Robert Walker Kenny (August 21, 1901 – July 20, 1976), 21st Attorney General of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

(1943-1947), was "a colorful figure in state politics for many years", who in 1946 ran unsuccessfully against

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presid ...

for state governor (a race in which Warren won both Republican and Democratic nominations). During World War II, Kenny was an active proponent of the

incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), mostly in the western interior of the country. About ...

, which the California Attorney General's office has since apologized for, describing it as a "failure of political leadership" and a racist policy. In 1947, he led the legal defense of the

Hollywood Ten The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

Background

Robert Walker Kenny was born on August 21, 1901, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. His mother was Minnie Summerfield. His father, Robert Wolfenden Kenny (1863-1914) was a successful

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and civic leader in Los Angeles and

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

. Kenny's grandfather, George L. Kenny, arrived in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in the early 1850s with his friends, the brothers A.L. Bancroft and

Hubert Howe Bancroft Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published, and collected works concerning the Western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America, and British Colum ...

. The three men formed a partnership and established the first bookstore in San Francisco. In 1921, Kenny graduated at 18 from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Career

Press

In 1921, Kenny joined the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', where he worked with

Chapin Hall Chapin Hall (July 12, 1816 – September 12, 1879) was a Republican United States Representative from Pennsylvania. He served as Representative from 1859 until 1861. Biography Chapin Hall was born in Busti, New York. He attended the comm ...

, and eventually became a financial editor there. In 1922, he joined

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

news service. Next, he worked for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' in Paris. In 1923, he returned to Los Angeles and worked for ''United News''. He then opened his own press service with Ted Taylor, called the Los Angeles Press Service, while also working for the '' Los Angeles Express'' newspaper. After studying law privately, he passed a civil service examination in 1926 and was admitted to the state bar.

California government service

In 1927, Kenny began working in the

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

counsel's office as "Deputy of the County Counsel". In 1929, he joined the state legislature. The next year, he supported

James Rolph James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Jr. (August 23, 1869 – June 2, 1934) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to a single term as the 27th governor of California from January 6, 1931, until his death on June 2, 19 ...

Jr., who became California governor. Kenny received an appointment as judge to the L.A. Municipal Court, followed by promotion to the L.A. Superior Court. In 1934, Kenny won an election and became municipal judge for small claims court. He then became a judge in the law and motion court. He also served as a Municipal Court Judge and later a

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

Judge in Los Angeles. He served in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

from 1939 to 1943. At the outset of the 1930s, Kenny was characterized as "a liberal young Republican with

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

repeal as his main issue". Sometime during the decade, he switched party affiliation and aligned himself with the Democrats.

Private practice

In 1939, Kenny resigned his post as municipal judge, and also dissolved his law partnership with Paul Vallee and Lawrence Beilensen. He set up a new partnership with Morris E. Cohen, which lasted until 1948. Robert O. Curran joined the firm but left to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; Robert S. Morris replaced him. Clients included

William Schneiderman William V. Schneiderman (December 14, 1905 – January 29, 1985) was an American politician activist who was secretary for California in the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and involved in two cases before the United States Supreme Court, ''Stack v. ...

, head of the California section of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

; Kenny helped him with citizenship papers in 1940, a case he lost but which

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...

helped win on appeal in 1943.

Attorney General of California

In 1942, Kenny was elected

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of California, beating Louis H. Burke, and served one term to 1947. Under Kenny in this period, Robert B. Powers worked as "coordinator of law enforcement agencies". While in this capacity, Kenny was responsible for the office's complicity in the racist

. His actions have been disavowed as a failure of leadership and unjust by his successors. In 1946, Kenny sought the Democratic nomination for Governor, but was defeated by

. Although Warren was a Republican, California law at that time permitted a candidate to run in both primaries, a practice known as

cross-filing In United States, American politics, cross-filing (similar to the concept of electoral fusion) occurs when a candidate runs in the Partisan primary, primary election of not only their own party, but also that of one or more other parties, generall ...

. Warren also won the Republican nomination that year and went on to score an easy general election victory.

NLG, Hollywood Ten, and HUAC

In 1937, Kenny supported

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

's battle to "pack" the

United States 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 turn on question ...

with extra justices via the

Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937 The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, frequently called the "court-packing plan",Epstein, at 451. was a legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court in order ...

. As ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote in Kenny's obituary: "Out of that battle grew the

National Lawyers Guild The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 193 ...

" (NLG). On February 22, 1937, when the NLG formed, Kenny was a founding member. (Note: he was also a member of the NLG's predecessor, the

International Juridical Association The International Juridical Association (IJA; 1931–1942) was an association of socially minded American lawyers, established by Carol Weiss King and considered by the U.S. federal government (in the form of the U.S. House Un-American Activities ...

. ) He was elected president of the NLG in 1940 and held the post till 1948. During his tenure as president, he became involved in the aftermath of the

Zoot Suit Riots The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving United States Armed Forces, American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican ...

