On October 3, 1950, California governor Earl Warren signed into law a loyalty oath proposed by the University of California Board of Regents. Each of the state’s public and civil defense workers were required to swear the following oath. Those who did not, like the faculty members at San Francisco State, risked losing their jobs. Warren was appointed to the United States Supreme Court four years later.
I, __________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.
And I do swear (or affirm) that I do not advocate, nor am I a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that now advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States or the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means; and within the five years immediately preceding the taking of this oath (or affirmation) I have not been a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that advocated the overthrow of the Government of the United States or the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means except as follows: (if no affiliations, write in the words, “no exception”) and that during such time that I am a member or employee of the (name of public agency) I will not advocate or become a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States or the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means.
Source: David P. Gardner, The California Loyalty Oath Controversy (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 219.