Nov

10

James G. Jenkins:The First Dean of Marquette Law School

Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | November 10, 2009 | 1 Comment

 When Marquette University acquired the Milwaukee Law School and the Milwaukee University College of Law in the summer of 1908, one of its first tasks was to find a well-known dean for the institution now to be known as the Marquette University College of Law.  Although the new faculty was largely recruited from the ranks of [...]

Oct

23

First Sports Law Treatise?

Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | October 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment

It is difficult to say what was the first law-related book devoted to sports law, but if the title is any indication, it could be W. M. Thompson and J. D. A. Johnson, The Law of Sports (1896), which was published by W. B. Hearnden of New Inn Chambers, London.  Its authors appear to have [...]

Oct

20

Barry Bonds’ Contribution to the Growth of American Law

Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | October 20, 2009 | 2 Comments

Baseball player Barry Bonds’ problems with perjury and illegal performance enhancing drugs have been well documented, but what is not nearly so well know is his contribution to the law regarding prenuptial agreements, particularly in California.
In 1988, Barry Bonds married Susann “Sun” Margreth Blanco, a native of Sweden, in Las Vegas.  The two had met [...]

Oct

14

President Chester A. Arthur and the Birthers, 1880’s Style

Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | October 14, 2009 | 1 Comment

The Obama citizenship “debate” has surprisingly brought former president Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886) back into the pages of American newspapers, which is no small feat.  Unlike President Obama, who is clearly eligible to hold the nation’s highest office, Arthur, the twenty-first president (1881-84), may well have been an “unconstitutional” president.
Although Arthur is frequently seen as Millard [...]

Oct

13

What The Birthers Have Taught Us About Barack Obama And The Constitution

Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | October 13, 2009 | 1 Comment

The campaign to prove that Barack Obama is not eligible to serve as president of the United States, carried out by certain opponents who have become known as “Birthers,” has succeeded in establishing (1) that Obama is in fact eligible to be president and (2) that Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, [...]

Oct

7

Searching for Negative Space in the Constitution

Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | October 7, 2009 | 3 Comments

Some people dislike the game of soccer.  They observe the players running around on the field and it all seems like random chaos.  Soccer aficionados, however, are not focusing on the players.  They are watching the spaces in between the players.  These empty spaces ebb and flow, like waves in the ocean, creating momentary opportunities [...]

Oct

6

Legacies of Lincoln

Posted by: Joseph D. Kearney | October 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The Legacies of Lincoln Conference, a joint undertaking of the Law School and the Department of History, was an impressive event last week. It began on Thursday evening, with Allen Guelzo, Gettysburg College’s renowned Lincoln historian, delivering the History Department’s annual Klement Lecture. There then followed on Friday three panels, variously addressing “Lincoln and Politics,” [...]

Sep

29

Brown v. Board of Education as a Disputing Process Lesson

Posted by: Andrea K. Schneider | September 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Last week, we were privileged to hear Professor Michael Klarman speak on “Why Brown v. Board of Education Was a Hard Case.”  This was one of the most enjoyable and interesting talks I have heard in a long time.  I highly recommend it, and you can click here to get the webcast.  My guess is that [...]

Sep

20

A Republican Form of Government

Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | September 20, 2009 | 2 Comments

On September 17, I participated in the Constitution Day program at the Law School.  All of the presenters were asked to discuss one part of the United States Constitution that is often overlooked.  My choice was the “republican form of government” clause, Article IV Section 4, which reads as follows: “The United States shall guarantee [...]

Sep

18

Samuel Johnson’s 300th Birthday

Posted by: Melissa L. Greipp | September 18, 2009 | 5 Comments

Today is Samuel Johnson’s 300th birthday.
After nine years of work, Samuel Johnson published a major dictionary of English words in 1755.  One of the key features of A Dictionary of the English Language was that Dr. Johnson used quotations from books where a particular word was used to illustrate the word’s meaning.
Why should a law [...]

Sep

16

Constitution Day

Posted by: David R. Papke | September 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The most inspiring of holidays grow out of a society’s history and culture, but modern governments are also prone to “manufacturing” holidays for ideological reasons.  Constitution Day is the latter type of holiday.  It has prompted no shortage of interesting academic programs and presentations, including the panel in the Law School on September 17, 2009.  [...]

Aug

18

Looking Backward and the Fallone-Boyden Debate

Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | August 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The post-publication history of Edward Bellamy’s 1888 utopian novel Looking Backward, 2000-1887 speaks to the issue at the core of the Fallone-Boyden debate.  My two colleagues disagree over the desirability of copyright protection for literary characters and the proper resolution of the recent legal action filed by J. D. Salinger against the Swedish author of [...]

keep looking »