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Perry v. Sindermann (docket #: 70-36) (1972)  [Findlaw]

Secondary Link Perry v. Sindermann  [Legal Information Institute]
Argument Date 01/18/1972
Decided 06/29/1972
Supreme Court Vote 7-1
Note Powell, J. took no part in the decision
Supreme Court Ruling Free Speech claim upheld; ruling that professor’s lack of contractual or tenure right to reemployment, taken alone, did not defeat his claim that non-renewal of his contract violated the First Amendment.
 
IssueWhether the respondent’s lack of a contractual or tenure right to reemployment, taken alone, defeats his claim that the non-renewal of his contract violated the First Amendment and whether the college refused to renew the teaching contract based on a impermissible basis—as a reprisal for the exercise of the constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech.
Majority Opinion Stewart, J.
Concurring Opinion Burger, C.J. (see 92 S.Ct. 2717)
Dissenting Opinion Marshall, J. (dissenting in part)
Lower Court 5th Circuit
Lower Court Ruling Free Speech claim upheld.
Lawyers
For Petitioner
W.O. Shafer

For Respondent
Michael H. Gottesman

Interview
Interview

Opinion - Lower Court
Sinderman v. Perry, 430 F.2d 939, (C.A. Tex. 1970)
News
"Tenure Hearings Held Not a Right; Contract May be Ended by State-Operated Schools," New York Times, Jun. 30, 1972, pg. 16
McKenzie, John P., "Tenured Teachers’ Rights Defined," The Washington Post, Times Herald, Jul. 1, 1972, sect. A, pg. 4
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