Papish v. Board of Curators

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Papish v. Board of Curators (1973)

Syllabus

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Papish v. Board of Curators of University of Missouri, 410 U.S. 667 (1973) is a U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned a lower court ruling upholding the expulsion of Barbara Susan Papish, a graduate student at the University of Missouri, for "indecent speech." The Court rejected the notion that such content-based discipline could be justified, and ruled that public universities could not punish students for offensive speech that did not cause disruption or interfere with the rights of others. The Court held that the school's expulsion of Papish violated the First Amendment.

4778944Papish v. Board of Curators — Syllabus1973

Court Documents

Per Curiam Opinion of the Court

Dissenting Opinions: Burger; Rehnquist

Supreme Court of the United States

410 U.S. 667

Papish v. Board of Curators of the University of Missouri et al.

On Petition For Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

No. 72-794. Argued: N/A --- Decided: March 19, 1973

Expulsion of student for distributing on campus a publication assertedly containing "indecent speech" proscribed by a bylaw of a state university's Board of Curators held an impermissible violation of her First Amendment free speech rights since the mere dissemination of ideas on a state university campus cannot be proscribed in the name of "conventions of decency."

Certiorari granted; 464 F.2d 136, reversed.

PER CURIAM.