Journal of Supreme Court History

Introduction Melvin I. Urofsky Most of the articles in this issue come from the Leon Silverman Lecture Series that the Society sponsored last year, and that dealt with the broadly defined topic ofthe Supreme Court and property rights. As one can see, this covers a wide spectrum of interests. Jonathan O’Neill explored the notion of property, and what it meant to the Founders of the country. As James Ely put in his classic book, property was considered the “guardian of every other right.” Professor Ely also delivered one of the lectures on property rights in the Gilded Age, and tried to dispel some myths about the alleged obsession of jurists of the latter part of the nineteenth century withproperty. Richard Epstein picked up on this theme in his exploration of the beginnings of public utility regulation, and how the Supreme Court responded to it. The source of much of the power of Congress to regulate different aspects of the market derive from the Commerce Clause, and as we all know, over the years there have been several definitions ofcommerce, as well as ideas on just how much power the Clause granted to the federal government. Professor Mark Killenbeck looks past the superficial contradictions to find certain basic threads regarding the meaning the Commerce Clause as well as the goals that it has sought. Few groups have fared as badly at the hands of the federal government as Native Americans. Professor Angela Riley examines the efforts of tribes to protect their lands— rights supposedly guaranteed by treaties in many instances—in the high court. We also have three articles that are not Silverman Lectures. Marjorie Heins examines the First Amendment and academic freedom, focusing on the Supreme Court cases that arose out of the massive investigations in the early 1950s into New York City teachers’ and professors’ political beliefs and associations. Deborah Ann Roy is a lawyer in the Justice Department. Just as 2013 marks the fiftieth anniversary ofthe March on Washington, it is also a half-century since the Good Friday Parade in Birmingham, Alabama, an event that holds an important place in the history of the civil rights movement, and that also led to two Supreme Court cases. Ms. Roy gives us v vi JOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY a retrospective narrative of that march, and assesses the ensuing Supreme Court cases. Anthony Lewis was an important figure in Supreme Court history. Nearly everyone credits him as being the first modem reporter of the Court and its business. He was not simply a congressional correspondent who walked across the street on slow days. TheNew York Times assigned himto focus on the Court, and his lucid and intelligent analyses of the Court’s decisions not only won him a Pulitzer Prize, but set a gold standard for all who came after. After his death last year, I asked Lyle Denniston to write about him. Lyle has had a distinguished career as a Court reporter for the Baltimore Sun, but beyond that, he worked with Tony Lewis and has witnessed how reporting on the Court has changed. His piece reflects that intimacy, as well as the differences the two men had over certain matters. Last, but certainly not least, Grier Stephenson tells us about some of the books that have come out recently dealing with the Court, its members, and its decisions. As always, a veritable feast, and I invite you to enjoy! ...