The Shape of the Michigan River as Viewed from the Land of Sweatt v. Painter and Hopwood: Comments on Lempert, Chambers, and Adam\u27s Study of the University of Michigan Law School\u27s Minority Graduates

The piece considers the Lempert, Chambers, Adams study of Michigan\u27s law graduates of color from the vantage point of the history of The University of Texas\u27s law school\u27s history

Between Town and Gown: The Rise and Fall of Restorative Justice on Boulder\u27s University Hill

This article describes the creation of and subsequent demise of a restorative justice program in the University Hill neighborhood of Boulder, CO

Simkins\u27 Own Words Dishonorable

This Op-ed from the Charleston Post and Courier uses William Stewart Simkins\u27s own words to describe his criminal activity as a Ku Klux Klansman in Florida during Reconstruction

Historical Study of Personal Injury Litigation: A Comment on Method

In this piece, Russell argues in favor of archival work in the trial-court records rather than appellate court reports in order to gain a more accurate historical view

South Carolina\u27s Largest Slave Auctioneering Firm

This article presents the original finding that South Carolina\u27s legal system conducted a majority of the state\u27s slave auctions during the antebellum years.Courts conducted slave auctions in several circumstances. Sheriffs sold the property of debtors; and courts also conducted or supervised sales in order to divide estates. Drawing upon extensive empirical analysis of primary sources in various South Carolina archives, this article compares the total number of slaves sold at court-ordered or court-supervised sales with the best empirical estimates for private slave sales - whether at auction or not. The conclusion is that the courts acted as the state\u27s greatest slave auctioneering firm.South Carolina\u27s role with regard to the sales of slaves was no different than other slave jurisdictions, although the article does not present empirical work from other states. The principal role of the state in the auction sales of slaves puts the legal system at the center of the American domestic slave market

Articles Sell Best Singly: The Disruption of Slave Families at Court Sales

This legal history article presents the empirical finding that the risk of family separation at slave auctions was higher at court-ordered and court-supervised sales as compared with private sales of capitalist auctioneers. The article also examines legal and ideological justification for the destruction of slave families. Law served to disguise human agency in the breakup of slave families.This article builds upon the author’s earlier finding that a majority of slave auctions in South Carolina were conducted by the courts. The data for this article and the previous study were drawn from antebellum primary sources including trial-court records, the salesbooks of sheriffs, and records of masters in chancery

Professor\u27s Paper Targets Klan Reference on University of Texas Dorm... And Gets Action

Ten weeks ago, my 48-page legal history paper started a Texas-sized controversy about a University of Texas dormitory named for a Klan leader. UT first admitted African-American students in 1950 after the NAACPʼs Legal Defense Fund lawyers beat Texas before the US Supreme Court in Sweatt v. Painter. Four years later, the great NAACP lawyers won Brown v. Board of Education. Just a few weeks after the Brown decision, UT put a Klansmanʼs name on a brand-new dormitory for law and graduate students

UT Case was Stop on Road to Brown v. Board of Education

“Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall, and the Long Road to Justice” is Gary Lavergne’s treatment of Sweatt v. Painter, an important 1950 Supreme Court decision on the way to Brown. Lavergne, director of admissions research at the University of Texas, tells an interesting and important story that fills many gaps between Plessy and Brown