State Loyalty Oaths Spread as California Passes Levering Act, Requires Public Employee Pledges

In 1950, California passed the Levering Act, requiring all state employees to sign a loyalty oath swearing they did not belong to organizations advocating overthrow of the government. The law followed a bitter fight at the University of California that had already fired 31 faculty members for refusing to sign a university-imposed oath. Similar loyalty oaths spread across the nation, creating a McCarthy-era apparatus that extended political persecution from federal employment to state and local government, universities, and professions.

The University of California controversy began in 1949 when the Board of Regents, led by Governor Earl Warren, adopted a requirement that all employees sign an anti-communist oath. Faculty members objected on grounds of academic freedom, arguing that the oath implied disloyalty without proof and violated principles of tenure. When 31 faculty members refused to sign, they were dismissed in August 1950—despite recommendations by university committees that they be retained.

The Levering Act went further, requiring all California public employees—teachers, librarians, firefighters, and others—to sign similar oaths. By 1952, 39 states had passed loyalty oath requirements of various kinds. Beyond government employment, private organizations joined the purge: bar associations investigated attorneys’ political beliefs, medical societies questioned physicians, and professional licensing boards demanded declarations of loyalty.

The oaths had chilling effects beyond those directly fired. Professors avoided controversial topics. Scientists declined government research contracts rather than submit to investigation. Teachers removed books from curricula. The American Association of University Professors later estimated that approximately 600 academics lost their jobs during the McCarthy era for political reasons.

The California Supreme Court eventually ruled the loyalty oath unconstitutional in Vogel v. County of Los Angeles (1967), but damage to academic freedom and professional careers had already been done. The loyalty oath system demonstrated how McCarthyism extended beyond federal institutions to capture state and local government, education, and professional licensing—creating overlapping structures of political conformity enforcement.