Branti v. Finkel
Appearance
Branti v. Finkel | |
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Decided March 31, 1980 | |
Full case name | Branti v. Finkel |
Citations | 445 U.S. 507 (more) |
Holding | |
Public defenders cannot be fired solely based on their political affiliation. | |
Court membership | |
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Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that public defenders cannot be fired solely based on their political affiliation.
Background
[edit]The two petitioners, Republicans, were Assistant Public Defenders fired by a newly-elected county Public Defender affiliated with the Democrats.[1] The decision here was based in part on the fact that the county Public Defender was not a policy-making position entitled to such a distinction among its employees, but the Court extended this doctrine in Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois to protect government employees much more broadly.[2]