The Spirit of the Law

In the spirit of the Halloween season, Harris County Law Library typically displays several spooky selections from our print collection in the Law Library’s exhibit space. This year, Halloween is a little different. Our favorite haunt is closed, but we feel no less spirited about celebrating this happy holiday.

Below are a few items of interest to ghouls and goblins alike. We’ve linked to the online resources whenever possible. Happy haunting!

Burchill v. Hermsmeyer, 212 SW 767 (1919), is the case of the ghost who inspired a contract dispute and a fraud claim. Mr. Hermsmeyer sued to recover the $10,000 he invested in Mrs. Burchill's corporation. She claimed that ghosts, with whom she consulted via a medium, told her there was oil under her land. When no oil was discovered, Mr. Hermsmeyer argued that Ms. Burchill's claim was a fraudulent misrepresentation of facts. The court rejected his argument saying that the existence of ghosts is a matter of belief, not of fact. His claim was, therefore, "insufficient to form a basis for relief for the plaintiff."

Purtell v. Mason, 527 F.3d 615 (2008), involves Halloween yard decorations which caused a neighborhood dispute and raised questions about the right to insult every person on your block. Jeffrey and Vicki Purtell displayed six wooden tombstones in front of their Chicago home, each bearing unflattering references to their neighbors and the details of each person's fictitious demise. One of the neighbors identified on the tombstones argued with Mr. Purtell over the offensive decorations resulting in a call to the police. Officer Bruce Mason arrived at the scene. He arrested Mr. Purtell and ordered the removal of the tombstones. The Purtells asserted their free speech rights, but the Seventh Circuit found no loss of First Amendment Protection under the "fighting words" doctrine. 

The Law of Cadavers and of Burial and Burial Places by Percival E. Jackson is the "standard work on the subject of the law pertaining to the care and disposal of bodies of deceased human beings, and the establishment and maintenance of burial places." Included in this volume is a thorough treatment of the law regarding sepulture along with "approximately a hundred pages of forms pertaining to the regulation of cemeteries, the transfer of plots, graves, and monuments therein and the care, transportation, and burial of human corpses as well as some forms of legal proceedings in both tort and contract, germane to the general subject." (Book Review by Charles G. Coster, 2014.) This title, 2nd edition, is available in the Harris County Law Library's print collection and also via HeinOnline's Legal Classics Library, which you can access via the Law Library’s remote access services.

In the early 1900s, three creative thinkers designed new and improved lanterns in the category of "decorative and grotesque illuminating devices commonly called jackolanterns." (Andrew B. Heard, Patent No. 715,379.) Their patent drawings can be seen here, in the graphics throughout this post.

A final note from the Harris County Law Library staff

This summer, we lost a dear colleague and friend, Ben Pride, a dedicated public servant at the Harris County Law Library for 19 years. In his quiet, thoughtful, and deliberate way, he was an ally for justice. He was warm and welcoming of every library visitor. He was empathetic, patient, and sincere. With great humility and compassion, he served the community he loved. Ben was generous with his time and his spirit, and for that generosity, most of all, he will be remembered. Cornell West famously said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Ben Pride embodied this sentiment in his daily work, taking to heart the very mission we all strive to uphold every day at the Law Library. For this and so many other qualities, he is missed.

Ben was also curious, intellectual, funny, and creative. Each of the last three years, he took great pride in assembling the Law Library’s Halloween book art, pictures of which are shown here. While we’re still closed and unable to continue our tradition this year, we definitely had plans to do so. In fact, as we dismantled last year’s display on November 1st, Ben was already suggesting a new idea for Halloween 2020. He envisioned a sugar skull on our shelves, a traditional Mexican folk art symbol used in Día de los Muertos rituals. Placed on an ofrenda in tribute to a departed soul, it honors a beloved spirit and the life lived. Ben would have built another creative display to encourage patrons to “snap a shelfie,” and it would have made everyone smile.

