When a Sitting US Supreme Court Justice Was Charged With Murder August 14, 2010

US Supreme Court Justice Had Troubles

Sara Althea Hill

On This Date In History:

 US Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Field was arrested for murder on this date in 1889 making him the only member of that body ever arrested for such a crime. The story goes back to a divorce case in which Justice Field ruled that the early 1880′s marriage between Sarah Althea Hill and wealthy mine owner and  US Senator William Sharon was invalid and she therefore was not entitled to any portion of his wealth of his estate following his death in 1885.  The court decision also declared the her new husband, David Terry, was also not entitled to the estate. David Terry was, like Justice Field, a former California Supreme Court justice. The courtroom erupted into a brawl with Terry at one point brandishing a Bowie knife.  Field ordered the couple jailed for contempt. The pair publically announced revenge on the Justice.

About a year later, Field and his bodyguard, US Marshal David Neagle, were riding on a train to San Francisco. Also on the train were Sarah and David Terry.  At a stop in Stockton, California the Terrys spotted Field in the station dining room. David approached Field while Sarah went back to the train. Dave slapped the Justice and Neagle identified himself as an officer, pulled his revolver and told Dave to stop . David Terry started fumbling with his jacket. Neagle fatally shot David Terry as his wife came running up with a satchel holding a loaded gun.  Neagle and Field were arrested on a murder charge.

Ironic End for David Terry

Now, I’ve wondered why Field and Neagle would go for their guns so quickly over a slap. I mean, most men would’ve punch him out like John Wayne.  It’s because  Terry had a history of violent behaviour and this was not the first time that Terry had pulled a gun on a public official in the past and fatally used it.   Prior to the Terry pulling a Bowie knife in the 1888 courtroom incident, back in 1856 Judge Terry stabbed a city of San Francisco official (again using a Bowie knife) and then, in 1859,  Terry was arrested for  killing a United States Senator.  Terry had been the Chief Justice of the California Supreme court but  was ousted from the bench following an election loss.  Senator David C Broderick was a colleague of Terry’s in the Democratic party. But, David Terry was a Southerner by birth and was pro-slavery while Broderick was against that institution. Terry had some unkind things to say about the faction in the Democratic party whom he felt had kept him to win election as Chief Justice of the CA Supreme Court. Broderick responded by saying unkind things and the pair ended up in a duel, which the sitting US Senator being gunned down by the former state supreme court justice. Terry was arrested but later released.

Like Terry years before, California’s Governor ordered Field  released from jail but Field’s story proved more interesting. That’s because the case against Neagle ended up…in the US Supreme Court that ruled in a landmark decision that since Neagle was acting under federal authority, he could not be subject to California law. I suppose that is why no one ever asked the Texas justice system to charge the ATF agents with anything in the Waco/ Branch Davidian case several years ago. Field recused himself from the case but the court ruled 6-2 in his favor and it may be the only case in which a sitting Supreme Court Justice was actively involved in a situation that set a legal precedent.

Weather Bottom Line: I think that we may be seeing the first slight hint of the change in season approaching..but don’t shut down your air-conditioner just yet.  First,  a cold front that I expected to come through Saturday night will not do so for about 24 hours but a line of storms ahead of the front should come rumbling through here Saturday evening  or night and there may be some strong storms going on.  I believe that the SPC has us in a slight risk for Severe Thunderstorms on Saturday.  The drier, cooler air lags behind that line though so Sunday will again be hot and there will be scattered storms as the front itself comes through.  On Monday its far enough south that the rain chances abate and we knock about 10 degrees or so off the high and low temperatures.  Here’s where the hint of a season change comes…there is a secondary boundary that looks intersted in coming down our way behind the initial front.  We see that often in the winter time with a front followed closely by an arctic push. This ain’t arctic but it is drier and cooler air.

Trouble is, it’s still summer so the second push really won’t get too far through our area.  The first front will get caught up in the influence of what’s left over from Tropical Depression 5 which went in around New Orleans and will do a loop to the east then south and then along the Gulf Coast before showing up in NW Louisiana and interact with the frontal boundary.  It should help to toss up a bunch of moisture too that will over run the front.  The second push will approach our area and get hung up.  The old boundary and the remnant of TD 5 will move north and the two will merge as a stationary boundary.  What all of this means is that most of the week ahead looks like a week of highs in the upper 80s with a decent chance for scattered showers and t’storms after Monday.  At least we won’t be talking about 100 though…and  my sunflowers need the rain.

Right to Smoke Non-Tobacco, Rights to Monopoly, Wrong to Kidnap Kaiser January 5, 2010

Freedom of Expression!

Courts Haven't Ruled in Favor of This Kind of Free Speech

This one may be headed to the legal history bin:  Many municipalities have enacted anti-smoking laws.  I do not understand how constitutional position of such laws in relation to private business,  but I suppose that has probably been adjudicated.  But, the laws typically specifically address the smoking of tobacco products.  They often say nothing about non-tobacco products.  My history professor, Dr. Thomas Mackey, always reminded me of the importance of words and to write what you mean and mean what you write.  Legal professionals are supposed to write with such specificity but sometimes they fall short.  In Denver, apparently the law bans smoking of tobacco products so The Denver Curious Theater says it will go to the Supreme Court of the United States to argue their right to smoke non-tobacco products during theater productions.  Gee…I wonder what non-tobacco product they are considering?  They’ve been arguing for three years before state courts that the non-tobacco smoking is a form of free speech and should be protected as a right of free expression.  The Colorado Supreme Court didn’t buy it, serving up a smoking 6-1 ruling against the plaintiffs.  It will be interesting to see if the SCOTUS decides to hear the case.  I’d love to hear what Justice Scalia has to say.  Actually, if you look at some of Scalia’s less celebrated opinions, it’s possible that he may surprise some folks if he gets the chance.

