Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/350/551/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 16:30:41+00:00

Document:
Section 903 of the New York City Charter provides that, whenever a city employee utilizes the privilege against self-incrimination to avoid answering before a legislative committee, a question relating to his official conduct, his employment shall terminate. A teacher in a college operated by the City was summarily discharged under this section, without notice or hearing, because, while testifying before a federal legislative committee, he refused to answer questions concerning his membership in the Communist Party in 1940 and 1941 on the ground that his answers might tend to incriminate him. Under the New York Education Law, he was entitled to tenure, and could be discharged only for cause and after notice, hearing and appeal.
Held: in the circumstances of this case, his summary dismissal violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Pp. 350 U. S. 552-559.
(a) The privilege against self-incrimination would be reduced to a hollow mockery if its exercise could be taken as equivalent either to a confession of guilt or a conclusive presumption of perjury. Pp. 350 U. S. 556-558.
(b) On the record in this case, it cannot be claimed that the Board's action in dismissing the teacher was part of a bona fide attempt to gain needed and relevant information regarding his qualifications for his position. Pp. 350 U. S. 558-559.
(c) Since no inference of guilt was possible from the claim of the privilege against self-incrimination before the federal committee, the discharge falls of its own weight as wholly without support. P. 350 U. S. 559.
(d) Adler v. Board of Education, 342 U. S. 485, and Garner v. Los Angeles Board, 341 U. S. 716, distinguished. Pp. 350 U. S. 555-556.
(e) Wieman v. Updegraff, 344 U. S. 183, followed. Pp. 350 U. S. 556-558.
306 N.Y. 532, 119 N.E.2d 373, 307 N.Y. 806, 121 N.E.2d 629, reversed and remanded.
"his term or tenure of office or employment shall terminate and such office or employment shall be vacant, and he shall not be eligible to election or appointment to any office or employment under the city or any agency. [Footnote 1]"
under the Fifth Amendment before an investigating committee of the United States Senate, and was summarily discharged from his position as associate professor at Brooklyn College, an institution maintained by the City of New York. He now claims that the charter provision, as applied to him, violates both the Due Process and Privileges and Immunities Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
On September 24, 1952, the Internal Security Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate held open hearings in New York City. The investigation, conducted on a national scale, related to subversive influences in the American educational system. At the beginning of the hearings, the Chairman stated that education was primarily a state and local function, and therefore the inquiry would be limited to "considerations affecting national security, which are directly within the purview and authority of the subcommittee." Hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other Internal Security Laws of Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 82d Cong., 2d sess. 1. Professor Slochower, when called to testify, stated that he was not a member of the Communist Party, and indicated complete willingness to answer all questions about his associations or political beliefs since 1941. But he refused to answer questions concerning his membership during 1940 and 1941 on the ground that his answers might tend to incriminate him. The Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee accepted Slochower's claim as a valid assertion of an admitted constitutional right.
Allocating State Moneys for Public School Purposes and Subversive Activities, Legislative Document (1942), No. 49, State of New York at 318. Slochower testified that he had appeared twice before the Rapp-Coudert Committee, and had subsequently testified before the Board of Faculty relating to this charge. He also testified that he had answered questions at these hearings relating to his Communist affiliations in 1940 and 1941.
Slochower had 27 years' experience as a college teacher, and was entitled to tenure under state law. McKinney's New York Laws, c. 16, Education Law, § 6206(2). Under this statute, appellant may be discharged only for cause, and after notice, hearing, and appeal. § 6206(10). The Court of Appeals of New York, however, has authoritatively interpreted § 903 to mean that "The assertion of the privilege against self-incrimination is equivalent to a resignation." Daniman v. Board of Education of City of New York, 306 N.Y. 532, 538, 119 N.E.2d 373, 377. Dismissal under this provision is therefore automatic, and there is no right to charges, notice, hearing, or opportunity to explain.
