Keyishian v. Board of Regents 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
KEYISHIAN v. BOARD OF REGENTS 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
adler v. board of education (1952) was one of the cases in which the Supreme Court upheld a wide range of regulations barring "subversives" from government employment. Keyishian overruled Adler and was the culmination of a series of later decisions restricting loyalty-security programs, typically by invoking the vagueness and overbreadth doctrines. Keyishian struck down some parts of a complex New York law limiting employment in public teaching; the law's use of the term "seditious" was unconstitutionally vague. Other parts of the law were invalid because they prohibited mere knowing membership in the Communist party without the specific intent required by elfbrandt v. russell (1966). Keyishian confirmed the Court's previous decisions rejecting the doctrine that public employment is a privilege to which government may attach whatever conditions it pleases.
Martin Shapiro
(1986)