Estelle Laba, Appellants-Cross-Respondents v. the Board of Education of Newark in the County of Essex…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the State Commissioner of Education's decision to remand the dismissal proceedings of three teachers who invoked the Fifth Amendment before a congressional committee, holding that such invocation alone is not just cause for dismissal under the school statutes. The Court also rejected the Board's reliance on the teachers' Fifth Amendment pleas as per se misconduct and noted the authority of the Commissioner to order further inquiry without reinstatement. Justice Weintraub concurred in part, expressing concern about the constitutionality of deeming the privilege contumacious.