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David Fellman (1907 – 2003) was a political scientist and constitutional scholar and advocate for
academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...
. He taught general
constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fe ...
,
administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regulations"), ad ...
and civil liberties. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska and studied at the University of Nebraska before transferring to Yale University and receiving his Ph.D. in philosophy. He returned to the University of Nebraska as a professor until relocating to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1947, and remaining there until his retirement. He became involved in Wisconsin state government and participated in several commissions and panels which helped review and eventually recommend constitutional changes.


Life and career

In 1905, the Fellmans immigrated to Omaha, Nebraska with two very young sons from what was then known as Volhynia, Belarus (now Ukraine). David was the third born of a brood that would grow to seven: six boys and one girl. When David was 21, he lost an older brother and a few years later, his father passed too. David Fellman attended
Omaha Central High School Omaha Central High School, originally known as Omaha High School, is a fully accredited public high school located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is one of many public high schools located in Omaha. As of the 2015-16 academic year ...
where he was president of the Mathematics society, a member of the Speakers Bureau and on the debate teams that won the district championship in 1924-25 and the state championship in 1925. He won the state contest in extemporaneous speaking. He taught Hebrew in a religious school to support himself while attending University of Nebraska in Lincoln. As an undergraduate, he was on the debate team for three years. He was a member of Nebraska's “Think-Shop” and was elected to
Delta Sigma Rho Delta Sigma Rho- Tau Kappa Alpha () is a collegiate honor society devoted to the promotion of public speaking (forensics). History Both Delta Sigma Rho and Tau Kappa Alpha were founded as honorary forensic societies. Delta Sigma Rho Delta Sigm ...
, the national debating honorary society, in May 1927, serving as president of that organization for one year. He was a member of
Sigma Alpha Mu Sigma Alpha Mu (), commonly known as Sammy, is a college fraternity founded at the City College of New York in 1909. Though initially founded as a Jewish organization, the fraternity dropped its religious affiliation and became open to men of a ...
fraternity, and was a reader for the political science department. For two years, he wrote a semi-weekly column in ''The Daily Nebraskan,'' official student newspaper entitled “A Student Looks at Public Affairs." He received his A.B. in 1929, and was inducted into
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
; he also received an M.A. in 1930 from the University of Nebraska. He was granted a teaching fellowship by the University of Nebraska in the political science department while pursuing work to prepare for his doctoral degree. In 1931, Fellman transferred to
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, having been the recipient of the Cowles fellowship in government. He studied political theory under Dr. Francis Coker, then a scholarship in philosophy in 1932, then the Sterling fellowship in government in 1933. He was awarded the Ph.D. from Yale University in 1934. He taught at the University of Nebraska from 1934 to 1947 and the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1947 until he retired in 1979. He maintained an office in North Hall at UW–Madison through the late 1980s. One newspaper remembered him as "beloved of generations of students who were attracted by his friendliness and charm as well as his intellectual stature." One former student, David Obey, wrote of him, "Anyone who remembers John Houseman’s portrayal of the law professor in ''The Paper Chase'' will know what Fellman was like – intimidating, tough, clipped, proper, dry, acerbic.” His books include ''The Censorship of Books'' (1957), ''The Defendant’s Rights'' (1958), ''The Limits of Freedom'' (1959), ''The Supreme Court and Education'' (1960), ''The Constitutional Rights of Association'' (1963), ''Religion in American Public Law'' (1965), ''The Defendant's Rights Under English Law'' (1966), and ''The Defendant's Rights Today'' (1976). He wrote an annual article for the ''American Political Science Review'' from 1949 to 1961 on constitutional law, reviewing the prior year's work of the U.S. Supreme Court. His other writings include numerous articles published in law and political science journals, contributions to various encyclopedias and single chapters to a number of books. In the 1960s, Fellman became active in Wisconsin state government. He wrote speeches for Governors Gaylord A. Nelson and John W. Reynolds, Jr. In 1959, he was appointed to the governor's Commission on
Human Rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
and served for nine years. They initiated surveys and drafted legislation, such as the fair housing bill submitted to the state legislature in 1965. In 1960 and 1963, he was named to the Governor's Commission on Constitutional Revision. They were tasked with "drafting of the actual texts of suitable constitutional amendments, the publicizing of their purpose and the promotion of their adoption." Among the notable changes that resulted was the increase of the term for governor from two years to four years beginning in 1970. In 1970, he was appointed by Chief Justice E. Harold Hallows of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to be chairman of the Committee to Recommend Rules on Use of Sound and Camera Equipment in the Courtroom and to advise the court and develop specific recommendations for use of such equipment, which was prohibited at that time. Fellman was president of the Midwest Political Science Association, 1955–1956, founding editor of that association's ''
Midwest Journal of Political Science The ''American Journal of Political Science'' is a journal published by the Midwest Political Science Association. It was formerly known as the ''Midwest Journal of Political Science''. According to the '' Journal Citation Reports'', the journal ...
'' (now ''American Journal of Political Science''), 1957–1959, vice president of the American Political Science Association, 1959–1960; and on the board of editors for ''The American Political Science Review'' of the received the Governmental Affairs Award from the Social Science Research Council, 1959-1960; senior research Fulbright fellow, Great Britain (London School of Economics), 1961–1962; holder of research grants from the
Fund for the Republic The Fund for the Republic (1951–1959) was an organization created by the Ford Foundation and dedicated to protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties in the United States. In 1959, the Fund moved from New York City to Santa Barbar ...
, 1957–1958 and the Social Science Research Council, 1959–1960; and recipient of an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) from the University of Nebraska, 1966. Until the 1960s, the University of Wisconsin-Madison lacked any endowed chairs. When the Vilas estate, bequeathed to the University in 1908, first became available for distribution, the first step was creation of several Vilas professorships, awarded by campus-wide competition. David Fellman was among the first group, named in 1962. He held the chair until his retirement. Fellman was a member of the American Association of University Professors ("AAUP") for sixty-one years, on its Committee A from 1957 to 1971, chaired it from 1959 to 1964, was president of the AAUP from 1964 to 1966“The Association’s Agenda’” ''AAUP Bulletin,'' Vol. 52, No. 2 (Jun., 1966), pp. 105-110 and continued as a member of the Governing Board of its Legal Defense Fund into the 1990s.


