"Judicial Reputation: A Conference on Neglected Justices” opens at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 3, at the Vanderbilt Law School with a keynote address by G. Edward White, the David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law.
The lecture, to be held in the Law School’s Covington Room, is free and open to the public.
The aim of the conference, sponsored by Vanderbilt’s Program in Constitutional Law & Theory, is to investigate the question of judicial reputation by examining the lives and work of Supreme Court justices who were notable in their own time but who have since received scant attention from scholars, lawyers or judges.
White, a member of the UVA faculty since 1972, served a clerkship for Chief Justice Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court, has been a Guggenheim Fellow and has published 12 books. He is the recipient of numerous honors for his books and other publications, including becoming a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history.
The remainder of the conference schedule is listed below. The events on Friday will be held in the Law School’s Bartholomew Room and on Saturday in the Covington Room.
Conference Schedule
Friday, April 4
Early Supreme Court – 9:00-10:15 a.m.
- Samuel Chase – Stephen B. Presser – Northwest University School of Law – "Samuel Chase: In Defense of the Rule of Law and Against the Jeffersonians"
- James Iredell – William R. Casto – Texas Tech University School of Law – "There Were Great Men before Agamemnon"
- Commentator: Mark Brandon – Vanderbilt University Law School
Marshall Court 10:30-11:45 a.m.
- William Johnson – Mark R. Killenbeck – University of Arkansas Law Center – "William Johnson, The Dog That Did Not Bark?"
- Bushrod Washington – Herbert A. Johnson – University of South Carolina School of Law, Emeritus – "Justice Bushrod Washington: Maybe John Marshall’s Twin. . . But Not Identical"
- Commentator: Daniel J. Sharfstein – Vanderbilt University Law School
Civil War Era – 1:15-2:30 p.m.
- John Catron – Austin L. Allen – University of Houston – Downtown – "Jacksonian Jurisprudence and the Obscurity of Justice John Catron"
- John McLean – Paul Finkelman – Albany Law School – "John McLean: Moderate Abolitionist and Supreme Court Politician"
- Commentator: Alfred L. Brophy – University of Alabama School of Law
The Gilded Age 2:45-4:00 p.m.
- David J. Brewer – J. Gordon Hylton – Marquette University Law School – "Why David Josiah Brewer Is a Neglected Justice"
- Rufus W. Peckham – James W. Ely, Jr. – Vanderbilt University Law School – "Rufus W. Peckham and Economic Liberty"
- Commentator: Linda Przybyszewski – University of Notre Dame
Saturday, April 5
Early Twentieth Century – 9:00-10:45 a.m.
- George Sutherland – Samuel R. Olken – John Marshall Law School – "Justice Sutherland Reconsidered" / Bulter memo addressing cases related to Public Utilities Regulation, Taxation and Patent Infringement
- Pierce Butler – David R. Stras – University of Minnesota Law School – "Pierce Butler: A Supreme Technician" /
- Sherman Minton – Linda C. Gugin – Indiana University Southeast – "Sherman Minton: Restraint Against a Tide of Activism"
- Commentator: Lisa Bressman – Vanderbilt University Law School
Roundtable: Suzanna Sherry – Vanderbilt University Law School – 11:15-11:45 a.m.
For more information, please contact James Ely: james.ely@vanderbilt.edu.