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Full-Text Articles in Legal History

The Creativity Of The Common-Law Judge: The Jurisprudence Of William Mitchell, Charles J. Reid Jr. Jan 2003

The Creativity Of The Common-Law Judge: The Jurisprudence Of William Mitchell, Charles J. Reid Jr.

William Mitchell Law Review

Mitchell's presence graced the Minnesota Supreme Court for nearly nineteen years, from 1881 to 1900. His output was prodigious. He produced nearly 1600 judicial opinions. It has been estimated “that excluding Sundays, and allowing a month in each year for vacation, Judge Mitchell wrote one opinion in every three days for nineteen years.” Indeed, “[i]n point of numbers, his opinions exceed those of any other justice of the Supreme Court of his state, or the nation.” It is one aspect, perhaps the central aspect, the unifying theme of this prolific body of work, that is the focus of this essay: …


Philosophy And Opinions, Warren Ortland Jan 2003

Philosophy And Opinions, Warren Ortland

William Mitchell Law Review

Review of Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy. By Richard A. Posner. Harvard University Press, 2003. 398 Pages. $35.00.


The Quicksands Of Originalism: Interpreting Minnesota’S Constitutional Past, Douglas A. Hedin Jan 2003

The Quicksands Of Originalism: Interpreting Minnesota’S Constitutional Past, Douglas A. Hedin

William Mitchell Law Review

There are several varieties of the “originalist” school of constitutional thought, but all subscribe in one degree or another to the belief that a constitutional clause should be interpreted according to its original meaning or the original intent of its authors. That original understanding or intent can be discerned from the text of the clause, the history of its drafting and ratification and, sometimes, early practices and court decisions interpreting that clause. It rightly has been called a “grand theory” because it is simple and clear, explains so much, and it has the almost irresistible attraction of being anchored firmly …


Lena Olive Smith: A Minnesota Civil Rights Pioneer, Ann Juergens Jan 2001

Lena Olive Smith: A Minnesota Civil Rights Pioneer, Ann Juergens

Faculty Scholarship

Lena Olive Smith and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) created a spirited partnership in the public interest during the 1920s and 1930s. Throughout their long collaboration, this woman lawyer, her clients, and the Minneapolis branch of a national grassroots organization faced similar challenges: to stay solvent, to end segregation and increase equality, and to live with dignity. This article is divided into four sections. The first three roughly correspond with stages in Smith’s life and work. Part II briefly chronicles Smith’s first thirty six years, 1885 to 1921, as a single African-American woman in the …


The Hubris Of The Master Chefs Of Diversity Stew, Michael K. Jordan Jan 1998

The Hubris Of The Master Chefs Of Diversity Stew, Michael K. Jordan

Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses the dangers of pursuing diversity, be it in the workplace, in a student body, or in a society, in a manner that puts a high level of control in the hands of a few experts using a specifc "recipe". These masters of diversity may pose serious threats to some basic principles that most Americans hold to be essential componenets of what it means to be free, self-determining individuals.