Board of Regents v. Roth 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
BOARD OF REGENTS v. ROTH 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
A nontenured state college teacher, hired for a one-year term, was told he would not be rehired for the following year. The Supreme Court held, 5–3, that he had not been deprived of procedural due process. Justice potter stewart, for the majority, announced a restrictive view of the nature of the interests protected by the due process guarantee. Henceforth the Court would look for an impact on some "liberty" or "property" interest, rather than examine the importance of the deprivation imposed by the state. Here the teacher had no "property" interest beyond his one-year contract, and his nonrenewal required no hearing.
In a companion case, Perry v. Sindermann (1972), the Court found a "property" interest in an unwritten policy that was the equivalent of tenure for a state junior college teacher. Furthermore, the teacher had alleged that his contract had not been renewed because of his exercise of first amendment freedoms—a "liberty" claim that did not depend on his tenured status.
Kenneth L. Karst
(1986)