Branti v. Finkel et al.

Decided March 31, 1980. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 78-1654 · 445 U.S. 507 (1980) · Cited 1,881 times

Holding

The First and Fourteenth Amendments protect respondents from discharge solely because of their political beliefs.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• Perry v. Sindermann · 408 U.S. 593 (1972)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers Union, Local 473 v. McElroy · 367 U.S. 886 (1961)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• United Public Workers of America v. Mitchell · 330 U.S. 75 (1947)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle · 429 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Imbler v. Pachtman · 424 U.S. 409 (1976)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Storer v. Brown · 415 U.S. 724 (1974)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• United States v. Ceccolini · 435 U.S. 268 (1978)
• Graver Tank & Mfg. Co. v. Linde Air Products Co. · 336 U.S. 271 (1949)
• Ferri v. Ackerman · 444 U.S. 193 (1979)

Cited by

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

• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• O'Hare Truck Service, Inc. v. City of Northlake · 518 U.S. 712 (1996)
• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• Heffernan v. City of Paterson · 578 U.S. 266 (2016)
• Polk County v. Dodson · 454 U.S. 312 (1981)
• Crawford-El v. Britton · 523 U.S. 574 (1998)
• Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees · 585 U.S. 878 (2018)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
• Finnegan v. Leu · 456 U.S. 431 (1982)
• Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. · 500 U.S. 614 (1991)
• Georgia v. McCollum · 505 U.S. 42 (1992)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party · 520 U.S. 351 (1997)
• Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation v. Secretary of Labor · 471 U.S. 290 (1985)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)
• Vieth v. Jubelirer · 541 U.S. 267 (2004)
• Missouri v. Jenkins · 515 U.S. 70 (1995)
• Rodriguez v. Popular Democratic Party · 457 U.S. 1 (1982)
• Democratic Party of United States v. Wisconsin Ex Rel. La Follette · 450 U.S. 107 (1981)
• Planned Parenthood Assn. of Kansas City, Mo., Inc. v. Ashcroft · 462 U.S. 476 (1983)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1980). 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).