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Adler et al. v. Board of Education of the City of New York - Significance, The Feinberg Law

court university appellants william

Appellants

Two parents of school children, and four teachers

Appellees

New York City Board of Education

Appellants' Claim

The Supreme Court should invalidate the Feinberg Law, which declared it illegal for school teachers to "advocate, advise, teach, or embrace" the overthrow of the government by force and violence.

Chief Lawyer for Appellants

Osmond K. Fraenkel

Chief Lawyer for Appellees

Michael A Castaldi

Justices for the Court

Harold Burton, Tom C. Clark, Robert H. Jackson, Sherman Minton (writing for the Court), Stanley Forman Reed, Fred Moore Vinson

Justices Dissenting

Hugo Lafayette Black, William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

3 March 1952

Decision

The Court affirmed lower court rulings that the Feinberg Law was constitutional.

Related Cases

  • Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652 (1925).
  • United Public Workers v. Mitchell, 330 U.S. 75 (1947).
  • Garner v. Board of Public Works of the City of Los Angeles, 341 U.S. 716 (1951).
  • Keyishian v. Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, 385 U.S. 589 (1967).

Sources

Folts, James D. History of the University of the State of New York and the State Education Department, 1784-1996 (1996). http://unix2.nysed.gov.

Further Readings

  • Emerson, Thomas I. The System of Freedom of Expression. New York: Random House, 1970.
  • Kalvern, Harry. A Worthy Tradition: Freedom of Speech in America. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.
  • Wiecek, William. Liberty under Law: The Supreme Court in American Life. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988.

Additional Topics

Adler et al. v. Board of Education of the City of New York - Significance

The decision upheld New York's right not to hire teachers belonging to subversive organizations. In fact, no one ever was denied a job or fired on these grounds. Nevertheless, a later court found the same New York law in violation of the First Amendment (Keyishian v, Board of Regents, 1967). In the early 1950s, during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the Supreme Court decided a number of cases …

Adler et al. v. Board of Education of the City of New York - The Feinberg Law

New York state's Feinberg Law, passed in 1949, was a product of post-World War II fears concerning the spread of Communism and "subversion." It was designed to aid in the enforcement of two earlier laws, one passed in 1917--during an earlier "Red Scare," brought on by the victory of Communism in Russia and the spread of Communist sympathies among workers in the United States--and the other in 1939…

Alger Hiss Trials: 1949-50 - Hiss Denies Communist Link, A "bombshell," A Seaplane, A Pumpkin, A Typewriter Proves Elusive [next] [back] Adamson v. California - Significance, Justice Black Argues For Total Incorporation, Due Process Of Law

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almost 2 years ago

I do not think it is correct that no teachers were fired under the Feinberg Law. The impression one gets from the secondary literature is that scores were, and that others resigned for fear of public targeting.