| Litigants: | Branti v. Finkel |
| Decidedate: | March 31 |
| Decideyear: | 1980 |
| Fullname: | Branti v. Finkel |
| Usvol: | 445 |
| Uspage: | 507 |
| Holding: | Public defenders cannot be fired solely based on their political affiliation. |
Branti v. Finkel, 445 U.S. 507 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that public defenders cannot be fired solely based on their political affiliation.
The two petitioners, Republicans, were Assistant Public Defenders fired by a newly-elected county Public Defender affiliated with the Democrats. The decision here was based in part on the fact that the county Public Defender was not a policy-making position entitled to such a distinction among its employees, but the Court extended this doctrine in Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois to protect government employees much more broadly.[1]