Michael Meltsner Papers, 1949-2023, undated | Oberlin College Archives

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series 1. Awards and Honors, ca. 1977-2018, undated

This series contains multiple awards and honors that Meltsner has been nominated for and received throughout his career as a civil rights lawyer and his work arguing against capital punishment to recognize it as cruel and unusual punishment. Included in this series is the Hugo Adam Bedau Award from the Massachusetts Citizens Against the Death Penalty, a thank you letter from the Black Panther Party for assisting with their trials in the 1970s, and the honorary doctorate that Meltsner received from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2010. Publicity and ephemera about the awards are also included.

Series 2. Biographical File, 1998-2022, undated

The biographical file contains Meltsner's most recent Curriculum Vitae and biographical sketches from miscellaneous publications. Publicity about Meltsner's life and career is also included.

Series 3. Correspondence, 1957-2023, undated

The correspondence series consists of personal correspondence both sent and received by Meltsner including queries about his books, thank you notes, reprint permissions and release forms, and other miscellaneous personal correspondence between Meltsner and his peers. Included in the personal correspondence are letters of regret sent and signed by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, apologizing for not being able to attend an event hosted by Meltsner. The series also contains expansive correspondence between Meltsner and Anthony Amsterdam, noted lawyer in the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). While working together at the LDF, their correspondence covers topics such as the Black Panthers, the death penalty, and other civil rights matters. Meltsner and Amsterdam corresponded long after their work together at the LDF and discussed many subjects including Meltsner's legal and professional work, news on legal issues, especially the death penalty, and individuals in the legal profession including Alan Dershowitz.

Series 4. Lectures, Symposia, and Talks, 1975-2023, undated

Series 4 consists of materials related to the numerous lectures, symposia, and talks that Meltsner has participated in throughout his career. The events cover a wide variety of highlights of Meltsner's legal career, educational career, and many other endeavors in the legal field. Topics of the events include the Hugo Adam Bedau memorial lectures on the death penalty, civil rights issues including southern school segregation, Muhammad Ali, issues in human injustice, open access to medical records, and a Festschrift celebrated in 2017 for Meltsner's distinguished career. Materials include conference pamphlets, publicity, typescript speeches, and other ephemera from the events.

Series 5. Legal Career, 1954-2022, undated

The legal career series covers Meltsner's career as a civil rights lawyer is made up of four subseries.

           Subseries 1. Court Cases, 1961-2021, undated

The court cases consist of original bound booklets and photocopies of Supreme Court, Appellate Court, and Court of Appeals cases. These are cases that Meltsner argued, assisted with, or appeared as amicus curiae, including cases while Meltsner was at the NAACP LDF. Included is Green v. New Kent County School Board regarding segregated schools, Furman v. Georgia capital punishment argument, and multiple cases covering segregation in southern hospitals in the 1960s.

           Subseries 2. Credentials, 1963-2007

This subseries contains Meltsner's credentials relating to his legal career, including bar admission certificates, professional legal organization credentials, and registration for the Board of Registration of Allied Health and Human Services Professionals of Massachussets.

           Subseries 3. NAACP Legal Defense Fund, 1954-2022, undated

Subseries 3 contains materials covering Meltsner's career with the NAACP Legal Defense fund. The NAACP LDF materials consist of articles, book chapters, correspondence, pamphlets, and other miscellaneous ephemera and cover topics such as bail practices, medical care and hospital segregation, the death penalty, and representing Muhammad Ali. Some copies of correspondence materials in this subseries, including the Jack Greenberg correspondence, are located at the Library of Congress and restricted from copying. Also contained in this subseries are biographical files of LDF lawyers and materials regarding the lengthy process to provide public access to the LDF files at the Library of Congress.

           Subseries 4. South Africa, 1977-1994, undated

Meltsner's work as a consultant with the Legal Resources Centre in South Africa is represented in this subseries. The Legal Resources Centre provides marginalized communities with resources in social justice and human rights law. The subseries contains articles and correspondence covering Meltsner's consulting work with the Legal Resources Centre and their advocating against apartheid.

