Legal Commons^™

The President's Wartime Detention Authority : What History Teaches Us, Anirudh Sivaram

Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award

This thesis examines the extent of the President’s wartime detention authority over citizens (in particular, detention authority pursuant to Article II of the U.S. Constitution) through a legal-historical lens. Some Presidents (Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, George W. Bush) have historically relied on Article II authority for detention, while others (Ulysses Grant, Barack Obama) have disclaimed the notion that such authority exists. Clarifying the scope and source of the Presidential detention authority over citizens bears both theoretical and real-world relevance. Theoretically, it lies at the confluence of two central American constitutional traditions – the separation of powers, and the protection of …

From Public Good To Public Disgrace: Eugenics In North Carolina, Meghan M. Mcguirk

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This CE/T project explores the sterilization program in North Carolina in the twentieth century. From 1929 to 1974, over 7,600 men, women, and children were sterilized by the Eugenics Board of North Carolina, a department of the state government of North Carolina. The North Carolina legislature enacted legislation that allowed for the forced sterilization of persons considered “feeble-minded” or a threat to the public good of society. The perceived threat to society changed over the course of the program from patients in mental institutions to low socio-economic women seen as a burden to the public. The mechanism for selection and …

Land And Law In The Age Of Enterprise: A Legal History Of Railroad Land Grants In The Pacific Northwest, 1864–1916, Sean M. Kammer

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Federal land subsidies to railroad corporations comprised an important part of the federal government’s policies towards its western land domain in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. In all, Congress granted over a hundred million acres to railroad corporations to subsidize construction of a transcontinental railway network. Long after the last such grant in 1871, these land grants continued to incite political contests in Congress and state legislatures and legal disputes in communities across the West. By the end of the century, railroad corporations had become manifestations not just of the threatening growth of corporate power in the United …

The Thesis Of Norm Transformation In The Theory Of Mass Atrocity, Paul Morrow

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Theoretical accounts of genocide and mass atrocity commonly embrace the thesis of norm transformation. This thesis holds, first, that individual and institutional participation in such crimes is at least partially explained by transformations in basic norms that structure social and political life. It holds, second, that preventing future occurrences of such crimes requires changing norms that currently govern the actions of particular individual and institutional actors. This paper clarifies, defends, and extends the thesis of norm transformation. It clarifies this thesis by providing a general account of the nature and dynamics of norms. It defends this thesis against charges of …

A Howl Of Free Expression: The 1957 Howl Obscenity Trial And Sexual Liberation, Jamie L. Rehlaender

Young Historians Conference

The 1957 “Howl” obscenity trial, which covered the constitutionality of utilizing obscene words in literature, was largely influential in the development of literary free expression in America. This case centered on Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems, a work which represented the ideals and culture of the literarily experimental and sexually promiscuous Beat Generation. The expansion of free expression can be discerned through the tolerance of these sexual implications in literature, which is documented throughout the history of sexual suppression in past censorship cases. The victory of the “Howl” obscenity trial was essential for liberating the use of sexual …

Civil And Common Law: A Historical Analysis Of Colonial And Postcolonial Canada, Patrick S. Stroud

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Legal historians divide European law into two principal families: common law (British law) and civil law (continental European law). Common law judges favor cases; courts “discover” law on a case-by-case basis and those cases make precedents for future ruling. Civil law courts favor codes; courts compare cases to existing laws and those laws control judges’ rulings. The two rarely interact, save one prominent example: Canada. British common law supposedly superseded French legal traditions in colonial Canada. But is history so binary? Did British common law truly “conquer” French civil law? Through analysis of Canadian legal history, this article demonstrates how …

Black White And In-Between: Race And Ethnicity In The Criminal Justice System 1885-1915, Elizabeth M. Wilhelm

Honors Theses

Events in the past year have brought racial and ethnic discrimination in the criminal justice system to the forefront of American consciousness. In reality, race has been used to create stereotypes for centuries, often supported by “scientific” and “statistical” evidence to support the idea that certain races are more likely to commit crimes than others. In my research, I trace the development of these ideas as well as the evidence used to support these racial notions primarily by drawing upon conference transcripts from two professional organizations: The National Prison Association and the National Conference of Charities and Corrections covering the …

The Brutal Murder Of George J. Bushman, Conrad B. Richter, Dale J. Molina

Adams County History

In the fall of 1918 there occurred in Adams County a singularly brutal murder that brought the County and the town of Gettysburg to a shocked standstill. The tentacles of this event would reach into four Pennsylvania counties: Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, and Philadelphia, and eventually the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The investigation of the crime and the trial of the perpetrators involved so many public officials and families, as well as the extended judicial system and geographical locations within and without the County, that we have included a Cast of Characters and Locations to assist the reader in following this convoluted …

Adams County History 2015

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

New Perspectives On European Women’S Legal History, Sara L. Kimble, Marion Rowekamp

School of Continuing and Professional Studies Faculty and Staff Works

No abstract provided.