. In May 1945, while serving as Attorney General, Kenny accompanied

Bartley Crum Bartley Crum (November 28, 1900 – December 9, 1959) was an American lawyer who became prominent as a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, for his book on that experience, and for defending targets of HUAC, particularly the Hollywoo ...

and Martin Popper to the founding session of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in San Francisco, where the three men were NLG's official consultants to the American delegation at the behest of the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. In 1946, after losing California's Democratic gubernatorial primary, Kenny returned to private practice. In 1947, NLG members Charles Katz and Ben Margolis asked Kenny to become lead counsel, with Crum as his second, for the "Unfriendly Nineteen" film industry professionals subpoenaed to testify before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

(HUAC). Later, NLG members Martin Popper of Washington and constitutional lawyer Sam Rosenwein of New York also joined the legal team. Only ten of the nineteen wound up testifying before the HUAC. They all refused to answer questions about their Communist Party affiliation, and were cited for contempt of Congress. They became known as the

. Some believe that Kenny's decision to defend the Hollywood Ten may well have dashed any aspirations he had for career advancement. In her review of

Janet Stevenson Janet Marshall Stevenson (February 4, 1913 – June 9, 2009) was an American writer, teacher and social activist who wrote in the areas of civil rights, the women's movement, the peace movement, the environment and the arts. She published works ...

's 1980 biography of Kenny, ''The Undiminished Man'', Dorothy Gray writes:

Later life

In 1948, Kenny and Robert S. Morris formed a new law partnership. In the 1940s and 1950s, they represented "many people under indictment for questionable activities." Clients included Luisa Moreno Bemis, Guatemalan labor activist, many "unfriendly" witnesses (including the Hollywood Ten) before HUAC in Los Angeles in 1952, as well as musicians before HUAC in 1956. Kenny was a member of the

American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born was the successor group to the National Council for the Protection of the Foreign Born and its successor, seen by the US federal government as subversive for "protecting foreign Communists who ...

. Partner Robert S. Morris was a member of the Immigration and Deportation Committee in the Los Angeles chapter of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

(ACLU). In 1950, Kenny ran for California state senator against Glenn Anderson and

Jack Tenney Jack Breckinridge Tenney (April 1, 1898 – November 4, 1970) was an American politician who was noted for leading anti-communist investigations in California in the 1940s and early 1950s as head of the California Senate Factfinding Subcommittee ...

for the Democratic nomination; Tenney won. The same year, he ran for Los Angeles mayor;

Fletcher Bowron Fletcher Bowron (August 13, 1887 – September 11, 1968) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 35th Mayor of Los Angeles from 1938 to 1953. A member of the Republican Party, he was at the time the city's longest-serving mayor ...

won in a recall. In 1957, he was one of the lawyers who helped 23 Hollywood screenwriters and actors win a Supreme Court review of their challenge of the

Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

. In 1960, Kenny was treasurer of the National Committee to Abolish the

( NCA-HUAC). In 1962, Kenny served as counsel of Albert J. Lewis and Steve Roberts of the

Fair Play for Cuba Committee The Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) was an activist group set up in New York City by Robert Taber in April 1960. The FPCC's purpose was to provide grassroots support for the Cuban Revolution against attacks by the United States government. I ...

before HUAC. In 1963, the ''Congressional Record'' re-recorded information from October 26, 1955, that "public records, files, and publications of this committee" (HUAC) showed Kenny "not necessarily a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

, a

Communist sympathizer A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...

, or a

fellow traveller A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...

" but noted nevertheless that he was affiliated with the

American Youth for Democracy The Young Communist League USA (YCLUSA) is a communist youth organization in the United States. The stated aim of the League is the development of its members into Communists, through studying socialism and through active participation in the st ...

Civil Rights Congress The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) was a United States civil rights organization, formed in 1946 at a national conference for radicals and disbanded in 1956. It succeeded the International Labor Defense, the National Federation for Constitutional L ...

, Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, and

California Labor School The California Labor School (until 1945 named the Tom Mooney Labor School) was an educational organization in San Francisco from 1942 to 1957. Like the contemporary Jefferson School of Social Science and the New York Workers School, it represent ...

. In 1966, California Governor Edmund G. Brown appointed Kenny again a state judge. In 1975, he retired from the bench.

Personal life and death

In 1922, Kenny married Sara McCann; she died in 1966. Robert Walter Kenny died at age 74 on July 20, 1976, at Scripps Memorial Hospital in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

Legacy

In 2012, the National Lawyers Guild remembered Kenny as follows:

That the Guild survived the splits in the late '30s and repression of the '50s is primarily a testament to the loyalty, bravery and commitment to principle of two allied but disparate groups. One was made up of communist and socialist activists... The other was a group of dedicated civil libertarians who were unwilling to compromise their principles to curry favor with either the Roosevelt Administration or the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations. Nor would they refuse to work with Communists. But these lawyers were not communists, and steered the Guild in an independent, radical direction. Robert W Kenny, a California State Senator who became President of the Guild in 1940 at a moment of grave internal crisis, disregarding the risks to his political future, and remaining President for eight important years, was a key member of this group.

Works

* ''The Law of Freedom in a Platform'' by Gerrard Winstanley, edited by Robert W. Kenny (1973)

References

External links

Critical Past - Kenny and Crum ask HUAC to stop hearings (1947)

Guide to the Robert Walker Kenny Papers
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

Robert Walker Kenny, 21st Attorney General
from State of California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General
''Los Angeles Daily News'' photo negatives of William E. MacFaden and Robert W. Kenny (1934)

Image of Zola Vredenburgh watching Judge Robert Kenny play chess against Judge Wilbur Curtis, Los Angeles, 1934.
''Los Angeles Times'' Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library
''Warner v. Kenny'' (1946)
case citation hosted on Stanford Law School website

Kenny, Robert W. (Robert Walker), 1901-1976
Robert W. Kenny
candidate biography on the JoinCalifornia website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny, Robert W Democratic Party California state senators California state court judges California attorneys general 1901 births 1976 deaths 20th-century California state court judges Stanford University alumni 20th-century members of the California State Legislature