Leonard Boudin
Encyclopedia
Leonard B. Boudin was an American civil liberties
attorney
and left-wing activist who represented Daniel Ellsberg
of Pentagon Papers
fame and Dr. Benjamin Spock
, the author of Baby and Child Care
, who advocated draft resistance during the Vietnam War
. Other opponents of the Vietnam war whom he represented were Julian Bond
, William Sloan Coffin, and Philip Berrigan
.
He also represented other controversial clients including the Church of Scientology
, Judith Coplon
, the post-revolutionary government of Cuba
, Paul Robeson
, and others (such as persons subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee
) thought or known to have Marxist views or Communist affiliations. Boudin was counsel to the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee
and a member of the National Lawyers Guild
. He was the law partner of Victor Rabinowitz
, himself counsel to numerous left-wing organizations and individuals.
Boudin argued and won unanimously the first case in which the United States Supreme Court invalidated a federal statute under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment
, Lamont v. Postmaster General
. He also argued and won the landmark case Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, in which the Supreme Court held that draft dodgers could not be stripped of their citizenship without being criminally prosecuted and afforded the protections promised to criminal defendants in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.
The papers of Boudin and Rabinowitz' law firm, ultimately Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky and Lieberman, P.C., indicate work for, among others, Dashiell Hammett
, James Hoffa, Rockwell Kent
, Alger Hiss
, the American Communications Association (ACA) and other unions, the Fellowship of Reconciliation
and other non-union organizations .
Leonard Boudin was the nephew of Louis Boudin, a labor lawyer and professor of constitutional law
at Yale University
. His brother-in-law was influential left-wing journalist I. F. Stone
. He went to City College and received his law degree from St. John's Law School in 1936. Leonard fathered two children, Michael and Kathy, who achieved recognition in later life. Michael Boudin
became a jurist and is currently a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
, serving as its chief judge 2001-2008. Kathy Boudin
was an activist and co-founder of the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground, who served 22 years in prison for her role in a 1981 robbery that left two police officers and a security guard dead. His only biological grandson, Chesa Boudin
, Kathy's son, is now a student at the Yale Law School.
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and left-wing activist who represented Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg, PhD, is a former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War,...
of Pentagon Papers
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967...
fame and Dr. Benjamin Spock
Benjamin Spock
Benjamin McLane Spock was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. Its message to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand...
, the author of Baby and Child Care
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
-External links:...
, who advocated draft resistance during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Other opponents of the Vietnam war whom he represented were Julian Bond
Julian Bond
Horace Julian Bond , known as Julian Bond, is an American social activist and leader in the American civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the early 1960s, he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating...
, William Sloan Coffin, and Philip Berrigan
Philip Berrigan
Philip Francis Berrigan was an internationally renowned American peace activist, Christian anarchist and former Roman Catholic priest...
.
He also represented other controversial clients including the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
, Judith Coplon
Judith Coplon
Judith Coplon Socolov was one of the first major figures tried in the United States for spying for the former Soviet Union; problems in her trials in 1949–50 had a profound influence on espionage prosecutions during the McCarthy era.-Work and arrest:Coplon obtained a job in the Department of...
, the post-revolutionary government of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
, and others (such as persons subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
) thought or known to have Marxist views or Communist affiliations. Boudin was counsel to the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee
National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee
The National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee was an organization formed in 1951 to "to reestablish the freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights", and was called the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee until 1968...
and a member of the National Lawyers Guild
National Lawyers Guild
The National Lawyers Guild is an advocacy group in the United States "dedicated to the need for basic and progressive change in the structure of our political and economic system . ....
. He was the law partner of Victor Rabinowitz
Victor Rabinowitz
Victor Rabinowitz was an American lawyer known for representing high-profile leftist clients and causes.-Biography:He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a factory owner who had emigrated from Lithuania...
, himself counsel to numerous left-wing organizations and individuals.
Boudin argued and won unanimously the first case in which the United States Supreme Court invalidated a federal statute under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
, Lamont v. Postmaster General
Lamont v. Postmaster General
Lamont v. Postmaster General, 381 U.S. 301 , was a landmark First Amendment Supreme Court case, in which the ruling of the Supreme Court struck down § 305 of the Postal Service and Federal Employees Salary Act of 1962a federal statute requiring the Postmaster General to detain and deliver only upon...
. He also argued and won the landmark case Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, in which the Supreme Court held that draft dodgers could not be stripped of their citizenship without being criminally prosecuted and afforded the protections promised to criminal defendants in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.
The papers of Boudin and Rabinowitz' law firm, ultimately Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky and Lieberman, P.C., indicate work for, among others, Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
, James Hoffa, Rockwell Kent
Rockwell Kent
Rockwell Kent was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, and writer.- Biography :Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York, the same year as fellow American artists George Bellows and Edward Hopper...
, Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss was an American lawyer, government official, author, and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and U.N. official...
, the American Communications Association (ACA) and other unions, the Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fellowship of Reconciliation
The Fellowship of Reconciliation is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries...
and other non-union organizations .
Leonard Boudin was the nephew of Louis Boudin, a labor lawyer and professor of constitutional law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. His brother-in-law was influential left-wing journalist I. F. Stone
I. F. Stone
Isidor Feinstein Stone was an iconoclastic American investigative journalist. He is best remembered for his self-published newsletter, I. F...
. He went to City College and received his law degree from St. John's Law School in 1936. Leonard fathered two children, Michael and Kathy, who achieved recognition in later life. Michael Boudin
Michael Boudin
Michael Boudin is a Judge and former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.Boudin was born in New York City, the son of the civil liberties attorney Leonard Boudin and older brother of Weather Underground member Kathy Boudin. He received a B.A. from Harvard...
became a jurist and is currently a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Maine* District of Massachusetts...
, serving as its chief judge 2001-2008. Kathy Boudin
Kathy Boudin
Kathy Boudin is a former American radical who was convicted in 1984 of felony murder for her participation in an armed robbery that resulted in the killing of three people. She later became a public health expert while in prison...
was an activist and co-founder of the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground, who served 22 years in prison for her role in a 1981 robbery that left two police officers and a security guard dead. His only biological grandson, Chesa Boudin
Chesa Boudin
Chesa Boudin is an American progressive writer and lecturer, focused on Latin American issues. A Rhodes Scholar, he graduated from Yale Law School in 2011.-Early Life and Family:...
, Kathy's son, is now a student at the Yale Law School.
Further reading
- Braudy, Susan, Family Circle: The Boudins and the Aristocracy of the Left, Random House, November 2003
- Rabinowitz, Victor, Unrepentant Leftist: A Lawyer's Memoir, Beacon Press, 1980, ISBN 978-0252022531