Admission to Bar—Civil Disobedience Not Sufficient Grounds for Finding Lack of Good Moral Character—Hallinan v. Committee of Bar Examiners of State Bar, 65 Cal. 2d 447, 421 P.2d 76, 55 Cal. Rptr. 228 (1966)

Authors

William B. Fenton, University of Nebraska College of Law

Abstract

Deliberate acts of violence in purported support of a social cause doubtlessly will not be tolerated by bar committees and reviewing courts from a present or prospective member of the bar. But the credentials of a lawyer need not necessarily be denied to one who sincerely and peaceably participates in an act of civil disobedience after it becomes apparent that normal methods of petitioning for improvement through established private or government channels have proved useless.

I. Traditional Reasons for Finding Absence of Good Moral Character

II. Personal Beliefs as Evincing Lack of Good Moral Character … A. Denial of Admittance or Disbarment for Conscientious Objectors … B. Holding Beliefs of a Conscientious Objector Not a Bar to Entry to Profession … C. Other Beliefs and Conduct Not Adequate to Deny Bar Membership

III. Bar Admission Decisions of the United States Supreme Court

IV. Vulnerability of Present Members of the Bar to Dismissal for Acts of Civil Disobedience

V. The Practice of Law as a Right Rather Than a Privilege

VI. Conclusion

Recommended Citation

William B. Fenton, Admission to Bar—Civil Disobedience Not Sufficient Grounds for Finding Lack of Good Moral Character—Hallinan v. Committee of Bar Examiners of State Bar, 65 Cal. 2d 447, 421 P.2d 76, 55 Cal. Rptr. 228 (1966), 47 Neb. L. Rev. 128 (1968)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol47/iss1/10