By a 5–4 vote, the Court struck down an Arkansas law imposing disclosure requirements on public schoolteachers, reasoning that they were unconstitutionally overbroad.

[6] The case was consolidated with another in which the Arkansas Supreme Court had upheld the law,[7] and oral arguments were heard (with Shelton represented by Robert L. Carter) on November 7.

[9] In his majority opinion, Stewart accepted that it could sometimes be appropriate to question teachers about their associations, for instance to ensure that they could spend their time focused on teaching.

[1] The Court instead struck down the law on the grounds that it was too broad since it required teachers to disclose associations that "could have no possible bearing" on their ability to teach.

[1] In a dissent joined by Clark, Harlan, and Whittaker,[9] Frankfurter conceded that, as an opponent of intrusions on academic freedom, he might "find displeasure with the Arkansas legislation under review".