Legal Biography Commons^™

A Tribute To Professor Jonathan Rohr, Melanie D. Wilson

Scholarly Articles

A Tribute to Professor Jonathan Rohr.

One Of The Good Guys: The Making Of A Justice – Reflections On My First 94 Years, Jamal Greene

Faculty Scholarship

John Paul Stevens’s first published judicial opinion was a Dissent. He joined the Seventh Circuit a few days after the court issued its opinion in Groppi v. Leslie, and dissented soon afterward when the court upheld that decision on rehearing. Wilbur Pell, who until Stevens joined was the only Republican among the Seventh Circuit’s seven active judges, wrote both Groppi opinions. Yet Stevens, brand new to the court, dissented from Pell’s opinion on rehearing.

There was no reason to think Father Groppi, who was arrested for leading a demonstration that interrupted the Wisconsin Assembly’s work, was innocent of legislative …

Richard N. Gardner (1927–2019), Lori Fisler Damrosch

Faculty Scholarship

Richard Gardner occupies a unique place in the history of United States diplomacy, in the teaching and practice of international law, in scholarship across a wide range of fields of interest to our discipline, and in the life of this Society. He was my valued colleague and mentor at Columbia University for many years, not just at the Law School, but also at the School of International and Public Affairs, where he nurtured and inspired generations of diplomats and policy experts to follow the call of public service. Having ascended the academic ladder to ever more dazzling heights — from …

Richard N. Gardner: Memories, Michael I. Sovern

Faculty Scholarship

Richard Gardner and I were colleagues for almost sixty years. The law faculty elevated us to its tenured ranks at the same meeting in 1959. We helped restore order after Columbia’s 1968 turmoil, he as a member of a disciplinary tribunal, I as chairman of the Executive Committee of the Faculty. We served under eight deans together; he
actually served under a ninth: me.

Review Of Joel Richard Paul, Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall And His Times, Pat Newcombe

Faculty Scholarship

This Article reviews Joel Richard Paul's book, Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times. The Author found this scholarly work to be very readable. Paul relies on ample and deep primary sources, yet manages to present John Marshall in a very human and accessible way. This narrative would be an excellent selection for any academic or public library, especially those that collect in the American history area, and it is highly recommended.

Celebrating Four Unruly Women, Elaine Craig

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In 1846, prison administrators at the Kingston Penitentiary replaced the daily whipping and flogging of prisoners with a new form punishment - The Box. The Box, as Ted McCoy describes it in his new book, Four Unruly Women: S fries f Incarceration and Resistance from Canada's Most Notorious Prison, was a six foot tall, three foot deep coffin used to impose a form of extreme isolation on unruly prisoners. The Box became the primary form of severe punishment for women prisons at Kingston when flogging was abolished.

Four Unruly Women depicts a shocking portrait of the cruelty and inhumanity imposed …

Tribute To Richard N. Gardner, Lori F. Damrosch

Faculty Scholarship

Richard Gardner was my valued mentor and colleague at Columbia University, beginning before I began teaching in 1984 and continuing well beyond his retirement in 2012. In the fall semesters from 1984 through 1989, we co-taught the survey course in International Law, using the Columbia textbook originally developed by Wolfgang Friedmann with other Columbia co-editors (which has remained the “Columbia book” over the years). Our first semester of teaching together coincided with the semester that Dick’s daughter, Nina, took the International Law class as a 2L at Columbia Law School (as his son, Tony, would also do, a few years …

Review By Justice John Paul Stevens (Ret.), John Paul Stevens

Michigan Law Review

Review of Noah Feldman's The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President.

Which Radicals?, Cass R. Sunstein

Michigan Law Review

Review of Jeremy McCarter's Young Radicals: In the War for American Ideals.

Tribute To Judge Robert Katzmann, Lindsay Nash

Articles

So thanks to Nancy and to the NYU Annual Survey of American Law for the privilege to speak here about Judge Katzmann, who's been a personal mentor to me and a real source of inspiration about the good that one person, albeit an extraordinary person, can do.

Tribute To Judge Robert Katzmann, Peter L. Markowitz

Articles

The article highlights Judge Robert Katzmann's transformative impact on immigrant access to legal counsel, particularly through the creation of the public defender system and the Immigrant Justice Corps. These initiatives have significantly improved outcomes for immigrants facing deportation, demonstrating the critical role of legal representation in ensuring justice. The programs have not only increased success rates for immigrants in court but also trained and retained a cadre of skilled immigration lawyers, setting a model for replication nationwide.