 
Harris County Law Library Book O’Lantern (Halloween 2019)

Harris County Law Library Book O’Lantern (Halloween 2018)

Spooky in the Stacks (Halloween 2019)

Spooky in the Stacks (Halloween 2019)

Latest & Greatest - Executive Privilege

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HeinOnline has introduced yet another new database into its robust lineup of historical and government documents. Its newest database, Executive Privilege, examines this implied presidential power most frequently invoked in the name of national security. Executive privilege refers to the right of the president to retain the confidentiality of certain information, even in light of subpoenas and other oversight measures that might be implemented by members of the legislative and judicial branches of government. The use of the privilege can be traced back to George Washington, but throughout our nation’s history, there have been some notable examples of the assertion of executive privilege. Perhaps the most famous use of the privilege was by President Richard Nixon who invoked it in response to a congressional request during the Watergate investigation for audiotapes of conversations that took place in the Oval Office. More recently, President Donald Trump asserted the privilege with respect to documents and testimony during the investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election. Other presidents to invoke the privilege include Dwight D. Eisenhower (Army-McCarthy hearings), Bill Clinton (Monica Lewinsky scandal), George W. Bush (forced resignation of certain U.S. Attorneys), and Barack Obama (gunwalking operation of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms).

The Executive Privilege database consists of documents and scholarly articles detailing the use of the privilege. Users can browse the documents by title, author, governmental branch, controversy, presidential administration, and the basis of the privilege. Examples of controversies include: 2020 Census, the Burr Conspiracy, Operation Fast and Furious, Presidential Tax Returns, Security Clearances, and Whitewater. The database features documents from administrations as early as that of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe to as recent as Presidents Obama and Trump. Users of the Executive Privilege database can narrow their searches to the particular grounds upon which U.S. Presidents have invoked the privilege, such as immunity, presidential communications, state secrets, deliberative process, and others. Researchers can also find scholarly articles from law reviews and journals discussing the use of the executive privilege and its place in the scheme of separation of powers.

For information on acquiring remote access to HeinOnline, check out this blog post from September 15, 2020.

Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg

By Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik

Published by Dey St., an Imprint of William Morrow Publishers

KF 8745 .G56 C37 2015

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oft-described unstoppable, passionate, and fiery United States Supreme Court justice, has become something of a cult figure among law students. Empowered by her rage at civil rights violations and the lack of gender equality, these students created a new persona for her, the Notorious R.B.G., and showed their appreciation of her by posting tributes on social media. From this media storm comes Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a new book by the law student who created the Notorious R.B.G. Tumblr and the journalist who interviewed Justice Ginsburg for MSNBC. An illuminating, yet humorous, look into the life, losses, and successes of this diminutive and, at times, underestimated jurist, Notorious RBG captures the essence of this remarkable woman who became only the second woman to serve on our nation’s highest court.

Always a champion of women’s rights and gender equality, Ruth Bader Ginsburg knew first-hand the difficulties that women faced in the workplace and in institutions of higher learning and the pressures associated with gender inequality. She was one of nine women in her class at Harvard Law School and had difficulty getting a job, even though she graduated at the top of her class from Columbia Law School. She was the first woman to teach full-time at Rutgers School of Law and later became Columbia’s first tenured female professor. While at Columbia, she even helped file a class action lawsuit against the university and continued to volunteer her time with the ACLU.

If it is true that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, then the legal writings of Ruth Bader Ginsburg can truly cut to the heart of an issue. Known for her dissents, Justice Ginsburg has always remained steadfast to her beliefs and her desire to correct injustices. Notorious RBG also features excerpts and analyses of some of Justice Ginsburg’s most significant briefs, opinions, and dissents:

  • Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971) (a gender discrimination case in which a mother was not entitled to possessions owned by deceased son) ;

  • Struck v. Secretary of Defense, 460 F 2d 1372 (1971) (case in which an air force nurse refused to get abortion as required by Air Force regulations) ;

  • United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996) (case involving the refusal of Virginia Military Institute to admit women);

  • Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124 (2007) (case that upheld partial-birth abortion ban);

  • Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company 550 U.S. 618 (2014) (an employment discrimination case based on gender) ; and

  • Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013) (case dealing with the Voting Rights Act).

The authors also look into her sixty-year relationship with her beloved husband Marty, who passed away in 2010, her unlikely friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia, her ideological opposite, her perfectionism when drafting opinions, her workouts with her personal trainer, and, of course, those lacy jabots she wears on the bench.

There is so much more to Ruth Bader Ginsburg than meets the eye. Learn about her in Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and find out why she is such an Internet sensation.

By the way, in case you didn't know, today (March 15) is RBG's 85 birthday. How fitting that it comes during National Women's History Month.