Supreme Court of the United States
City of Madison Joint School District No. 8 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission
December 8, 1976429 U.S. 167
Summary
The Court held that a state labor-relations order violated the First Amendment by barring public-school employees from speaking at an open school-board meeting about pending collective-bargaining matters merely because they were not union representatives. The teacher’s brief presentation was public comment, not collective bargaining, and the order was an unconstitutional prior restraint because its broad terms burdened future communications about nearly any school-system matter. Justices Brennan and Marshall, and Justice Stewart, concurred in the judgment on narrower grounds concerning the distinction between closed bargaining sessions and open public forums.
Holding
- Whether the teacher’s public presentation constituted negotiation that could justify restricting his speech. The teacher’s brief statement was not negotiation. He did not seek to bargain or offer to enter into an agreement, and communicating his views to the board did not alter the union’s exclusive authority to negotiate and contract with the board.
- Whether the cease-and-desist order violated the First Amendment. The order was unconstitutional because an open public meeting could not be limited to one category of interested speakers based on their employment status or the content of their speech, and the order operated as an overbroad prior restraint on future communication with the government.
Docket 75-946
Cited authorities
- Wis. Stat. § 111.70
- Wis. Stat. §§ 111.70
- Wis. Stat. § 111.70
- Wis. Stat. § 66.77