In 1972, Southern alumnus Neil Thomas Proto, ’67, chaired a group of five George Washington University law students who challenged “the corporate greed of the nation’s railroads and the failure of the government to protect the environment” during the administration of President Richard M. Nixon.
Known as Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures or SCRAP, the group sued the United States in 1972, waging an eight-month legal battle against the government, powerful law firms, the nation’s railroads, and national environmental organizations- all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Proto’s book about the landmark case: To a High Court: Five Bold Law Students Challenge Corporate Greed and Change the Law was announced recently as a winner in the 2024 PenCraft Book Awards for literary excellence, taking first place in the Non Fiction – Government/Politics Genre.
Proto initially wrote a draft of the book in 1976, but it was not published until 2006, as a paperback and in a different era of a changed Supreme Court.
“Although it has been taught in law schools since the Supreme Court decision in 1973, only the court decision is taught not the full story, which began in our battle before the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Nation’s Railroads and their high-priced, major law firms eight months earlier,” Proto said.
“As the 50th anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision approached, I thought the conservatism on the court and in law schools, all of them, warranted a return to the story and to the meaning of SCRAP. “
Proto made minor revisions to the text, added photographs, a new cover for the hardbound edition, and a new author’s note.
“It shocked the GWU law school, which doesn’t allow students to do what we did. That is, challenge corporate wrongdoing,” Proto said.
Growing up in a working-class family in New Haven, Proto was instilled with the value of hard work, determination, and the support of a strong community. These experiences laid the foundation for his belief in the importance of education and civic duty.
His philanthropy at Southern has been particularly impactful. Proto’s generous donations have led to the establishment of several endowments and scholarships aimed at fostering social justice, academic excellence, and civic engagement. Among these are funds supporting aspiring law students, the university’s Pre-Law Society, and an archive for the papers of notable New Haven mayors.
A Kirkus review of To a High Court called it “an enjoyably readable and fascinating day-by-day account of a landmark Supreme Court case.”
“Despite his long personal history as a lawyer and writer on legal matters, the author entirely avoids the tedious procedural minutiae that often hamper works of legal nonfiction like this one,” the reviewer wrote. “The personalities he draws are sharp and ready-made for a Hollywood adaptation, and his insider’s look at how the Supreme Court works is fascinating in its own right, at once enormously informative and genuinely entertaining.”
The PenCraft award is the third recognition for To a High Court, including the Grand Prize Short List Finalist and First Runner Up: Culture in the 2024 Eric Hoffer literary awards, which recognize excellence in independent publishing. Further reviews and related information are available at: www.ToAHighCourt.com.
Proto has written two other books, The Rights of My People, Liliuokalani‘s Enduring Battle with the United States(2009) and Fearless, A. Bartlett Giamatti and the Battle for Fairness in America (2019), which also won two literary prizes. His play, “The Reckoning, Pecora for the People” (2016), was produced in Seattle (a stage reading was held at Southern, hosted by the Theatre Department).
