Saturday, February 24, 2024

Weekend Roundup

  • John Mikhail, Georgetown Law, has a post up on Balkinization entitled A Reality Check on "Officers of the United States" at the Founding, in which he draws upon the research he conducted on the phrase in connection with his study of the Necessary and Proper Clause.  Much of the research he presents "has been ignored or overlooked in the existing scholarship on Section Three, and most of it does not appear in any of the briefs in Trump v. Anderson."
  • Rosemarie Zagarri and Holly Brewer argue that the anti-monarchical origins of the Constitution and the presidency do not support Former President Trump’s claim of immunity (Brennan Center).   
  • "The Department of History at the University of Alabama invites applications for a full-time Renewable Contract Instructor position. The appointment is for a three-year term with the possibility of renewal. The holder of the position will be expected to serve undergraduate teaching and advising needs in American history, with particular expertise sought in legal and/or constitutional history. Minimum qualifications include a PhD in History or related field. Position begins August 15, 2024."
  • On Wednesday, February 28, at 2pm ET , the FDR Library will livestream the first of five short films on civil rights that it will release this year, “created from interviews with our expert advisory panel for the Special Exhibit: Black Americans, Civil Rights, and the Roosevelts 1932-1962.”  This one “examines two critical Supreme Court cases that laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement of later decades.”  More.
  • Kathleen Ayers, a recently retired register of probate got Kennebec County, will lead the workshop "Maine's County Probate Courts," sponsored by the Greater Portland Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society, on Saturday, March 2, at 1 p.m. and held online.  "Her session aims to demystify the complex world of probate records, offering attendees an overview of the treasures these documents contain."  Register via email at gpcmgsgmail.com (BNN).
  • Update: As it happens, the Fulton County Probate Court is similarly presenting A Night in the Archives on Wednesday, February 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m (Fulton Neighbor). 

    Attendees can join historians, researchers, librarians, scholars, and preservationists as they explore historic probate records dating from 1847.

    The event will take place at the Historic Fulton County Courthouse, 136 Pryor Street, SW, second floor, Atlanta. The afterhours entrance is at 185 Central Avenue.
  • "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer (Ret.) unveils his new book at the National Constitution Center in conversation with NCC President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen. In Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism, Justice Breyer deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current Supreme Court’s majority and makes the case for a better way to interpret the Constitution" (NCC).
  • Kate Masur and Saladin Ambar discuss Lincoln's Lyceum Address in a webinar on March 12 from 7 to 8, hosted by the Lincoln Presidential Foundation.
  • That Congressional Briefing the American Historical Association hosted on “the history of the role and impact of sanctions as instruments of international relations” is now up on the AHA’s YouTube channel.
  • Ronald Collins discusses his new book, Tragedy on Trial: The Story of the Infamous Emmett Till Murder Trial, with Jason Downs at the Politics & Prose on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC, on Sunday, March 17, 2024, at 1:00pm.
  • "The latest issue of Historical Review, a publication of the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society, celebrates the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Florida Supreme Court’s building in Tallahassee” (Florida Bar News).
  • Via JOTWELL: Suja Thomas praises Thomas Framptom's article on The First Black Jurors and the Integration of the American Jury, 24 N.Y.U. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming, 2024)
  • ICYMI: Black History Is Inextricably Intertwined With American Legal History, says U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier  (Chattanoogan.com).  The US Postal Service dedicates a stamp to Constance Baker Motley (Columbia Law School).  U.S. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s use of historical “tradition” to justify its constitutional opinions because it leaves “too much to individual judges' discretion" (Reuters). Austin Sarat on The Gas Chamber, 100 Years of Cruelty (Verdict).

Weekend Roundup is a weekly feature compiled by all the Legal History bloggers.