Saturday, April 4, 2015

Weekend Roundup

  • This is apropos of nothing, but I ran across it while noodling over a student's paper on Paul Porter's tenure as chairman of the FCC, and it's too strange and wonderful not to note here. TV is the Thing This Year!
  • Victoria Saker Woeste, American Bar Foundation, on Huffington Post on the legal expertise Indiana’s Republicans relied upon when passing the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Credit: Law Times
  • From the Law Times: "For decades, a massive portrait of Sir James Gowan [right] hung in relative obscurity glancing a wary eye over what local lawyers affectionately call “settlement corner” at the Barrie [Ontario] courthouse.  Now, after a concerted effort by the community to restore the painting, the 147-year-old portrait of Simcoe County’s first judge will gain more prominence at the local courthouse.”  More.
  • For many years when someone--say, trade unionists--wanted to characterize some measure--say, the labor provision of the Clayton Act--as a fundamental check on power, the metaphor they used was "Magna Carta."  Since the early years of Rights Revolution, however, the first choice has usually been "Bill of Rights."  Is Magna Carta making a comeback, thanks to all the recent anniversary hoopla?  A Digital Magna Carta: Internet Governance and a New Social Contract.
  • From the Norwich [Connecticut] Bulletin: "Central Connecticut State University history professor Matthew Warshauer and student Kristin Steeves will lead a discussion on the life and politics of Lafayette Foster, who as president of the U.S Senate served as the second-highest ranking official in the nation under President Andrew Johnson from April 15, 1865 through March 2, 1867.  'Lafayette Foster: A Principled Stand Against the Slave Power' takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Slater Auditorium on the campus of Norwich Free Academy."
 Weekend Roundup is a weekly feature compiled by all the Legal History bloggers.