Beyond The Annals Of Murder: The Life And Works Of Thomas M. Mcdade, Jennifer L. Behrens

Faculty Scholarship

Thomas M. McDade is best known (if not well-known enough) for his seminal 1961 reference bibliography, The Annals of Murder: A Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets on American Murders from Colonial Times to 1900. Beyond that singular text on early American murder trial accounts, though, lies more than 70 additional publications on American legal history, law enforcement, and literature, gathered together for the first time in an annotated bibliography of McDade’s lesser-known writings. The article also examines McDade’s fascinating life and varied career as an early FBI agent, World War II veteran, corporate executive, and true crime chronicler.

The Gift Of Art Brightens Baier Hall, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Douglass Boshkoff (1971-1972 Acting; 1972-1975)

Doug Boshkoff knew immediately when he saw it. The oversized print on display at a Chicago art dealership was the perfect fit. Lichtenstein had used a neutral and cool palette and an angular design that would add a splash to even the dullest wall, and Boshkoff — a man of vision and creativity himself — knew that the Law School’s main lobby would serve as the perfect display space for the vivid print.

In September, the Boshkoff family attended the unveiling of “Imperfect Series,” a 1988 print by the American pop artist, which hangs just outside the entrance to the …

2018 Distinguished Service Award Program

Distinguished Service Awards

No abstract provided.

‘Crazy’ Suggestion Leads To God’S Purpose For His Life, John Shaughnessy

1975–1999: David T. Link

As he prepares to go to prison again, Father David Link shares the story of the “crazy” suggestion that led him to discover God’s purpose for his life.

Cardozo On The Supreme Court: Meeting High Expectations, Richard D. Friedman

Articles

President Trump announced his nomination of Neil Gorsuch — the sixth most senior judge on a federal appellate court in the hinterland—for a seat on the Supreme Court in a formal, nationally televised ceremony. Judge Gorsuch squeezed the shoulder of his wife, a gesture that signaled not only his thrill at the nomination but his joy at being able to share it with her. There followed a bitterly partisan process, featuring hearings at which the nominee testified and deflected questions about his substantive views. A change in the Senate rules, ending the possibility of a filibuster, was necessary to bring …

Law Library Blog (October 2018): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Keynote Address: Judging The Political And Political Judging: Justice Scalia As Case Study, Richard L. Hasen

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This is a revised version of a Keynote Address delivered at “The Supreme Court and American Politics,” a symposium held October 17, 2017 at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. In this Address, Professor Hasen considers through the lens of Justice Scalia’s opinions the role that views of the political process play, at least rhetorically, in how Supreme Court Justices decide cases. It focuses on Justice Scalia’s contradictory views on self-dealing and incumbency protection across a range of cases, comparing campaign finance on the one hand to partisan gerrymandering, voter identification laws, political patronage, and ballot access rules on the other. …

In Memoriam: John Reed, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Michigan Law Review

A tribute to John W. Reed.

The Right To An Independent Judiciary And The Avoidance Of Constitutional Conflict: The Burger Court’S Flawed Reasoning In Chandler V. Judicial Council Of The Tenth Circuit And Its Unfortunate Legacy, Joshua E. Kastenberg

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

In 1970, the United States Supreme Court issued Chandler v. Judicial Council of the Tenth Circuit in which five Justices determined that the federal courts of appeals possessed an administrative authority to manage the district court judges within an appellate court’s respective circuit. The decision enabled the Tenth Circuit to decide the fitness of a judge to preside over cases without a formal motion from a litigant. Although Congress had enabled the courts of appeals to oversee basic judicial functions (such as temporarily assigning district court judges to overworked districts), Congress did not intend to grant the power to remove …

A Tribute To Professor Mark H. Grunewald, Samuel W. Calhoun, Robert T. Danforth, Sidney S. Evans, Edward O. Henneman, Andrew W. Mcthenia, Brian C. Murchison, Joan M. Shaughnessy, Barry Sullivan, John W. Vardaman, Mark A. Williams

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Wilderness, Luck & Love: A Memoir And A Tribute, Neil Kagan

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

In 1984, Congress preserved 8.2 million acres of roadless federal lands as "wilderness," nearly matching the acreage set aside in the Wilderness Act of 1964. Congress also created the most new wilderness areas ever in a single year, by far. Wilderness Connect, Number of Wilderness Areas Designated by Year, https://wilderness.net/practitioners/wilderness-areas/summary-reports/wilderness-areas-designated-by-year.php.

