Potter Stewart

“ We do not understand the appellants to question the constitutionality of the actual oath an applicant must take before admission to practice. In any event, there can be no doubt of its validity. It merely requires an applicant to swear or affirm that he will 'support the constitution of the United States' as well as that of the State of New York. ”

“ Surely a State is constitutionally entitled to make such an inquiry of an applicant for admission to a profession dedicated to the peaceful and reasoned settlement of disputes between men, and between a man and his government. The very Constitution that the appellants invoke stands as a living embodiment of that ideal.
As to Question 27, there can hardly be doubt of its constitutional validity in light of our earlier discussion of Rule 9406 and the appellees' construction of that Rule. ”

“ U.S.Const., Art. VI, cl. 2:↑ Rule 9406 does not itself directly impinge upon applicants; it is rather an instruction to the appellees, touching applicants only as filtered through the appellees' construction.↑ As this case comes to us from the District Court, the sum total of what applicants must do in the first instance to satisfy any 'burden' placed upon them by the Rule is simply to answer two questions on the questionnaire they submit to the appellee committees. ”

“ We think it borders on the frivolous to say that such an inquiry offends the applicant's 'right to privacy protected by the First, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.' It is the applicant who selects the two people who will sign affidavits on his behalf, and the Committees may reasonably inquire as to the nature and extent of an affiant's actual acquaintance with the applicant. ”

“ Rule 5 (1) .↑ See 5 1971 Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, passim (103d ed. 1970) .↑ In the District Court the appellants also attacked unsuccessfully-the practice of conducting personal interviews. They do not appear to press such objections here, either as to the practice generally or as to the conduct of any particular interviews.↑ Cf. ”