Slochower argues that § 903 abridges a privilege or immunity of a citizen of the United States, since it, in effect, imposes a penalty on the exercise of a federally guaranteed right in a federal proceeding. It also violates due process, he argues, because the mere claim of privilege under the Fifth Amendment does not provide a reasonable basis for the State to terminate his employment. Appellee insists that no question of "privileges or immunities" was raised or passed on below, and therefore directs its argument solely to the proposition that § 903 does not operate in an arbitrary or capricious manner. We do not decide whether a claim under the "privileges or immunities" clause was considered below, since we conclude the summary dismissal of appellant in the circumstances of this case violates due process of law.
"constitutional protection does extend to the public servant whose exclusion pursuant to a statute is patently arbitrary or discriminatory."
344 U.S. at 344 U. S. 192.
of self-incrimination: (1) that the answering of the question would tend to prove him guilty of a crime in some way connected with his official conduct; or (2) that, in order to avoid answering the question, he falsely invoked the privilege by stating that the answer would tend to incriminate him, and thus committed perjury. Either inference, it insists, is sufficient to justify the termination of his employment. The Court of Appeals, however, accepted the Committee's determination that the privilege had been properly invoked, and it further held that no inference of Communist Party membership could be drawn from such a refusal to testify. It found the statute to impose merely a condition on public employment, and affirmed the summary action taken in the case. With this conclusion, we cannot agree.
be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances. See Griswold, The Fifth Amendment Today (1955).
With this in mind, we consider the application of § 903. As interpreted and applied by the state courts, it operates to discharge every city employee who invokes the Fifth Amendment. In practical effect, the questions asked are taken as confessed, and made the basis of the discharge. No consideration is given to such factors as the subject matter of the questions, remoteness of the period to which they are directed, or justification for exercise of the privilege. It matters not whether the plea resulted from mistake, inadvertence, or legal advice conscientiously given, whether wisely or unwisely. The heavy hand of the statute falls alike on all who exercise their constitutional privilege, the full enjoyment of which every person is entitled to receive. Such action falls squarely within the prohibition of Wieman v. Updegraff, supra.
It is one thing for the city authorities themselves to inquire into Slochower's fitness, but quite another for his discharge to be based entirely on events occurring before a federal committee whose inquiry was announced as not directed at "the property, affairs, or government of the city, or . . . official conduct of city employees." In this respect, the present case differs materially from Garner, where the city was attempting to elicit information necessary to determine the qualifications of its employees. Here, the Board had possessed the pertinent information for 12 years, and the questions which Professor Slochower refused to answer were admittedly asked for a purpose wholly unrelated to his college functions. On such a record, the Board cannot claim that its action was part of a bona fide attempt to gain needed and relevant information.
before at the state committee hearing, the Board seized upon his claim of privilege before the federal committee and converted it through the use of § 903 into a conclusive presumption of guilt. Since no inference of guilt was possible from the claim before the federal committee, the discharge falls of its own weight as wholly without support. There has not been the "protection of the individual against arbitrary action" which Mr. Justice Cardozo characterized as the very essence of due process. Ohio Bell Telephone Co. v. Public Utilities Commission, 301 U. S. 292, 301 U. S. 302.
This is not to say that Slochower has a constitutional right to be an associate professor of German at Brooklyn College. The State has broad powers in the selection and discharge of its employees, and it may be that proper inquiry would show Slochower's continued employment to be inconsistent with a real interest of the State. But there has been no such inquiry here. We hold that the summary dismissal of appellant violates due process of law.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK and MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS join the Court's judgment and opinion, but also adhere to the views expressed in their dissents in Adler v. Board of Education and Garner v. Los Angeles Board, supra, and to their concurrences in Wieman v. Updegraff, supra.
Thirteen other individuals brought suit for reinstatement after their dismissal for pleading the privilege against self-incrimination in the same federal investigation. We dismissed the appeal of these individuals "for want of a properly presented federal question." Daniman v. Board, 348 U.S. 933. See Daniman v. Board, 307 N.Y. 806, 121 N.E.2d 629, where the New York Court of Appeals declined to amend its remittitur to state that a federal question had been presented and passed on as to these appellants, but did so amend its remittitur as to Slochower.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK and MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS dissented. MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER dissented on grounds of standing and ripeness.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK and MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS dissented. MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER and MR. JUSTICE BURTON concurred in this aspect of the case, but dissented from other portions of the decision in separate opinions.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK and MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER concurred in separate opinions in which MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS joined. MR. JUSTICE BURTON concurred in the result.