I brought two lawsuits in 1983 that proved to be the catalyst responsible for breaking the years-long impasse that had previously stymied the protection of these pristine wildlands. The lawsuits also pushed Congress to preserve more wildlands as wilderness than it would have otherwise.

This article describes the lawsuits, …

The Honorable Robert R. Merhige, Jr.: A Series On His Life And Career, Stephen N. Scaife

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Personal Reflections On The Honorable Robert R. Merhige, Jr.: A Judge, Mentor, And Friend, Mary Kelly Tate

University of Richmond Law Review

Twenty-six years—half my lifetime—have passed since I joined Judge Merhige’s court family as his law clerk. I attempt here to sketch my personal impressions, distilling what to me was most remarkable about Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this dynamic man turned legendary judge—a man I revered from the moment I met him—is more vivid to me now than he was to my younger self.

The Honorable Robert R. Merhige, Jr.: A Judge Ahead Of His Time, Wayne A. Logan

University of Richmond Law Review

When one thinks about it, it is really quite incredible: a Brooklyn-born son of Lebanese and Irish immigrants with a distinct New York accent, standing well under six feet tall, attends a small North Carolina college on a basketball scholarship; serves with distinction in a bombing squadron in World War II; graduates from the University of Richmond School of Law (paying his way by serving as a night librarian); excels at the practice of law in a city (Richmond) not renowned for its receptivity to Yankees; wins election as president of the city’s Bar; and upon being appointed to the …

The Conscience Of Virginia: Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr., And The Politics Of School Desegregation, Robert A. Pratt

University of Richmond Law Review

The United States Supreme Court’s 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education declared that segregation in public education violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. For the millions of African Americans who had endured decades of separate and unequal schooling, this decision was a resounding reaffirmation of the nation’s commitment to equal justice under the law. But those who expected segregated schools to end overnight were in for a rude awakening. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”), which had led the legal assault against segregation since its founding in 1909, was encouraged …

Judge Merhige's Environmental Decisions: Expert Handling Of Groundbreaking Environmental Rulings And Complex Federal Jurisdictional Questions, Jim Vines

University of Richmond Law Review

It is a special privilege for me to contribute to this edition of the University of Richmond Law Review honoring Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Here, I seek to highlight his contributions to United States environmental law. In 1988 and 1989, I was one of two recent law school graduates who clerked for Judge Merhige (“please call me by my first name; it’s ‘Judge’”). The Judge was a larger than life figure. As a federal trial judge, historically important and intellectually challenging cases seemed to find their way into his court in a volume not matched in many other federal …

Reclaiming A Great Judge's Legacy, Frank M. Coffin

Maine Law Review

In the legal profession a deep sigh of relief is heard over the land. After roughly two decades of incubation, the long-awaited biography of the great judge has arrived, Learned Hand: The Man and the Judge, by Stanford Law Professor Gerald Gunther. The book, in my opinion, is well worth the wait. Nearly 700 pages, plus a hundred more for footnotes, it nevertheless represents a heroic condensation of some 100,000 different items on file at Harvard Law School, including no fewer than 50,000 items of correspondence, 1,000 district court opinions, and nearly 3,000 circuit court opinions. The inventory alone requires …

2018 Academy Of Law Alumni Fellows Dinner And Induction Ceremony Program

Academy of Law Alumni Fellows

No abstract provided.

George J. Mitchell: Maine's Environmental Senator, Michael R. Bosse

Maine Law Review

The State of Maine is blessed with a history of impressive and respected politicians. Among others, the list includes James Blaine, Margaret Chase Smith, and Edmund S. Muskie. The State now must add the name of George J. Mitchell to these ranks. A native son of Waterville, Maine, he attended Bowdoin College, Georgetown University Law Center, and eventually catapulted himself into one of the most powerful political positions in the United States government when he was elected as majority leader of the United States Senate. During his tenure as majority leader, he helped to redefine the position through his strong …