Wieman v. Updegraff
United States Supreme Court
344 U.S. 183, 73 S. Ct. 215, 97 L. Ed. 216 (1952)
Facts
An Oklahoma statute required all state officers and employees, including those employed for state colleges and universities, to take an oath declaring that they were not, and had not been during the previous five years, members of any organization listed by the United States attorney general as being subversive or Communist. Faculty and staff at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (OAMC) failed to take the oath as required. Paul Updegraff (plaintiff), a taxpayer, filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin state officials (defendants) from paying any employees who failed to take the oath. Faculty and staff at OAMC intervened in the lawsuit, arguing that the statute violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and seeking an injunction directing state officials to pay their salaries. The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld the validity of the statute, and faculty and staff at OAMC appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Clark, J.)
Concurrence (Frankfurter, J.)
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