plaintiff) brought a lawsuit challenging other sections of the Ohio election law as unconstitutional on equal-protection grounds, but the party did not challenge the loyalty-oath provision. The Supreme Court struck down the challenged provisions, prompting Ohio to revise much of its election law. Unsatisfied with the changes, the Socialist Labor Party brought a second federal lawsuit in 1970 that challenged multiple provisions, including the loyalty-oath requirement. The district court convened a three-judge panel to hear the case, which struck down as unconstitutional all the challenged provisions except the loyalty oath. Both sides appealed to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Ohio again rewrote its election law to modify all the provisions that the court invalidated. That made all the issues raised in the appeal moot—except for the Socialist Labor Party’s claim as to the loyalty oath.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Rehnquist, 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 806,000 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 806,000 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 806,000 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

Constitutional Law

Key Terms