Legal History Commons^™

A Short Road To Statehood, A Long Road To Washington, Rachel J. Anderson

Scholarly Works

This article documents the election in 2012 of the first African-American to represent Nevada in the U.S. Congress, Steven Horsford. It is part of "A Special Series on African Americans in Nevada Politics - Past and Present" on pages 16-21 of the issue." Sources are on page 21 of the issue.

The Second Amendment´S Fixed Meaning And Multiple Purposes, Thiago L. B. Sturzenegger

Thiago L. B. Sturzenegger

The Second Amendment’s Fixed Meaning and Multiple Purposes

The faith to the Constitution’s textual meaning may provide the interpreter with the ability to perceive the adaptability of a constitutional provision to different social and political contexts. The text of the Constitution refers to principles of law; principles that are indispensable in different ways throughout time. Textualism as a constitutional interpretation model may offer the path to a more versatile Constitution.

To support this statement, this work examines the cases in which the Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The focal point of interest is the uses of …

Forensic Bibliography: Reconstructing The Library Of George Wythe, Linda K. Tesar

Library Staff Publications

The Wolf Law Library at the College of William and Mary initiated a project to re-create the library of George Wythe, the founding father of American legal education. A relatively small number of Wythe’s books are still extant today; for some volumes, there is strong documentary evidence to prove conclusively he owned specific editions of particular titles. Additionally, four bibliographies with varying levels of substantiating information provide insight into the contents of Wythe’s library. Examination of these sources launched an excursion into bibliographic history and rare book collecting that illuminates the difficulties in attempting to establish the exact editions contained …

Appendix - Delegates To Founding-Era Conventions, Robert G. Natelson

Robert G. Natelson

This appendix to the Founding-Era conventions article lists alphabetically and by state the names of all delegates to American inter-colonial and interstate conventions held between 1754 and 1787.

Founding-Era Conventions And The Meaning Of The Constitution’S “Convention For Proposing Amendments”, Robert G. Natelson

Robert G. Natelson

Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, two thirds of state legislatures may require Congress to call a “Convention for proposing Amendments.” Because this procedure has never been used, commentators frequently debate the composition of the convention and the rules governing the application and convention process. However, the debate has proceeded almost entirely without knowledge of the many multi-colony and multi-state conventions held during the eighteenth century, of which the Constitutional Convention was only one. These conventions were governed by universally-accepted convention practices and protocols. This Article surveys those conventions and shows how their practices and protocols shaped the meaning …

Knives And The Second Amendment, David B. Kopel, Claytom E. Cramer, Joseph P. Olson

David B Kopel

This Article is the first scholarly analysis of knives and the Second Amendment. Under the Supreme Court’s standard in District of Columbia v. Heller, knives are Second Amendment “arms” because they are “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes,” including self-defense.

There is no knife that is more dangerous than a modern handgun; to the contrary, knives are much less dangerous. Therefore, restrictions on carrying handguns set the upper limit for restrictions on carrying knives.

Prohibitions on carrying knives in general, or of particular knives, are unconstitutional. For example, bans of knives that open in a convenient way (e.g., …

Sex, Drugs, Alcohol, Gambling, And Guns: The Synergistic Constitutional Effects, David B. Kopel, Trevor Burrus

David B Kopel

In this Article, we discuss the synergistic relationship between the wars‖ on drugs, guns, alcohol, sex, and gambling, and how that relationship has helped illegitimately increase the power of the federal government over the past century. The Constitution never granted Congress the general police power‖ to legislate on health, safety, welfare, and morals; the police power was reserved to the States. Yet over the last century, federal laws against guns, alcohol, gambling, and some types of sex have encroached on the police powers traditionally reserved to the states.

Congress‘s infringement of the States‘ powers over the health, safety, welfare, and …

Constructing Modern-Day U.S. Legal Education With Rhetoric: Langdell, Ames, And The Scholar Model Of The Law Professor Persona, Carlo A. Pedrioli

Carlo A. Pedrioli

This article explains how lawyers like Christopher Columbus Langdell and James Barr Ames, a disciple of Langdell, employed rhetoric between 1870, when Langdell assumed the deanship at Harvard Law School, and 1920, when law had emerged as a credible academic field in the United States, to construct a persona, that of a scholar, appropriate for the law professor situated within the university. To do so, the article contextualizes the rhetoric with historical background on the law professor and legal education, draws upon rhetorical theory to give an overview of persona theory and persona analysis as a means of conducting the …

Instrumentalist And Holmesian Voices In The Rhetoric Of Reapportionment: The Opinions Of Justices Brennan And Frankfurter In Baker V. Carr, Carlo A. Pedrioli

Carlo A. Pedrioli

In his autobiography, Chief Justice Earl Warren described Baker v.Carr as “the most important case of [his] tenure on the Court.” Following Brown v. Board of Education by eight years, Baker was the second “blockbuster” case of the Warren Court. Warren felt that, if the progeny of Baker had preceded Brown, Brown would have been unnecessary.

As with other major Supreme Court cases, Baker featured rhetoric from highly influential justices, two of whom in this case were Justice William Brennan and Justice Felix Frankfurter. Justice Brennan would write the groundbreaking opinion for the Court that would be part of “the …

Review Of Someday All This Will Be Yours: A History Of Inheritance And Old Age, Benjamin J. Keele

Benjamin J Keele

Reviews Hendrik Hartog's book on nineteenth and twentieth-century cases involving inheritance and care giving.

Blacks And Voting Rights In Nevada, Rachel J. Anderson

Scholarly Works

This article is a brief foray into black suffrage and equal rights in Nevada legal history. It is part of "A Special Series on African Americans in Nevada Politics - Past and Present" on pages 16-21 of the issue. Sources are on page 21 of the issue.

Between England And France: A Cross-Channel Legal Culture In The Late Thirteenth Century, Thomas J. Mcsweeney

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

'Simple' Takes On The Supreme Court, Robert Tsai

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This essay assesses black literature as a medium for working out popular understandings of America’s Constitution and laws. Starting in the 1940s, Langston Hughes’s fictional character, Jesse B. Semple, began appearing in the prominent black newspaper, the Chicago Defender. The figure affectionately known as “Simple” was undereducated, unsophisticated, and plain spoken - certainly to a fault according to prevailing standards of civility, race relations, and professional attainment. Butthese very traits, along with a gritty experience under Jim Crow, made him not only a sympathetic figure but also an armchair legal theorist. In a series of barroom conversations, Simple ably critiqued …

Pious Perjury In Scott’S The Heart Of Midlothian, Julia Simon-Kerr

Julia Simon-Kerr

No abstract provided.

What The Actions Of Abe Lincoln Continue To Teach Us Today, Michael Slinger

Michael J. Slinger

No abstract provided.

Бюрократическое Управление Наукой (Рецензия На Книгу: Берлявский Л.Г. Правовое Регулирование Науки И Научной Деятельности В Советском Государстве 1917-1941 Гг.), Eugene Kolesnikov

Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

The given article represents the review of L.G.Berlyavsky's book “Правовое регулирование науки и научной деятельности в советском государстве (1917-1941 гг.) (М.: Юрлитинформ, 2012. 320 с.).