Summer Reading

By Peter S. Canellos *Signed Bookplate The “superb” (The Guardian) biography of an American who stood against all the forces of Gilded Age America to fight for civil rights and...

By Marlene Trestman (Author) Through a life that spanned every decade of the twentieth century, Supreme Court advocate Bessie Margolin shaped modern American labor policy while creating a place for...

By Peter Charles Hoffer The far-reaching Sedition Act of 1798 was introduced by Federalists to suppress Republican support of French revolutionaries and imposed fines and imprisonment "if any person shall...

By Lea VanderVelde Among the most infamous U.S. Supreme Court decisions is Dred Scott v. Sandford . Despite the case's signal importance as a turning point in America's history, the...

By Howard Ball Twice denied admission to a California medical school despite better grades and test scores than successful minority applicants, Allan Bakke took his grievance to court and set...

The first comprehensive historical treatment of resignations, retirements and and deaths explaining when and why justices have stepped down.

By Walter Stahr John Jay was a central figure in the early history of the American Republic. A New York lawyer, born in 1745, Jay served his country with the...

George Washington's nephew and heir was a Supreme Court Justice for over 30 years and left an indelible mark on American Law - yet he is unknown to most Americans. ...

The first Chief Justice of the United States, John Jay faced many unique challenges. When the stability and success of the new nation were far from certain, a body of...

An inclusive and comprehensive examination of the political thought of Douglas alongside of antislavery contemporaries like Abraham Lincoln and Charles Sumner.  Author Peter C. Myers captures Douglas's vivid discontent  as...

By Christopher James Bonner (Author) Citizenship in the nineteenth-century United States was an ever-moving target. The Constitution did not specify its exact meaning, leaving lawmakers and other Americans to struggle...

"So Forcibly Presented by His Counsel, Who Are of His Race": Cornelius Jones, The Forgotten Black Supreme Court Advocate and Fighter for Civil Rights in the Plessy Era James A. Feldman Influence Without...