Books

* ''The Defendant's Rights Today,'' The University of Wisconsin Press, 1976, cloth, paper, * ''The Defendant's Rights under English Law,'' The University of Wisconsin Press, 1966, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-11803 OCLC ocm00407827 * ''Religion in American Public Law,'' Boston University Press, 1965, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 65-17006 OCLC ocm01058709 * ''The Constitutional Right of Association,'' The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1963, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-9728 OCLC ocm00497552 * ''The Limits of Freedom,'' Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, 1959, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-14425 OCLC ocm00498133 * ''The Defendant’s Rights,'' Rinehart & Company, Inc., New York, 1958, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 57-12386 OCLC ocm01227493 * ''The Censorship of Books,'' University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, 1957, OCLC No. 3559584 (35-page pamphlet)


Journal articles

* November 1930, "Due Process of Law in Nebraska," ''Nebraska Law Bulletin,'' Volume 9, No. 2 * February 1931, "Due Process of Law in Nebraska: Police Power," ''Nebraska Law Bulletin,'' Volume 9, No. 3 * May 1931, "Due Process of Law in Nebraska," ''Nebraska Law Bulletin,'' Volume 9, No. 4 * May 1932, "Due Process of Law in Nebraska: Notice and Hearings," ''Nebraska Law Bulletin,'' Volume 10, No. 4 * December 1938, "Diminution of Judicial Salaries,” ''Iowa Law Review'' * January 1940, “Intergovernmental Taxation Today,” ''The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,'' Vol. 207, Issue 1, Intergovernmental Relations in the United States, Pages 27–37 * July 1940, “The European Background of Early American Ideas Concerning Property,” ''Temple University Law Quarterly,'' Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * January 1941, “A Case Study in Administrative Law—The Regulation of Barbers,” ''Washington University Law Review,'' Volume 26, Issue 2: Page 212-242 * May – Jun 1945, “Some Consequences of Increased Federal Activity in Law Enforcement,” ''Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology (1931-1951),'' Volume 35, Issue 1: Pages 16–33 * Autumn 1945, "What Is Liberalism?" ''Prairie Schooner,'' Lincoln, Nebraska * December 1947, " Federalism,” ''American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 41, Issue 6: Pages 1142-1160 * February 1948, "Federalism and the Commerce Clause, 1937 - 1947", ''Journal of Politics,'' Vol. 10, No 1: Pages 155-167 * Spring 1949, “Recent Tendencies in Civil Liberties Decisions of the Supreme Court," ''Cornell Law Review,'' Volume 34, Issue 3, Article 3: Pages 331-351 * Winter 1950, “Negroes and the Federal Courts,” ''Prairie Schooner,'' Lincoln, Nebraska, Vol. 24, No. 4: Pages 409–421 * May 1951, “The Constitutional Right to Counsel in Federal Courts” ''Nebraska Law Review,'' Volume 30: Pages 559-599 * May 1951, “The Supreme Court as Protector of Civil Rights: Freedom of Expression,” ''The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,'' Vol. 275, Civil Rights in America, Pages 61–74 * November 1951, “The Federal Right to Counsel in State Courts,” ''Nebraska Law Review,'' Volume 31: Pages 15–54 * Fall 1953, “Political Immaturity,” ''Prairie Schooner,'' Lincoln, Nebraska, Vol. 27, No. 3: Pages 257–263 * March 1955, “The Right to Counsel under State Law,” ''Wisconsin Law Review,'' Pages 281-328 * January 1957, “The Loyalty Defendants,” ''Wisconsin Law Review,'' Pages 4–39 * February 1957, "Cruel and Unusual Punishments, ''Journal of Politics,'' Vol. 19, No 1: Pages 34–45 * November 1960, "Association with 'Bad People,” ''Journal of Politics,'' Vol. 22, No. 4: Pages 620-28 * January 1961, “Constitutional Rights of Association,” ''The Supreme Court Review,'' University of Chicago Press, Vol. 1961: Pages 74–134 * July 1975, "The Separation of Powers and the Judiciary," ''The Review of Politics,'' Vol. 37, No. 3: Pages 357-376 * Autumn 1987, "Original Intent: A Footnote," ''The Review of Politics'' Vol. 49, No.4: Pages 574-578