Series 6. Subject Files, 1949-2022, undated

The subject files cover a variety of Meltsner's interests and work, mainly after his career with the NAACP LDF. Included are more modern topics such as clemency of life sentences and the release of Arnie King and George Stinney, patient access to medical records, and wrongful convictions with DNA evidence.

Series 7. Teaching Career, 1969-2023, undated

The teaching career series contains materials relating to Meltsner's positions in higher education and work with clinical legal education. It is made up of four subseries.

           Subseries 1. Clinical Legal Education, 1972-2019, undated

Subseries 1 consists of materials pertaining to Meltsner's work with clinical legal education and his innovative work opening Columbia University's first poverty law clinic where law school students could gain experience representing clients. The materials include writings, articles written with Philip Schrag, NAACP Lawyer and advocate for clinical legal education, and an oral history transcript about the history of the beginnings of clinical legal education.

           Subseries 2. Columbia University, 1969-1981

This subseries covers Meltsner's career at Columbia University as Professor of Law, his first professorship while still a practicing lawyer at the NAACP LDF. At Columbia, Meltsner started the school's first legal clinic. The subseries contains correspondence, seminar materials, syllabi, and information about the new law school building.

           Subseries 3. Harvard Law School, 2000-2004

Subseries 3 contains materials about Meltsner’s time as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, where he created the First Year Lawyering Program in the 2000s.

           Subseries 4. Northeastern University, 1978-2023, undated

The Northeastern University subseries covers Meltsner's career at Northeastern University starting in 1979, both as Dean of the School of Law and the the George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law, a position he held until 2023. The materials include articles, correspondence as both Dean and professor, class materials, and other materials about school projects and simulations.

Series 8. Writings, 1961-2023, undated

Series 8 contains writings by Meltsner and by others and is divided into two subseries.

            Subseries 1. Writings by Michael Meltsner, 1961-2022, undated

The writings by Meltsner include articles that Meltsner has written throughout his career, including the controversial article Negotiating Tactics for Legal Services written with Philip Schrag. This subseries also includes materials covering his books and his play, In Our Name: A Play of the Torture Years.

            Subseries 2. Writings by Others, 1980-2023, undated

Subseries 2 contains writings by others, both about Meltsner and writings Meltsner provided commentary for. The topics include court cases Meltsner argued, his career at the NAACP LDF, legal clinics, and obituaries of Meltsner’s colleagues. This subseries also contains book and article reviews about Meltsner’s writings, and edits Meltsner made for other authors’ works.

Series 9. Photographs, 1962-2022, undated

This series contains both original and photocopies of photographs. The photographs include headshots of Meltsner, copies of photos of Meltsner during his time at the NAACP LDF, group photos of Meltsner’s classes, photos of Meltsner’s colleagues, and photos of the Hugo Adam Bedau awards in 2017.

Series 10. Objects, 2005-2018, undated

The objects series contain objects and posters relating to Meltsner’s career, including an award given by Cankaya University and a poster announcing In Our Name: A Play of the Torture Years.

Series 11. Audio-Visual Materials, 1970-2014, undated

The audio-visual materials contain audio and video recordings of court arguments, interviews, and lectures by Meltsner, and is divided into two subseries.

            Subseries 1. Audio Recordings, 1970-2014, undated

The audio recordings contain both cassette and CD-R and include court arguments, interviews, and lectures.

            Subseries 2. Video Recordings, 1994-ca. 2013, undated

Subseries 2 contains video recordings on DVD and VHS. The recordings include awards, lectures, interviews, and talks for Meltsner’s books.

Meltsner, Michael, 1937-

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Michael Charles Meltsner was born on March 29, 1937 in New York City, New York to Ira D. and Alice Goldberg Meltsner.

