WIEMAN ET AL. v. UPDEGRAFF ET AL., 344 U.S. 183

Summary

Appellant state employees failed, within the 30 days permitted, to take the oath required by the Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 51, §§ 37.1-37.8 (1952). Appellee, as a citizen and taxpayer, brought suit in the state district court to enjoin the necessary state officials from paying further compensation to employees who did not subscribed to the oath. Appellants, who were permitted to intervene, attacked the validity of the Act on the grounds, among others, that it was a bill of attainder, an ex post facto law, it impaired the obligation of their contracts with the State, and violated the Due Process Clause. The court upheld the Act and enjoined the state officers from making further salary payments to appellants. The state supreme court affirmed, sub nom. On appeal, the court reversed holding that under the Act, the fact of association alone determined disloyalty and disqualification. The court opined that it was sufficient to say that due process did extend to the public servant whose ...