Leo Pfeffer (December 25, 1910 in Osijek — June 4, 1993 in

Goshen, New York Goshen is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 13,687 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the Biblical Land of Goshen. It contains a village also called Goshen, which is the county seat of Orange Count ...

) was an American lawyer,

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

scholar, and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

who was active in movement for

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and was one of leading legal proponents of the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

Biography

Pfeffer was born in Austria-Hungary and in 1912 emigrated to United States with his parents and siblings. After finishing his school, he studied at the City College of New York and after graduation continued in 1930-1933 at the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

. He was raised a Conservative Jew and attended religious services, yet later quipped (in a speech made before

Freedom From Religion Foundation The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization, which advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many ...

) that "the

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

consider me to be the worst enemy they've had - since

Haman Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I ...

in the

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...

story!" After admission to the Bar Pfeffer had a general law practice 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 ...

from 1933 to 1945. Between 1945 and 1964 he was Legal Adviser of the American Jewish Congress (AJC). In the latter capacity he was known for his adherence to ideas of secular humanism, which he elaborated in number of publications. In addition he was also 1954-1958 lecturer at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Pfeffer became the director of AJC's Commission on Law and Social Action in 1957. Pfeffer lectured at the New School from 1954 to 1958 and taught at Mount Holyoke College from 1958 to 1960, then at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

in 1962 and 1963. He had honorary degrees from Hebrew Union College and Long Island University. In 1964 Pfeffer became professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the Long Island University, where he taught until his retirement in 1980. In that period he wrote several books on religious freedom, the separation of religion and state, and the corresponding decisions of the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

. After 1964 he also served AJC as special counsel, and did legal work on behalf of other groups, including the Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty. For his commitment to

civil rights and liberties Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

and his humanistic attitude the American Humanist Association awarded him the prize

Humanist of the Year The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defend the constitution ...

in 1988. Since 1937 Pfeffer was married to Freda Plotkin. They had two children: Alan Israel Pfeffer and

Susan Beth Pfeffer Susan Beth Pfeffer (born February 17, 1948) is a retired American author best known for Young adult novel, young adult science fiction. After writing for 35 years, she received wider notice for her series of post-apocalyptic novels, officially t ...

On Separation of Church and State

Pfeffer's book ''Church, State and Freedom'', was called a "masterpiece" and the ultimate sourcebook for the history of the evolution of the all-American principle of the separation of church and state. Pfeffer called himself a "strict separationist in contrast to what is called 'accommodationist.'" By account of contemporaries, for most of the 1950s Pfeffer remained the dominant individual force in managing the flow of church-state litigation in state and federal courts intended to test the constitutionality of the religious oath requirement, school, prayer, and Bible reading - a role Pfeffer retained well into the early 1970s. While he was with AJC, Pfeffer argued cases before the Supreme Court and wrote numerous legal briefs. In 1961 he attained wide attention when he argued the case of '' Torcaso v. Watkins'' before the Supreme Court that a provision in the Constitution of Maryland requiring an express belief in the existence of God as a condition for the admission to holding of a public office, was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 1961 that states could not compel officeholders to declare a belief in God, striking down a provision of the Maryland Constitution on the ground that it was a "religious test for public office" invading the individual's right to religious freedom. Pfeffer later pleaded "partly guilty" to inadvertently perpetuating the myth that "secular humanism" is a religion. In defending atheist Roy Torcaso's case challenging a religious test in Maryland to become a notary public, Pfeffer wrote that "there are religions which are not based on the existence of a personal deity." (His examples were ethical culturists, Buddhists and

Confucians Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...

). "My good friend Justice Black thought that wasn't good enough. He put in the secular humanists. Who told him secular humanism? I didn't have it in my brief! I couldn't sue, because you can't sue a justice of the Supreme Court. But since then I rued the day".

References

Bibliography

* ''Church, State and Freedom'', Beacon Press, 195

* ''The Liberties of an American: The Supreme Court Speaks'', Beacon Press, 195

* ''Creeds in Competition: A Creative Force in American Culture'', New York: Harper and Brothers, 1958 (also: Greenwood Pub Group, 1978, ) * ''Honorable Court: A History of the United States Supreme Court'', Beacon Press, 196

* ''God, Caesar, and Constitution'', Beacon Press, 1974,

* ''Religious Freedom'', National textbook Company, 1977

* ''Religion, State and the Burger Court'', Prometheus Books, 1984,

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