John William Wallace (February 17, 1815-January 12, 1884): An Appreciation Upon The Two Hundredth Anniversary Of His Birth, Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

In 2015 we celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of John William Wallace-librarian, court reporter, historian-who was born February 17, 1815 in Philadelphia and died on January 12, 1884. Known mostly as a reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court, this short biography tries to expand on some of the other accomplishments of his life. He was the son of John Bradford Wallace and Susan Binney, sister of the eminent Philadelphia lawyer, Horace Binney and descendant of the two famous printers in Pennsylvania, two William Bradfords in colonial Pennsylvania. Wallace studied law in his father's office and John Sergeant. …

New York Oneida: Land Claims, Federal Policies, State Intervention, And Casino Development, Lee M. Hanover

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

This paper examined the relationship between Oneida land sovereignty and their self-determination in establishing the Turning Stone Casino. The paper reviewed general trends in Oneida history with the state of New York, focusing on federal policies aimed at American Indian communities, and the legal cases that the Oneida have brought against New York and the federal government. The study extrapolated that historic cases involving political, legal, and land sovereignty issues prepared them for the fight over their casino’s admittance on Oneida land. The paper then addressed the reoccurring battles with the state of New York over the legality and jurisdiction …

"Spitting Positively Forbidden": The Anti-Spitting Campaign, 1896-1910, Patrick J. O'Connor

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Lawyers And Sawyers: Venetian Forest Law And The Conquest Of Terraferma (1350-1476), Michael S. Beaudoin

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Venice played a direct role in shaping the future of Northeastern Italy. The standing scholarship views Venetian involvement on the mainland as either an abandonment of the city’s maritime tradition or as a buffer zone against rival powers, like Milan. Venice’s western mainland empire, Terraferma, provided Venice with many commercial products that the Eastern Mediterranean did not. One mainland product, timber, was a central focus of Venetian expansion into Terraferma and has thus far been neglected by historians. This thesis argues that the Venetian Republic manipulated mainland legal traditions in order to obtain …

The Merger Of Two Systems: Chinese Adoption And Western Adaptation In The Formation Of Modern International Law, Kevin D. Herrick

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Shelby County V. Holder - Brief Contextualized, Mark W. Wolfe

Student Publications

This paper begins with three major factors that set the stage for Shelby: first, a history of the VRA; second, an overview of Northwest Austin with a focus on how it led directly to Shelby; and finally, Shelby County’s motivations for bringing the suit. An examination of racial demographics compared to statistics on voter registration and minority officeholders in Alabama and Louisiana—two states originally subject to preclearance—follows in light of the Court’s claims on the matter. A conclusion will take a brief look at laws passed since Shelby with an eye towards a future critique. [excerpt]

Guide To Ac026 - Records Of The Office Of The Secretary, Jona Whipple

Finding Aids

Records of the Office of the Secretary, 1899-1912

Elmer E. Barrett served as the secretary for the law school from c.1896, when it was known as the Law Department of Lake Forest University, to c. 1904. He was succeeded by Guy Guernsey.

Scope and Contents

Records in Series I and II document applications to the Chicago-Kent College of Law and student applications for degrees. These records consist of application forms and letters to school administrators, the bulk consisting of records from 1900. A third series includes several “credit cards” used by student Levi R. Albaugh (Class of 1914) to receive …

Guide To Ac027 - Records Of The Center For Law And Computers, Jona Whipple

Finding Aids

Records of the Center for Law and Computers, 1984-1999

Records consist of conference materials, proceedings books, and materials used for instruction. Conference materials for the First Annual Personal Computing Strategies for Lawyers, held in 1985, are missing from the collection. The bulk of the collection consists of conference proceedings from various conferences held at Chicago-Kent or sponsored by Chicago-Kent; the Miscellaneous subseries includes materials from conferences including CLC faculty published materials, and materials from conferences hosted by Chicago-Kent with CLC’s participation. The collection also includes complete copies of large firm surveys from 1988-1995, with some incomplete material on surveys from …

Petition Of Prisoners In Worcester Jail To Extend The Prison Yard, September 8, 1784., Elijah Isaacson, George Shayer, Jacob Ellison, Henry Chase, Jonathan Willington, Daniel Novell, Asa Danforth, Matthew Knight

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

The prisoners ask that the prison yard at Worcester jail be extended to accomodate the increasing number of prisoners.

New York Stock Exchange, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a historical overview of the origins and early development of the New York Stock Exchange.