Board of Regents v. Roth

Board of Regents v. Roth (1972) is a seminal case over the due process rights of educators in public schools who are facing termination or nonrenewal of their employment contracts. When public schools dismiss teachers or choose not to renew their contracts, sometimes they do so without providing the teachers with prior notice or opportunities to be heard. These teachers usually challenge their dismissals under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which [Page 107]requires states to provide procedural due process, meaning notice and opportunities to be heard, before depriving individuals of their substantive due process rights to life, liberty, or property. In Roth, the Supreme Court found that nontenured educators have no right to due process if their contracts are not renewed, unless ...