Section 8 Regulation of Other Forms of Political Expression

LibraryEmp-Emp Law 2000

The Hatch Act, 5 U.S.C. § 7324, decisions of the United States Supreme Court recognize the validity of restrictions only on active forms of political campaigning and management. They do not sanction the conditioning of public employment on adherence to certain political beliefs or on membership in certain or no political parties. These distinguishable issues were addressed in Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347 (1976), in which the Court struck down wholesale dismissals of nonpolicy-making, nonconfidential state employees based solely upon their refusal to join or support a particular political party. The plurality Elrod opinion, however, does not resolve the constitutional standing of patronage decisions beyond that particular set of facts. A later case, Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507 (1980), clarified somewhat the criterion to be applied to these questions. The Court in Branti found impermissible patronage dismissals of assistant public defenders. In these cases “the ultimate inquiry is not whether the label ‘policymaker’ or ‘confidential’ fits a particular position; rather, the question is whether the hiring authority can demonstrate that party affiliation is an appropriate requirement for effective...

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