The sole reliance of the Court for reversal of the New York Court of Appeals is that § 903, as here applied, violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. The Court of Appeals amended its remittitur to show that it held federal due process was not violated. 307 N.Y. 806, 121 N.E.2d 629. In view of the conclusions of the Court of Appeals, we need deal only with that problem. The Court of Appeals has exclusive power to determine the reach of its own statute.
The Court may intend merely to hold that, since the facts of Slochower's alleged Communist affiliations prior to 1941 were known to the Board before the federal claim, and since the inquiries of the Committee were asked for a purpose unrelated to his college functions, therefore it was a denial of due process to vacate his office. If so, its conclusion is likewise, we think, erroneous. We agree that this case is not, like Garner v. Los Angeles Board, 341 U. S. 716, an attempt to elicit information about professional qualifications. But § 903 is directed at the propriety of employing a man who refuses to give needed information to appropriate public bodies.
vacant was inconsistent with the fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all our civil and political institutions. [Footnote 2/4] A denial of due process is "a practice repugnant to the conscience of mankind." [Footnote 2/5] Surely no such situation exists here.
"A teacher works in a sensitive area in a schoolroom. There, he shapes the attitude of young minds towards the society in which they live. In this, the state has a vital concern. It must preserve the integrity of the schools. That the school authorities have the right and the duty to screen the officials, teachers, and employees as to their fitness to maintain the integrity of the schools as a part of ordered society cannot be doubted. One's associates, past and present, as well as one's conduct, may properly be considered in determining fitness and loyalty."
Id. at 342 U. S. 493.
A great American university has declared that members of its faculty who invoked the Fifth Amendment before committees of Congress were guilty of "misconduct,"
though not grave enough to justify dismissal. [Footnote 2/6] Numerous other colleges and universities have treated the plea of the Fifth Amendment as a justification for dismissal of faculty members. [Footnote 2/7] When educational institutions themselves feel the impropriety of reserving full disclosure of facts from duly authorized official investigations, can we properly say a city cannot protect itself against such conduct by its teachers?
in the Seabury Report to help in the elimination of graft and corruption. [Footnote 2/8] Numerous employees had refused to testify as to criminal acts on the ground of self-incrimination. New York decided it did not want that kind of public employees. We think New York had that right. We would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
Matter of Daniman v. Board of Education, Matter of Shlakman v. Board of Higher Education, 306 N.Y. 532, 119 N.E.2d 737.
"In this court, we are all agreed that the Communist party is a continuing conspiracy against our Government. . . . We are also all in agreement that an inquiry into the past or present membership in the Communist party is an inquiry regarding the official conduct of an officer or employee of the City of New York. Loyalty to our Government goes to the very heart of official conduct in service rendered in all branches of Government. . . . Communism is opposed to such loyalty. . . . Internal security affects local, as well as National, Governments."
Id. at 540-541, 119 N.E.2d at 379. The majority decided § 903 was applicable to a "hearing before a Federal legislative committee," and that this appellant was an employee of the city. Id. at 541, 119 N.E.2d at 379.
"9. Petitioners answered some and refused to answer others of the questions referred to in paragraph 8 on various and numerous grounds, including the ground that the Subcommittee had not jurisdiction to inquire into such matters, the ground that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States forbade such inquiry, the ground that the procedures of the Subcommittee violated their rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and that they could not be required under the Fifth Amendment to answer such questions, and on other grounds. The Subcommittee acquiesced in the refusal of petitioners to answer such questions."
"For the history of the privilege establishes not only that it is not to be interpreted literally, but also that its sole concern is, as its name indicates, with the danger to a witness forced to give testimony leading to the infliction of 'penalties affixed to the criminal acts. . . .'"
Hebert v. Louisiana, 272 U. S. 312, 272 U. S. 316; cf. Twining v. New Jersey, 211 U. S. 78, 211 U. S. 100.
Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U. S. 319, 302 U. S. 323, 302 U. S. 325-326. Cf. Francis v. Resweber, 329 U. S. 459, 329 U. S. 463; Adamson v. California, 332 U. S. 46, 332 U. S. 53.
"As in all acts of association, the professor accepts conventions which become morally binding. Above all, he owes his colleagues in the university complete candor and perfect integrity, precluding any kind of clandestine or conspiratorial activities. He owes equal candor to the public. If he is called upon to answer for his convictions it is his duty as a citizen to speak out. It is even more definitely his duty as a professor. Refusal to do so, on whatever legal grounds, cannot fail to reflect upon a profession that claims for itself the fullest freedom to speak and the maximum protection of that freedom available in our society. In this respect, invocation of the Fifth Amendment places upon a professor a heavy burden of proof of his fitness to hold a teaching position, and lays upon his university an obligation to reexamine his qualifications for membership in its society."
". . . When the powers of legislative inquiry are abused, the remedy does not lie in noncooperation or defiance; it is to be sought through the normal channels of informed public opinion."
42 American Assn. of University Professors Bulletin 61-94.
In the Matter of the Investigation of the Departments of the Government of the City of New York, Final Report by Samuel Seabury, December 27, 1932, pp. 9-10.
I dissent because I think the Court has misconceived the nature of § 903, as construed and applied by the New York Court of Appeals, and has unduly circumscribed the power of the State to ensure the qualifications of its teachers.
"we do not presume, of course, that these petitioners (one of whom was Dr. Slochower), by their action, have shown cause to be discharged under the Feinberg Law, L.1949, ch. 360, since no inference of membership in the Communist party may be drawn from the assertion of one's privilege against self incrimination. [Footnote 3/1]"
premise. The question this case presents, therefore, is not whether any inferences can constitutionally be drawn from a claim of privilege, but whether a State violates due process when it makes a claim of privilege grounds for discharge.
In effect, what New York has done is to say that it will not employ teachers who refuse to cooperate with public authorities when asked questions relating to official conduct. Does such a statute bear a reasonable relation to New York's interest in ensuring the qualifications of its teachers? The majority seems to decide that it does not. This Court has already held, however, that a State may properly make knowing membership in an organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Government by force a ground for disqualification from public school teaching. Adler v. Board of Education, 342 U. S. 485. A requirement that public school teachers shall furnish information as to their past or present membership in the Communist Party is a relevant step in the implementation of such a state policy, and a teacher may be discharged for refusing to comply with that requirement. Garner v. Los Angeles Board, 341 U. S. 716. Moreover, I think that a State may justifiably consider that teachers who refuse to answer questions concerning their official conduct are no longer qualified for public school teaching, on the ground that their refusal to answer jeopardizes the confidence that the public should have in its school system. On either view of the statute, I think Dr. Slochower's discharge did not violate due process.
Court of Appeals has ruled otherwise, and its interpretation is binding on us. Dr. Slochower cannot discriminate between forums in deciding whether or not to answer a proper and relevant question, if the State requires him to answer before every lawfully constituted body. Here, the information sought to be elicited from Dr. Slochower could have been considered by state authorities in reviewing Dr. Slochower's qualifications, and the effect of his claim of privilege on the public confidence in its school system was at least as great as it would have been had his refusal to answer been before a state legislative committee.
There is some evidence that Dr. Slochower had already answered, before a state committee, the same question which he refused to answer before the congressional subcommittee. [Footnote 3/3] Even assuming that New York already had the information, I cannot see how that would prevent New York from constitutionally applying § 903 to this claim of privilege. Apart from other considerations, who can tell whether Dr. Slochower would have answered the question the same way as he had before?
On this record, I would affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals. A different question would be presented under the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. But that question was not raised below, and is therefore not open here. Dewey v. Des Moines, 173 U. S. 193.
306 N.Y. 532, 538, 119 N.E.2d 373, 377.
At the Senate subcommittee hearing, in response to Senator Ferguson's inquiry whether or not Dr. Slochower had "ever" answered a question concerning Communist Party membership in 1940 or 1941, Dr. Slochower replied: "Yes, I did answer it."

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