| Up until the late 1960's, in order to work in a public school, it was assumed that a teacher checked their Constituional rights at the front door. In a landmark Supreme Court (herinafter referred to as the "Court") case, the Justices threw out that idea and gave First Amendment protection to public schoolteachers. Other lawsuits would follow and soon all public employees were granted not only First Amendment protection, but Fourteenth Amendment protection as well. No longer did an employee have to trade his or her right to free speech and due process for a paycheck. The Court came up with a balance test to use as a tool that weighed the First Amendment rights of an employee with the interests of the State. In one decision, the Court also recognized the First Amendment rights of public school students. The research for this dissertation analyses the legal cases that went before the courts in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the United States Supreme Court, as well as book and journal articles on the topic of free speech. The history of free speech in academia throughout the Twentieth Century is examined. |
