Morrison v. State Board of Education
California Supreme Court
461 P.2d 375 (1969)
Longtime, well-regarded public-school teacher Morrison (plaintiff) had a single week-long, non-criminal homosexual encounter with a friend, fellow teacher Schneringer, in 1963; nearly three years later, after Schneringer reported the incident and resigned, the California State Board of Education (board) (defendant) revoked Morrison's teaching credentials for unprofessional conduct and moral turpitude based solely on this single incident, with no other complaints ever raised about Morrison's teaching. The trial court dismissed Morrison's appeal, and Morrison appealed to the California Supreme Court.
Whether teachers may be disciplined for immoral conduct and acts of moral turpitude only if the conduct indicates an unfitness to teach.