Louis B. Boudin (December 15, 1874 – May 29, 1952) was a Russian-born American Marxist theoretician, writer, politician, and lawyer. He is best remembered as the author of a two volume history of the Supreme Court's influence on American government, first published in 1932.

Early life

He was born Louis Boudianoff (Leib Budiansky) in

Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi ( uk, Ко́рсунь-Шевче́нківський, ; pl, Korsuń Szewczenkowski; russian: Корсунь-Шевченковский) is a small city located in Cherkasy Raion of Cherkasy Oblast (province) in centra ...

, Cherkassy Oblast, Ukraine, then under the rule of imperial Russia on February 15, 1874. He was born into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of a shirt manufacturer.Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.), ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 23. The family emigrated to America in June 1891 and settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Paul Buhle Paul Merlyn Buhle (born September 27, 1944) is a (retired) Senior Lecturer at Brown University, author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series ...

, "Louis B. Boudin" in

Mari Jo Buhle Mari Jo Buhle (born 1943) is an American historian and William J. Kenan Jr. University Professor Emerita at Brown University. Early life and education Buhle was born in 1943 as Mari Jo Kupski. She graduated from North Chicago Community High S ...

, Paul Buhle, and

Dan Georgakas Dan Georgakas ( el, Νταν Γεωργακάς; 1938–2021) was an American anarchist poet and historian, who specialized in oral history and the American labor movement, best known for the publication ''Detroit: I do mind dying: A study in u ...

(eds.), ''Encyclopedia of the American Left.'' New York: Garland Publishing Co., 1990; pp. 102–103. Louis worked in the

garment industry Clothing industry or garment industry summarizes the types of trade and industry along the production and value chain of clothing and garments, starting with the textile industry (producers of cotton, wool, fur, and synthetic fibre), embellishmen ...

as a shirtmaker and as a private tutor. At the same time, Boudin began legal studies, gaining a

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and being admitted to the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justic ...

in 1898.

Political career

At first, Boudin was a member of the Socialist Labor Party of America. He was also a member of the governing National Executive Board of the party's trade union affiliate, the

Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance The Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance of the United States and Canada - commonly abbreviated STLA or ST&LA - was a revolutionary socialist labor union in the United States closely linked to the Socialist Labor Party (SLP), which existed from 189 ...

from 1898 to 1899. Boudin left the Socialist Labor Party during the party fight of 1899, casting his lot with the dissident faction headed by

Morris Hillquit Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hil ...

and

Henry Slobodin Henry L. Slobodin was an American attorney, socialist activist and frequent candidate for public office from New York. Slobodin was active in the Socialist Labor Party of America before leaving in 1899 alongside other socialist activists like M ...

. This dissident organization eventually became one of the main pillars of the new Socialist Party of America, established in the summer of 1901. Boudin was elected a delegate of the Socialist Party of America to the International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart in 1907 and the 1910 Copenhagen Congress of the

Second International The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...

. Boudin was frequently a candidate for public office on the Socialist Party ticket. He ran for Judge of the New York Court of Appeals in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

and

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

, and for

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

. He also ran for Justice of the New York Supreme Court (2nd District) in 1910, 1912, and 1919.

Writing career

Boudin wrote his first political articles on

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

and the

materialist conception of history Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...

(historical materialism). From May 1905 through October 1906, Boudin wrote a series of articles expounding upon

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

which were published in the Chicago magazine '' The International Socialist Review.'' These articles were collected in book form as ''The Theoretical System of Karl Marx in the Light of Recent Criticism'' in February 1907. The title was published by the leading radical publishing house of the day, Charles H. Kerr & Co., and was kept in print continuously over the next two decades through several reissue editions. The book, a defense of such orthodox Marxist tenets as the

labor theory of value The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory of value that argues that the economic value of a good or service is determined by the total amount of " socially necessary labor" required to produce it. The LTV is usually associated with Marxian ...

and historical materialism against their critics of the day, established Boudin's place as one of the foremost American authorities on Marxism among a generation of young

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

s. Together with Ludwig Lore and

Louis C. Fraina Louis C. Fraina (October 7, 1892 – September 15, 1953) was a founding member of the Communist Party USA in 1919. After running afoul of the Communist International in 1921 over the alleged misappropriation of funds, Fraina left the organized ra ...

, Boudin was a founding editor of '' The Class Struggle,'' a Marxist theoretical magazine which first saw print in May 1917. ''The Class Struggle'' published news and commentary about revolutionary socialist events in Europe, including translations of works by some of the leading figures of the

Zimmerwald Left The Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 to 8, 1915. It was the first of three international socialist conferences convened by anti-militarist socialist parties from countries that were originally neutral ...

, and was an important influence on the formation of the

Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party The Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party was an organized faction within the Socialist Party of America in 1919 which served as the core of the dual communist parties which emerged in the fall of that year—the Communist Party of America ...

in 1919 — a group which provided the core of the

Communist Party of America The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

and Communist Labor Party later in that year. Boudin had left the project by this juncture, however, as a brief notice in the September–October 1918 issue indicated that he had resigned his position as an editor and member of the Socialist Publication Society owing to "differences concerning the policy of the magazine."

