Loyalty Oaths Flashcards
Loyalty oath and public employment requirements
Generally, the government may not require an applicant to sign a loyalty oath. However, an oath that requires public employees to “support the Constitution of the United States” and the state constitution is constitutional under Connell v. Higgenbotham, 403 U.S. 207 (1971). An oath required “to oppose the overthrow of the government . . . by force, violence, or by an illegal or unconstitutional method” has also been found to be constitutional. Cole v. Richardson, 405 U.S. 676 (1972).
The government may generally not require an applicant to sign a loyalty oath. However, an oath is valid if its contents require the applicant to refrain from conduct that would be grounds for punishing him or denying him the job (e.g., an oath that the applicant will support the Constitution of the United States is valid). Moreover, it has been held that the provisions in this oath specifically are constitutional and do not infringe upon a public employee’s rights. Therefore, the best argument in favor of supporting the discharge is that the oath as a whole is only a commitment to abide by constitutional processes, which the instructor was required to abide by anyway.