Meltsner attended Oberlin College from 1953 to 1957 and graduated in 1957 with the A.B. degree in History. He was very active in political student organizations while at Oberlin, and held the position of treasurer of the Young Democrats, and was the Chairman for New York State at the 1956 Mock Convention. Meltsner also wrote for the Oberlin Review and the Yeoman student publications, and was on the Men’s Board, participated in the Mummer’s Club, and played football.

After graduating from Oberlin, Meltsner enrolled at Yale University and received his J.D./LL.B. in 1960. Meltsner was hired almost directly after graduating from Yale as First Assistant Counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) in 1961. Meltsner was the last lawyer hired at the LDF by Thurgood Marshall before Marshall left for his career as a judge. While at the LDF, Meltsner was also Co-Director of the National Office for the Rights of the Indigent (NORI).

Meltsner argued hundreds of cases while at the LDF and NORI, including cases in front of the Supreme Court. Meltsner first argued a capital case before the Supreme Court when he was only 26 years old. He had to receive special permission from the Court because he had so recently been accepted to the bar. He famously represented Muhammad Ali in the litigation that removed legal barriers barring his return to the boxing ring after Ali refused induction into the Army. Meltsner also tried the case Simkins v. Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, that led to the integration of hundreds of southern hospitals.

In 1970, Meltsner started working at the Columbia University School of Law as Professor of Law. There, he co-founded and directed the Morningside Heights Legal Services, Inc., a law school-sponsored legal services program in which second and third year students represented indigent clients under faculty supervision. He also co-founded the school’s first legal clinic.

Meltsner was still active as a practicing lawyer during his time at Columbia. In 1972, he was one of the lawyers in the Furman v. Georgia case, which decided that the capital sentencing laws in force in 39 states were cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Marshall Project has said of Professor Meltsner, that he and LDF lawyer Anthony Amsterdam “did more to shape the death penalty law than any attorneys in American history." After Furman v. Georgia, Meltsner used his experiences and diary he kept to write Cruel and Unusual: The Supreme Court and Capital Punishment (1973). Cruel and Unusual received extensive praise, including from Hugo Adam Bedau, philosophy and death penalty scholar.

In 1979, Meltsner left Columbia to become the Dean and the George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law at the Northeastern University School of Law. He ended his tenure as Dean in 1984, but still continued his professorship. He took a brief leave in the 2000s to be a Visiting Professor of Law and Director of the First Year Lawyering Program at Harvard Law School. Professor Meltsner was teaching a seminar on constitutional litigation and a course on the law governing freedom of speech until his retirement from Northeastern in 2023.

Meltsner has been involved in countless activities outside of teaching and practicing law. In 1977, Professor Meltsner, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has served as a consultant to the United States Department of Justice, the Ford Foundation, and the Legal Action Center and has lectured on constitutional and criminal law in Canada, Egypt, Germany, India, the Netherlands and South Africa. In 2000, he was named a fellow of the American Academy in Berlin and conducted research on German constitutional law.

Meltsner has received numerous honors and awards throughout his legal career. In 2010, Meltsner received the Hugo Bedau Award for excellence in death penalty scholarship. In 2012 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by John Jay College (CUNY).

Michael Meltsner married Heli Spiegel on September 10, 1961. They have two daughters, Jessica Meltsner (OC 1985), and Molly Meltsner.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Louisa Hoffman, email message to Michael Meltsner, June 5, 2017.

Meltsner, Michael. Curriculum Vitae. "Faculty Directory," Northeastern University School of Law. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://law.northeastern.edu/faculty/meltsner/

Student file, Michael Meltsner (RG 28).

Author: Louisa C. Hoffman

Amsterdam, Anthony G.
Capital punishment
Civil rights--1960-2010
Clinical legal education
Discrimination in capital punishment
Legal Resources Centre (South Africa)
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Office for the Rights of the Indigent (U.S.)
Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). School of Law
Segregation--1960-1970
Supreme Court decisions--1960-1970

articles
certificates
correspondence
court cases
oral histories (document genres)
photographs

English
German