calendar and aspen publishers

Holiday time means calendar time. Whether it is a wall calendar of Impressionist paintings which always have a Rouen Cathedral or girl with a watering can image, or a "365-page" flip calendar through which you are supposed to better yourself by learning one new fact or word or saint per day, calendars are all around us. At a recent professional conference, I picked up a (free) calendar put out by a major legal publisher (Aspen) entitled "The Year in Law." It is a wall calendar which commemorates various significant US Supreme Court decisions, justices and other law-related events in American life. It also highlights federal holidays (though Lincoln's and Washington's actual birthdays are mentioned) as well as days when you have First Quarter and Last Quarter moons, for those interested in lunar stuff. Actually, the appearance of moon dates stimulated me to look at what they considered to be significant legal events throughout our history. The remainder of this essay tells you what this legal publisher or, probably more precisely, some 22 year-old intern, thought were important dates in American legal history.

The Obvious Ones

Just as a doctor checks for vital signs when first examining a patient, so I wanted to see if the "big events" were there. Of course they were. Brown v. Board of Education is not only listed on May 17 (1954), but the "picture of the month" is of Black students walking to school with uniformed personnel in the background. Dred Scott v. Sandford, the decision upholding the national character of slavery, is commemorated not only on March 6 (1857), but also through the photo of Dred for the picture of the month. March also has such significant decisions as Griggs v. Duke Power on March 8 (1971), an important case in employment law; Gideon v. Wainwright on March 18 (1964), regarding the right to counsel; and West Coast Hotel v. Parrish on March 29 (1937--also noted as the day of the New Moon), the decision in which the Court first sided with the Roosevelt Administration by giving a broad construal to the Commerce Clause. The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed by George Bush Sr. on July 26, 1990, and is commemorated not only with the note on that date but a color photograph of Mr. Bush signing the bill with a wheelchair-bound person at his side. But I noted with some bemusement that they also commemorated March 19 (1918) as the date in which "Congress approved the Standard Time Act, establishing Daylight Saving Time" and March 22 (1990) in which an Alaskan jury found captain Joseph Hazelwood innocent of major charges in connection with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. I decided I needed to see what other gems the calendar provided.

Wandering Further in the Calendar

Someone probably told the "intern" to find a few "firsts," since calendars often have those "Jeopardy-type" facts to enliven dull social gatherings. Which ones did s/he pick? Well, January 14 commemorates the adoption of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639), the first constitution in the colonies. Then, January 26 recalls the first Prohibition law in the US (1838), when Tennessee made it a misdemeanor to sell alcoholic beverages in taverns and stores. February also had its "first"--the first female Justice of the Peace, Esther Hobart Morris, who for 8 1/2 months served in this capacity in South Pass City (WY Territory) in 1870. Esther kills a number of birds with one stone, especially since WY isn't particularly well-known as a place that generated much federal law or Supreme Court precedent. Then, a different kind of "first" is noted on February 11 (1812), where Gov. Elbridge Gerry, Governor of MA, signed a redistricting law favoring his party and thus bequeathing his name to the concept of "gerrymandering." When undergraduate political science majors learn this term, they always remember its origin. But by the time you get past March 1 (first national park--Yellowstone--in 1872) the "firsts" are few and far between, unless you count the establishment of the, drum roll, Department of Agriculture on May 15, 1862 or the Justice Department on July 1, 1870 as "firsts." But, though "firsts" fade, the moons apparently do not, as the calendar has the "Last Quarter Moon" on July 17 and the "New Moon" on July 25.

Concluding with the Justices Themselves

But the calendar also tells us several things about the Justices themselves, though the organizing principle for the whos and whys about the Justices seems to be known to God alone. Of course, the "biggies" are noted, such as the July 6 (1835) death of Chief Justice John Marshall or the January 12 (1932) retirement of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. at age 90. But even those two facts make one pause. Why is one person's death and another's leaving of the Court noted? Is there a significance to this? Apparently not, because you also find dates of birth and dates of swearing in. For example, Jan. 7 (1972) commemorates the date on which both William Rehnquist and Lewis Powell were sworn in to the Court, but Jan. 23 marks the birth day of Justice Potter Stewart (1915). Stewart was not an insignificant Justice to be sure, but his birthdate? Not even his home town in Ohio probably celebrates that. But, speaking of birthdates, the calendar also mentions the birthdate of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on March 27 (1930). One would have thought that since she was the first female Justice of the Court, her swearing-in day might have been noted. But it wasn't. And, then, there is the curious entry under September 3 (2005), "Justice William H. Rehnquist left office." What the calendar doesn't tell you is that he left office that day because he died, whereas Holmes, who left office in 1932, still managed to live three more years. So it isn't clear why a particular Justice is or isn't mentioned or whether it is his/her birthday, date of death, date of swearing in or leaving the Court that ought to be commemorated.

And then, in conclusion, there are the two dates which will send even the most seasoned Supreme Court reviewer scurrying for more information. August 31 (granted, a slow news day) saw the death of Justice John Blair in 1800 and September 13 was the day on which Justice William Cushing was gathered to his fathers in 1810. In my decade in law, I have not had one conversation where either name has been mentioned. But, maybe Aspen will now be starting a trend to revive Blair and Cushing. If so, it started right here, right now.

So, I might hang the calendar on my wall but not so much for what it teaches as for what it symbolizes: a post-modern calendar, where randomness is the virtue above all. But that isn't a bad thing for law to experience, since it often labors under the illusion of its own order and control.

Happy New Year!

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