Why a website for state legal history? State legal history is important. In America, talk about legal affairs usually focuses on federal law, such as acts of Congress and decisions of the United States Supreme Court. But each state has its own legal system and history. Much of American law, particularly the parts of law that most affect daily life, comes from the states, not Washington. State judges are important. Many Americans can identify famous U.S. Supreme Court justices such as John Marshall and Oliver Wendell Holmes. But hardly anyone knows about the great state supreme court judges who have helped shape American life. Their stories, too, deserve to be told. State legal history helps us appreciate American diversity. Each region of the United States has unique legal features. This is particularly true of the South, where faint traces of slavery’s legal legacy persist to this day, and of the Southwest states which have retained elements of French and Spanish civil law from their colonial days. Much of the fascination and strength of our nation lies in its diversity, including its legal diversity.State law is becoming more important. From the Civil War until the late 20th century American law became has swung the other way. Jurists of all political stripes have looked to state legislatures and courts as a possible antidote to perceived federal excesses. Thus it is more important than ever to understand state legal systems and how such systems evolved to their present form. Making sense of state legal history: how this website is organized State legal history is a vast subject that is difficult to organize. Even legal professionals cannot absorb it all: most lawyers are familiar only with their home state’s law (and perhaps a smattering of federal law and procedural rules), and many lawyers specialize in one or two narrow areas of law. Books that attempt a comprehensive history of American law often turn into a wearying slog for the reader, consisting of brief tours into a myriad of topics. This website is designed for both lawyers and lay persons. If lawyers cannot manage the entire historical body of state law, how can laypersons do so? The beauty of a website is that it allows for almost infinite segmentation of large subjects and it enables viewers to quickly access and compare the areas of most interest to them. This website is designed to do that for viewers interested in judicial biography, in substantive legal history and in the histories of particular states or regions. The following guideposts to the site may help the viewer:
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT STATE LEGAL HISTORY, CLICK ON THE SUBPAGE BELOW THE CHART FOR THE REGION IN WHICH YOU ARE INTERESTED:
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EMPIRE OF LAWS - The Legal History of the 50 American States
Subpages (10):
10. PACIFIC NORTHWEST LEGAL HISTORY
1. NEW ENGLAND LEGAL HISTORY
2. MID-ATLANTIC LEGAL HISTORY
3. OLD SOUTH LEGAL HISTORY
4. MOUNTAIN SOUTH LEGAL HISTORY
5. MIDWEST LEGAL HISTORY
6. DEEP SOUTH LEGAL HISTORY
7. SOUTHWEST LEGAL HISTORY
8. GREAT PLAINS LEGAL HISTORY
9. ROCKY MOUNTAIN LEGAL HISTORY
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