In re Summers

In re Summers
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 27, 30, 1945
Decided June 11, 1945
Full case nameIn re Clyde Wilson Summers
Citations325 U.S. 561 (more)
65 S. Ct. 1307; 89 L. Ed. 1795
Case history
PriorOn appeal from the Supreme Court of Illinois
Holding
Denial of admission to Illinois bar on grounds of conscientious objector status does not violate the First or Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Harlan F. Stone
Associate Justices
Owen Roberts · Hugo Black
Stanley F. Reed · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Frank Murphy
Robert H. Jackson · Wiley B. Rutledge
Case opinions
MajorityReed, joined by Stone, Roberts, Frankfurter, Jackson
DissentBlack, joined by Douglas, Murphy, Rutledge

In re Summers, 325 U.S. 561 (1945), is a 5-to-4 ruling by the United States Supreme Court which held that the First and Fourteenth amendment freedoms of a conscientious objector were not infringed when a state bar association declined to admit him to the practice of law.[1] The Illinois Constitution required[2] citizens to serve in the state militia in time of war, and all lawyers admitted to the bar were required to uphold the state constitution.[3] Petitioner Clyde Summers could not uphold that constitutional requirement due to his religious beliefs, and the Supreme Court upheld the denial of his license of practice.[4]

  1. ^ In re Summers, 325 U.S. 561 (1945).
  2. ^ This provision has subsequently been removed.
  3. ^ Sheffer, God Versus Caesar: Belief, Worship, and Proselytizing Under the First Amendment, 1999, p. 159.
  4. ^ Schultz, West, and MacLean, Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics, 1999, p. 237-238.