| United States v. National Treasury Employees Union | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued November 8, 1994 Decided February 22, 1995 | |
| Full case name | United States, et al. v. National Treasury Employees Union, et al. |
| Citations | 513U.S.454 (more) 115 S. Ct. 1003; 130L. Ed. 2d 964; 1995U.S. LEXIS 1624 |
| Holding | |
| Section 501(b) of theEthics in Government Act of 1978 violates theFirst Amendment. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Stevens, joined by Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Concur/dissent | O'Connor |
| Dissent | Rehnquist, joined by Scalia, Thomas |
United States v. National Treasury Employees Union, 513 U.S. 454 (1995), was aUnited States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Section 501(b) of theEthics in Government Act of 1978 violates theFirst Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Congress amended theEthics in Government Act of 1978 with the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (Pub. L. 101–194). In section 501(b), Congress prohibited its members, federal officers, and other government employees from "accepting anhonorarium for making an appearance, speech, or writing an article."[1]
TheNational Treasury Employees Union challenged this section as an unconstitutional violation of theFirst Amendment'sfreedom of speech protection.[1] The District Court held the honorarium ban unconstitutional and enjoined the government from enforcing it.[1] TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the District Court's holding.
Associate JusticeJohn Paul Stevens authored the majority opinion. Citing the test put forward inPickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205, the Court found that the restriction put in place in Section 501(b) of the Act "constitutes a wholesale deterrent to a broad category of expression by a massive number of potential speakers" requiring an even greater burden than that put forward inPickering.[2]
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