History Commons^™

As Old As Dallas Itself - A History Of The Lawyers Of Dallas, The Dallas Bar Associations, And The City They Helped Build (Excerpts), Darwin Payne

Publications Describing the Law School's History

No abstract provided.

Neither Hers Nor Theirs: Dower And Household Relationships Between Widows, Family, And Friends In York County, Maine, Christi A. Mitchell

Maine History

If architecture expressed a sense of boundaries between family and society and even within the family, the law was central in defining and protecting these. In this article, Christi A. Mitchell, a historian of vernacular architecture from Peaks Island and Alna, Maine, explores the changing definitions of domestic space allotted by law to widows. She uses this aspect of dower rights as a window into changing family relations in the early nineteenth century. Dower assignments reflect an attempt to adapt to shifting household dynamics, to declining emphasis on land-based wealth, to a growing desire for privacy, and to the sanctity …

Tench Coxe And The Right To Keep And Bear Arms, 1787-1823, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

Tench Coxe, a member of the second rank of this nation's Founders and a leading proponent of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, wrote prolifically about the right to keep and bear arms. In this Article, the authors trace Coxe's story, from his early writings in support of the Constitution, through his years of public service, to his political writings in opposition to the presidential campaigns of John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The authors note that Coxe described the Second Amendment as guaranteeing an individual right, and believed that an individual right to bear arms was necessary for …

All The Way Down The Slippery Slope: Gun Prohibition In England And Some Lessons For Civil Liberties In America, David B. Kopel, Joseph Olson

David B Kopel

Whenever civil liberties issues are contested, proponents of greater restrictions often chide civil liberties defenders for being unwilling to offer moderate concessions. Frequently, persons advocating restrictions on civil liberties claim that the "moderate" restriction will not infringe the core civil liberty. When rights advocates raise the "slippery slope" argument, they are criticized for being excessively fearful. The goal of the article is to refine our understanding of "slippery slopes" by examining a case in which a civil liberty really did slide all the way down the slippery slope.

The right to arms in Great Britain was entirely unrestricted at the …

The Architecture Of Judicial Independence, Stephen B. Burbank

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Review Of Gendered Justice In The American West: Women Prisoners In Men's Penitentiaries By Anne M. Butler, Sharon E. Wood

History Faculty Publications

Butler writes with conviction, her passion for her subject occasionally leading her to press her point further than the evidence will go. Several times she seems to claim that women prisoners were representative of all women confronting the criminal justice system, writing, for example, "when a child died from a mother's assault, conviction was a certainty." But this claim can only be tested by examining local police and court records to see if all women accused were convicted (they weren't). Women in penitentiaries were not representative; they were the absolute losers in a system that was, admittedly, stacked against them. …

Alien Land Laws : The Curtailing Of Japanese Agricultural Pursuits In Oregon, Amy K. Buck

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis describes the evolution and demise of Oregon's alien land laws of 1923 and 1945 and their impact on the Nikkei community and the state's culture.

After a brief discussion of Japanese immigration to Oregon and their lifestyle, the work discusses the emergence of discrimination against Japanese residents. At the same time, it outlines how the Nikkei adopted creative responses to the law. This thesis then explores the manner by which anti-Japanese internment policies during World War II shattered the Issei community, revoking many of the gains made in the previous half-century. The effects of the second alien land …

The Legalization Of The Presidencey: A Twenty-Five Year Watergate Retrospective, Michael A. Fitts

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Social Contract Theory In American Case Law, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Clueless: The Misuse Of Batf Firearms Tracing Data, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

Sometimes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms traces the registered sales history of a gun which was used in a crime, or which has been seized by the police. Traced guns are not representative of the broader universe of crime guns. Accordingly, drawing public policy conclusions based on tracing data is unwise.