New York Education Law Section 3002 requires that any ‘teacher, instructor or professor in any school or institution in the public school system … or in any school, college, university or other educational institution’ sign an oath pledging support for the federal and state constitutions. The law does not apply to foreign nationals, but only to United States citizens. The law was enacted in 1934 in response to a nationwide campaign by the American Legion. The law was challenged by a group of 27 faculty members from Adelphi University in 1966 because the oath constrained free speech, and because it selectively applied to faculty members but not staff. For unknown reasons, Adelphi faculty had never been required to sign the oath until 1966 when a staff member in the New York State Education Department discovered the oversight. On January 22, 1968, after moving through the judicial system, the United States Supreme Court affirmed an earlier District Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the law. This was the first occasion on which the Supreme Court evaluated the constitutionality of oaths of this type.