Editor, with introduction and notes by

* ''The Supreme Court and Education,'' Teachers College Press, Columbia University Press, New York, 1960, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 60-8488 OCLC ocm04107050 * ''Readings in American National and State Government,'' edited by David Fellman, Lane W. Lancaster, Rinehart & Company, Inc., New York, 1950 OCLC 1013547 * ''Readings in American National Government,'' Rinehart & Company, Inc., New York, 1947 OCLC ocm00988655 * August 1946, "Post-War Governments of Europe," ''Journal of Politics,'' Volume 8, No. 3, 241-247


Chapters in books by

* "The Nationalization of American Civil Liberties," ''Essays on the Constitution of the United States,'' edited by M. Judd Harmon, Port Washington, N.Y. : Kennikat Press, 1978. , OCLC ocm03844682 * "Congressional Odyssey: The Saga of a Senate Bill," ''America as a Multicultural Society,'' special editor Milton M. Gordon, Philadelphia, PA : American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1981. OCLC ocm07319284


Encyclopedia

* Primary Contributor, "Constitutional Law," ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
,'' published online July 22, 2016


SCOTUS Review: 1947 – 1960

* April 1949, “Constitutional Law in 1947-48: The Constitutional Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in the October Term, 1947,” '' The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 275–308 * March 1952, "Constitutional Law in 1950-1951,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 158–199 * March 1953, “Constitutional Law in 1951-1952,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 126–170 * March 1954, “Constitutional Law in 1952-1953,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 63–113 * March 1955, "Constitutional Law in 1953-1954,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 63–106 * March 1956, “Constitutional Law in 1954-1955,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 43–100 * March 1957, “Constitutional Law in 1955-1956,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 158–196 * March 1958, "Constitutional Law in 1956-1957,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 140–191 * March 1959, "Constitutional Law in 1957-1958,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 138–180 * March 1960, “Constitutional Law in 1958-1959: I,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 167–199 * June 1960, “Constitutional Law in 1958-1959: II:,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 474–493 * March 1961, “Constitutional Law in 1959-1960,” ''The American Political Science Review,'' Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 112–135


Family

Father of
Michael Fellman Michael Fellman (1943, Madison, Wisconsin – June 11, 2012, Vancouver, British Columbia) was a professor emeritus of history at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fellman was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He was educ ...
(1942 - 2012), Professor Emeritus of History, Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, Canada


References


External links


Fellman, David
worldcat.org Retrieved October 30, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fellman, David American legal scholars American legal writers Presidents of the American Association of University Professors Yale University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni People from Omaha, Nebraska 1907 births 2003 deaths Omaha Central High School alumni