Clyde Summers
Clyde Summers | |
---|---|
US labor law scholar | |
Title | Jefferson B. Fordham Professor of Law |
Clyde Wilson Summers (November 21, 1918 – October 30, 2010) was an American lawyer and educator who advocated for more democratic procedures in
Early life
Summers was born in
Career and further education
Summers' brother had enlisted in the United States Army at the beginning of World War II.[5] But Summers, opposed to the use of force, declared himself a conscientious objector.[2] The Illinois State Bar Association admitted he was of high moral character and exhibited excellent knowledge of the law, but denied him admission in 1942 due to his conscientious objector status.[7] In a highly controversial but important decision, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the denial of admission to the bar in In re Summers, 325 U.S. 561 (1945).[7][8] Summers later was admitted to the New York State Bar Association.[9]
He taught law at the
Summers earned a Master of Laws in 1946 and a Doctor of Science in law in 1952, both from Columbia University.[1][10] He taught law at the University of Buffalo from 1949 to 1956.[10] While at Buffalo, Summers was also employed by the United Auto Workers and United Steelworkers to teach labor law to union members, and represented union members in arbitration hearings.[12] In the summer of 1949, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asked Summers to update the organization's 1943 report, Democracy in Trade Unions. The updated report was published in June 1952.[12] He taught law at Yale Law School from 1956 to 1975,[1][10] but left after he felt marginalized by the faculty there.[13] He joined the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1975, where he was Jefferson B. Fordham Professor of Law.[1][10] He retired in 2005 at the age of 87.[1]
Union work
In the 1940s and 1950s, Summers wrote numerous "ground-breaking" articles for law reviews that discussed how labor unions were violating their members' rights and the lack of democratic procedures and due process in union constitutions and processes.[1] His 1947 article, "The Right to Join a Union", proved to be a critical piece in the development of his legal thinking, because it advocated that union members do not merely gain the right to work on a job but gain the right to actively participate in the union's decision-making processes.[14]
As the
Summers' work was critical to the drafting and passage of the Landrum–Griffin Act of 1959. His 1952 ACLU report helped frame the legislative proposals the Senate Select Committee considered as its work came to an end.[18] In 1957, Harvard Law School professor Archibald Cox was asked by Senator John F. Kennedy to put together a panel of experts to draft labor law reform legislation that would address the issues raised by the Select Committee.[19] The draft legislation which Summers helped write was the foundation of the 1958 Kennedy-Ives Bill, which itself was incorporated into the Landrum–Griffin Act.[19] The New York legislation Summers helped write became the basis for Title V of the Act.[16] His testimony before the Senate "played a pivotal role in the Senate's narrow vote, during the next session of Congress, to add a Union Members' Bill of Rights to the bill..."[20]
For nearly four decades starting in 1969, Summers served on the board of directors of the
Summers' theory of union democracy was that transparency and democracy make it very unlikely that organized crime will gain a foothold in a union, or that union leaders will act against their members' best interests.[25] His 1960 casebook, Labor Relations and the Law, is considered a labor law "classic".[26] His 1998 casebook, Labor Law, Cases and Materials, "is one of the few casebooks to provide a thorough discussion of union democracy."[25] His most influential later work was the article "Democracy in a One-Party State: Perspectives from Landrum–Griffin," published in 1984.[27]
Death
Summers died at a retirement home in Germantown, Pennsylvania, on October 30, 2010, from complications of a stroke.[1] He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and two sons.[1]
Publications
- Articles
- 'The Right to Join a Union', Columbia Law Review, (1947) 47, p.33
- ‘The Public Interest in Union Democracy’, Northwestern Law Review, (1958) 53, p.610
- 'Worker Participation in the U.S. and West Germany: A Comparative Study from an American Perspective’, American Journal of Comparative Law, (1980) 28, p.367
- ‘Democracy in a one party state: perspectives from Landrum Griffin’, Maryland Law Review, (1984) 43, p.93
See also
- US labor law
- UK labour law
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Greenhouse, Steven. "Clyde Summers, Advocate of Labor Union Democracy, Is Dead at 91." New York Times. November 11, 2010.
- ^ a b Shearer, Home Front Heroes, 2007, p. 790.
- ^ Jacobs, Mobsters, Unions, and Feds: The Mafia and the American Labor Movement, 2006, p. xxv.
- ^ Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 121.
- ^ a b c d e Joseph, Black Mondays: Worst Decisions of the Supreme Court, 1987, p. 47.
- ^ Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 122.
- ^ a b Konvitz, Fundamental Liberties of a Free People: Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, 2003, p. 224-225.
- ^ Wicek, History of the Supreme Court of the United States..., 2006, p. 301-302; Kramer, The Price of Rights: The Courts, the Welfare State, and Civil Liberties, 2003, p. 125-127.
- ^ Walker, In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU, 1999, p. 153.
- ^ a b c d e Smith, "Panel Discussion: The National Labor Relations Act and Collective Bargaining," in Collective Bargaining and the Law, 1986, p. 39.
- ^ Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 123.
- ^ a b Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 135.
- ^ Kalman, Yale Law School and the Sixties: Revolt and Reverberations, 2005, p. 128.
- ^ Summers, Clyde W. "The Right to Join a Union." Columbia Law Review. 47:33 (1947); Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 123-124.
- ^ Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 133.
- ^ a b Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 134.
- ^ Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 140.
- ^ Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 136.
- ^ a b Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 138.
- ^ Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 139.
- ^ a b c Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 144.
- ^ Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 144-145.
- ^ a b Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 144-146.
- ^ a b Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 146-147.
- ^ a b Jacobs, Mobsters, Unions, and Feds: The Mafia and the American Labor Movement, 2006, p. xiii.
- ^ Finkin, "Labor Law Scholarship: A Critical Survey," in Research Frontiers in Industrial Relations and Human Resources, 1992, p. 527.
- ^ Summers, Clyde W. "Democracy in a One-Party State: Perspectives from Landrum–Griffin" Maryland Law Review. 43:93 (1984); the assessment of the importance of this article is from Goldberg, "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law," Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 2010, p. 148.
Sources
- Finkin, Matthew W. "Labor Law Scholarship: A Critical Survey." In Research Frontiers in Industrial Relations and Human Resources. David Lewin, ed. Madison, Wisc.: Industrial Relations Research Association, 1992.
- Goldberg, Michael J. "Present at the Creation: Clyde Summers and the Field of Union Democracy Law." Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal. 14:121 (2010).
- Jacobs, James B. Mobsters, Unions, and Feds: The Mafia and the American Labor Movement. New York: New York University Press, 2006.
- Joseph, Joel D. Black Mondays: Worst Decisions of the Supreme Court. Bethesda, Md.: National Press, 1987.
- Kalman, Laura. Yale Law School and the Sixties: Revolt and Reverberations. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 2005.
- Konvitz, Milton Ridvas. Fundamental Liberties of a Free People: Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2003.
- Kramer, Daniel C. The Price of Rights: The Courts, the Welfare State, and Civil Liberties. Frankfurt, Ky.: P. Lang, 2003.
- Shearer, Benjamin F. Home Front Heroes. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007.
- Smith, Russell A. "Panel Discussion: The National Labor Relations Act and Collective Bargaining." In Collective Bargaining and the Law. Buffalo, N.Y.: Wm. S. Hein, 1986.
- Walker, Samuel. In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1999.
- Wicek, William M. History of the Supreme Court of the United States: The Birth of the Modern Constitution: The United States Supreme Court, 1941–1953. New York: Macmillan, 2006.