Gov. Earl Warren Signs Levering Act, Loyalty Oath for All State Employees
The Levering Act, which California Governor Earl Warren signed on this day, imposed a loyalty oath on all public employees in the state.
It was separate from the University of California loyalty oath for all university system employees, which was adopted on April 21, 1950, and was the subject of a major controversy during the Cold War. The California Supreme Court declared the University of California loyalty oath unconstitutional on October 17, 1952 and the Levering Act unconstitutional on December 21, 1967.
The insidious aspect of all the loyalty oaths of the Cold War era was that they related to political beliefs and associations and had nothing to do with any specific criminal or unprofessional conduct on the part of individuals required to sign them.
Read: David Gardner, The California Oath Controversy (1967)
Learn more about the Levering Act here
Learn about Earl Warren: Jim Newton: Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made (2006)
See the timeline on the California loyalty oath controversy, 1949-1954
Learn more about loyalty oaths in California here