Home > Great American Court Cases > Waters v. Churchill

Legal Citation: 511 U.S. 661 (1994)

Petitioners
Cynthia Waters, Kathleen Davis

Respondent
Cheryl Churchill

Petitioners' Claim
That a public hospital employee's speech is not protected by the First Amendment when it disrupts the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the facility.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners
Lawrence A. Marison

Chief Lawyer for Respondent
John J. Bisbee

Justices for the Court
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony M. Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor (writing for the Court), William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter, Clarence Thomas

Justices Dissenting
Harry A. Blackmun, John Paul Stevens

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
31 May 1994

Decision
Upheld the hospital's claim and overturned a lower court's decision prohibiting the...