The History of Michigan Law

by Finkelman, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780821416617
• ISBN10: 0821416618
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-08-01
• Publisher: Ohio Univ Pr

Summary

The History of Michigan Law offers the first serious survey of Michigan's rich legal past. Michigan was among the first states to admit African-Americans and women to its law schools and was the first governmental entity to abolish the death penalty. Additionally, the state, unlike its midwestern neighbors, did not enact racial exclusion laws in the post-Civil War era. Michigan has also played a leading role in developing modern rape laws, in protecting the environment, and in assuring the right to counsel for those accused of crimes. The story of Michigan's legal development includes high profile cases such as the Dr. Ossian Sweet murder trial, the cross-district busing case Milliken v. Bradley, and the affirmative action cases brought against the University of Michigan Law School.The History of Michigan Law documents and analyzes, as well, Michigan legal develpments in environmental history, civil rights, and women's history. This book will serve as the entry point for all future studies that involve the law in Michigan. With 2005 marking the bicentennial of the establishment of the Michigan Supreme Court, as well as the bicentennial of the creation of the Michigan Territory, The History of Michigan Law has appeal beyond the legal community to scholars and students of American history. ABOUT THE EDITORS--- Martin Hershock is an associate professor of history at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He is author of The Paradox of Progress: Economic Change, Individual Enterprise and Political Culture in Michigan, 1837-1878 (Ohio, 2003) Paul Finkelman is Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa College of Law. He is the author of many articles and books, including His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid and the Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference.

Author Biography

Martin Hershock is an associate professor of history at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He is author of The Paradox of Progress: Economic Change, Individual Enterprise and Political Culture in Michigan, 1837-1878 (Ohio, 2003) Paul Finkelman is Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa College of Law. He is the author of many articles and books, including His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid and the Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	1	(12)
The Northwest Ordinance and Michigan's Territorial Heritage	13	(24)
David G. Chardavoyne
Blood on the Tracks: Law, Railroad Accidents, the Economy, and the Michigan Frontier	37	(24)
Martin J. Hershock
An Occasionally Dry State Surrounded by Water: Temperance and Prohibition in Antebellum Michigan	61	(22)
John W. Quist
A Beacon of Liberty on the Great Lakes: Race, Slavery, and the Law in Antebellum Michigan	83	(25)
Roy E. Finkenbine
Deference to Democracy: Thomas Cooley and His Barnburning Court	108	(18)
Paul D. Carrington
The Four Michigan Constitutions	126	(22)
Frank Ravitch
Ruin and Recovery: Conservation and Environmental Law in Michigan	148	(19)
David Dempsey
170 Years of a Balancing Act: A Brief History of Criminal Justice in Michigan	167	(20)
Ronald J. Bretz
The Promise of Equality and the Limits of Law: From the Civil War to World War II	187	(27)
Paul Finkelman
``Methods of Mysticism'' and the Industrial Order: Labor Law in Michigan, 1868--1940	214	(24)
Elizabeth Faue
The Michigan Women's Commission and the Struggle against Sex Discrimination in the 1970s	238	(18)
Liette Gidlow
Legal Education in Michigan	256	(21)
Byron D. Cooper
List of Contributors	277	(4)
Index	281