Bd. of County Comm'Rs v. Umbehr

Decided June 28, 1996. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-1654 · 518 U.S. 668 (1996) · Cited 752 times

Holding

The First Amendment protects independent contractors from the termination or prevention of automatic renewal of at-will government contracts in retaliation for their exercise of the freedom of speech, and the Pickering balancing test, adjusted to weigh the government’s interests as contractor rather than as employer, determines the extent of that protection.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Branti v. Finkel · 445 U.S. 507 (1980)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)
• Berkovitz v. United States · 486 U.S. 531 (1988)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Rankin v. McPherson · 483 U.S. 378 (1987)
• Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Chicago · 166 U.S. 226 (1897)
• Lefkowitz v. Turley · 414 U.S. 70 (1973)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• Escobedo v. Illinois · 378 U.S. 478 (1964)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit · 507 U.S. 163 (1993)
• Crowell v. Benson · 285 U.S. 22 (1932)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Romer v. Evans · 517 U.S. 620 (1996)
• Laird v. Tatum · 408 U.S. 1 (1972)
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District · 439 U.S. 410 (1979)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District · 508 U.S. 384 (1993)
• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Abrams v. United States · 250 U.S. 616 (1919)
• Logue v. United States · 412 U.S. 521 (1973)
• Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California · 468 U.S. 364 (1984)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Wilkie v. Robbins · 551 U.S. 537 (2007)
• Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
• Lozman v. Riviera Beach · 585 U.S. 87 (2018)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Garcetti v. Ceballos · 547 U.S. 410 (2006)
• Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. · 547 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees · 585 U.S. 878 (2018)
• Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Corp. · 528 U.S. 32 (1999)
• Texas v. Lesage · 528 U.S. 18 (1999)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Sandra Day O'Connor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).