Later life

After the formation of the

Communist Labor Party of America The Communist Labor Party of America (CLPA) was one of the organizational predecessors of the Communist Party USA. The group was established at the end of August 1919 following a three-way split of the Socialist Party of America. Although a legal ...

and the

, Boudin shied away from organized politics but taught in the Communist Party-sponsored Workers' School in New York in the late 1920s and occasionally contributed articles to the CP's artistic magazine, ''

The New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...

'', in the second half of the 1930s. Boudin repudiated

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

by 1940, but remained a staunch defender of the civil liberties of Communist Party members. Throughout the 1930s and the 1940s, Boudin was a frequent contributor of book reviews to scholarly journals such as the ''

Columbia Law Review The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes. It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who se ...

'', '' The American Journal of Sociology'', and ''

The Journal of Politics ''The Journal of Politics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of political science established in 1939 and published quarterly (February, May, August and November) by University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Southern Political Science Associ ...

''. In addition to working as a lawyer, winning several cases related to the rights of workers to organize

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s, Boudin also wrote the two volume, ''Government by Judiciary'', revisiting a topic with which he had dealt in a previous shorter book. In it, although it was never much read by the radical movement of his day, Boudin argued that the democratic rights of the people had been usurped by the

judicial branch The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

of government. While not influential with political activists of the period, Boudin's book remained in use among law students for decades, according to historian

Death and legacy

Boudin died after a long illness, in his apartment in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, May 29, 1952."Louis B. Boudin," ''New York Daily News,'' May 31, 1952 His papers reside at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York City and include the manuscript of an unpublished book, ''Order Out of Chaos,'' a study of economic crises. Boudin's family has continued to be prominent on the political left. His nephew

Leonard Boudin Leonard B. Boudin (July 20, 1912 – November 24, 1989) was an American civil liberties attorney and left-wing activist who represented Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame and Dr. Benjamin Spock, the author of '' Baby and Child Care'', who ...

was a civil-liberties attorney who represented clients like Daniel Ellsberg,

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the e ...

, and

William Sloan Coffin William Sloane Coffin Jr. (June 1, 1924 – April 12, 2006) was an American Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church, and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ. In ...

. Leonard's children are federal judge Michael Boudin and

Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organized as a faction of Students for a Democr ...

member Kathy Boudin. Kathy's son Chesa Boudin was the district attorney of the city of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

until a voter recall removed him from office in June 2022.

Works

Books

*
The Theoretical System of Karl Marx in the Light of Recent Criticism.
' Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Co., 1907. * ''Government by Judiciary.'' Boston: Ginn & Company, 1911. *
Socialism and War
'' New York: New Review Publishing Co., 1916. * ''Government by Judiciary.'' In two volumes. New York: William Godwin, 1932. * ''Congressional and Agency Investigations: Their Uses and Abuses.'' n.c.: Virginia Law Review Association, 1949.

Articles

* "Stare Decisis, State Constitutions, and Impairing the Obligation of Contracts by Judicial Decisions." New York University Law Quarterly Review, vol. 11, nos. 1–2 (September–December 1933). * "Has the Writ of Habeas Corpus Been Abolished in New York?" ''Columbia Law Review,'' vol. 35, no. 6 (June 1935), pp. 850–872
In JSTOR
* "The Supreme Court and Civil Rights," ''Science & Society,'' vol. 1, no. 3 (Spring 1937), pp. 273–309
In JSTOR
* "The Sherman Act and Labor Disputes: Part I," ''Columbia Law Review,'' vol. 39, no. 8 (Dec. 1939), pp. 1283–1337
In JSTOR
* "The Sherman Act and Labor Disputes: Part II," ''Columbia Law Review,'' vol. 40, no. 1 (Jan. 1940), pp. 14–51
In JSTOR
* "State Poll Taxes and the Federal Constitution," ''Virginia Law Review,'' vol. 28, no. 1 (Nov. 1941), pp. 1–25
In JSTOR
* "Wanted: An Integrated System of Labor Law," ''Journal of Politics,'' vol. 4, no. 1 (Feb. 1942), pp. 20–46
In JSTOR
* "Organized Labor and the Clayton Act: Part I," ''Virginia Law Review,'' vol. 29, no. 3 (Dec. 1942), pp. 272–315
In JSTOR
* "Organized Labor and the Clayton Act: Part II," ''Virginia Law Review,'' vol. 29, no. 4 (Jan. 1943), pp. 395–439
In JSTOR
* "Congressional and Agency Investigations: Their Uses and Abuses," ''Virginia Law Review,'' vol. 35, no. 2 (Feb. 1949), pp. 143–213
In JSTOR
* "'Seditious Doctrines' and the 'Clear and Present Danger' Rule: Part I," ''Virginia Law Review,'' vol. 38, no. 2 (Feb. 1952), pp. 143–186
In JSTOR
* "'Seditious Doctrines' and the 'Clear and Present Danger' Rule: Part II," ''Virginia Law Review,'' vol. 38, no. 3 (April 1952), pp. 315–356
In JSTOR

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boudin, Louis B. 1874 births 1952 deaths Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American Marxists American people of Russian-Jewish descent Boudin family Jewish socialists New York (state) lawyers Politicians from New York City Socialist Labor Party of America politicians from New York (state) Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state) New York University alumni