Spin Doctoring and the Judiciary

I was extremely lucky to represent Marquette Law School this past Saturday night at the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund’s Howard B. Eisenberg Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner, and the highlight of the event for me was not only my opportunity to meet and take a picture with Justice Louis Butler, but also to hear him present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Judge James A. Gramling, Jr. However, there were two things about Justice Butler’s speech that caught my attention. First, he began his speech by saying, “I’m Justice Louis Butler, and I’m not under investigation for anything.” Now, granted, this was an audience that had given him a thunderous standing ovation on his way to the podium, so he was certainly in the right crowd to make that joke. Nevertheless, it surprised me how eagerly everyone in the room applauded him; it certainly didn’t feel as though it was merely humoring him. Second, and perhaps more importantly, his tribute to Judge Gramling touched repeatedly on the Judge’s insistence in doing the right thing regardless of its popularity or public perception, both in his personal life and in the law.

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Studs Turkel’s Impact on Telling the Stories of Workers

Studs As many of you are probably aware, last week saw the passing of an American icon, Studs Turkel. Mary Dudziak of the Legal History Blog relates that the author and radio host died this past Friday at the age of 96. From his website:

In 1952 Terkel began working for WFMT, first with the “Studs Terkel Almanac” and the “Studs Terkel Show,” primarily to play music. The interviewing came along by accident. This later became the award-winning, “The Studs Terkel Program.” His first book, Giants of Jazz, was published in 1956. Ten years later his first book of oral history interviews, Division Street : America, came out. It was followed by a succession of oral history books on the 1930s Depression, World War Two, race relations, working, the American dream, and aging. His latest book, Will the Circle Be Unbroken : Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith, was published in 2001. Terkel continues to interview people, work on his books, and make public appearances. He is Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Chicago Historical Society.

Mary observes this from the Chicago Tribune:

“At his bedside was a copy of his latest book, ‘P.S. Further Thoughts From a Lifetime of Listening,’ scheduled for a November release.”

From a labor perspective, Turkel made many important contributions in putting together oral histories of the life of workers, including Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do and Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression.

Thanks to Mary for pointing out that recordings from Terkel’s radio programs and oral history interviews are here.

Hat Tip: Patrick O’Donnell

Cross posted at Workplace Prof Blog.

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November Blog Features

As the calendar turns from October to November, Gordon Hylton replaces Judi McMullen as our Featured Faculty Blogger of the Month.  Judi’s macabre posts on the dark side of family law were perfect for the month of Halloween.  In keeping with the pattern of seasonally suitable posts, I am hoping that Gordon will share his secrets for cooking a perfect turkey!

Also on the Thanksgiving theme, the new question of the month is, “Which of your law professors has had the greatest influence on you?”

Finally, I am pleased to announce a new feature this month, Student Blogger of the Month.  3L Andrew Golden will be serving in this role.

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