Monopoly "Inventer" Cashed In, But Was it Legit?

I Doubt That Darrow Could Beat Tom Cruce

On This Date in History:

When I was a kid…I’m talking kidnergarten through second grade…we played Monopoly all the time. We’d have games that lasted for days. Tom Cruce was always hiding money under the board and so we never knew how much he had. I think sometimes we made up our own rules. The game would often be transferred from one house to another, depending on the mood of the mother of whatever house we began the game. If the atmosphere became too tense, we simply moved to someone elses house.

1935 Version

That is my history of Monopoly and its probably a little more clear than the history of the game itself. Parker Brothers made a lot of money selling the game after it bought the rights in 1935. It had always been believed that Charles B. Darrow sketched the original version on a piece of oil cloth. Darrow, an out of work salesman, did not have the means to distribute the game so he offered it to Parker Brothers. But the game company thought it was too complicated and took a pass. So, Darrow joined forces with a friend and sold several sets in and around Philadelphia. Parker Brothers took another look at it and bought the rights. But, the story may be a bit more complicated than that.

Magie's 1904 Patent

In 1971(1973 or 1974 in some sources), someone came out with Anti-Monopoly. Naturally, Parker Brothers wasn’t too enthused and off to court they went. In the testimony, witnesses claimed that the game had been patented on this date in 1904 by Elizabeth J. Magie. Ms. Magie followed the theories of economist (now thought of as a socialist) Henry George and came up with the game to show the evils of real estate monopolies. Her early version was known as the Landlord Game and spaces sported names like Lord Blueblood’s Estate where trespassers were sent to jail. There was also Poverty Place. By the 1920′s, the game was being played in eastern universities by students who held left-wing ideals. At the Quaker Haverford College in Philadelphia, the student yearbook in 1924 made reference to the game and called in Monopoly.

Five years later, the students at Atlantic City Friends School were introduced to the game by a Quaker teacher. The spaces were given names found in Atlantic City with property values assigned and spaces painted in the colors that are familiar today. The story goes that a visitor to the school

1935 Marvin Gardens Card Misspelled

took the game back to Philadelphia and showed it to a Quaker hotel manager named Charles Todd. Todd, in turn, showed it to Darrow. Todd said that Darrow was slow to catch on to how the game was played. Todd claimed that Darrow asked him to write up the rules and make a copy of the game board for him. Todd then asserted that “he(Darrow) stole the game and took it from there.” As proof, Todd said that when he made a copy for Darrow, he misspelled Marven Gardens. Instead of an “e” he used an “i” and that is why Marvin Gardens is not spelled properly on the board game.

So, Charles Darrow may indeed have been a fraud…but he did gain a monopoly…at least for awhile after he received U.S. Patent 2,026,082 for the game in 1935. Darrow became the first millionaire game designer in history and three years after he died in 1967, Atlantic City put up a commemorative plaque on the boardwalk near Park Place to honor the man who may not have invented Monopoly, but certainly profited from it. It looks like to me that the Quakers must have felt like that they got stuck with Baltic and Medeterranean while Darrow had Boardwalk and Park Place.

 

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Hand Over the Kaiser!  Well…Never Mind: 

After World War I, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II found haven at a friend’s castle in Holland.  American Colonel Luke Lea was outraged, thinking that the former head of Germany should be tried as a war criminal.  Tennesseans from the days of Davy Crockett and his Tennessee Volunteers at the Alamo have been known for their toughness and hard headedness and Lea and his pals decided to hold up that tradition.  Lea got 7 other guys from his home state and plotted to capture the Kaiser and present him to President Wilson  as “a New Year’s Eve gift” at the Paris Peace conference.  So, the 8 Tennesseans acquired some passes, stole a couple of cars and, on this date in 1919, went to the Dutch town of Amerongen.  When they got to the castle, they BS’d their way past some guards and demanded to see the Kaiser.  Count von Bentinck asked what they wanted and they said they’d only tell the Kaiser.  The Kaiser refused to see them.  They argued a bit and then just decided to say “never mind” and left politely.  By that time, a crowd of soldiers had gathered but the octet managed to get in their stolen cars and made a clean getaway.  Or so they thought.  They were eventually apprehended and squeaked past a court martial, though I don’t think that was ever too much a concern.  See, the American commander, General John J. Pershing later said that he’d have given a year’s pay to have gone with Lea and his private expeditionary force.  It’s good to have the king on your side. 

CONUS Snow Depth NAM 7 AM Friday

Weather Bottom Line:  As of January 4, 2o10 58.1% of the United States was covered with an average of 5.9 inches of snow.  In a few days, that coverage will expand as a pretty quick moving shortwave dives down from the northern Rockies, across the plains, through the Ohio Valley and into the Carolinas.  Behind it will be another shot of arctic air that promises to keep Kentuckiana in a deep freeze.  As it passes on Thursday, it still appears to be the best shot this season for some decent snowfall.  Some models have over 4 inches of snow but I kinda like the 2-3 inch range a little better. The NAM has come in line with this thinking as it calls for a 2.5 inch snow depth over our region by Friday morning.  It’s possible for more than that, depending on the humidity of the air.  Lower dewpoints may result in a great snow to liquid ratio and so a fluffy snow may be closer to 4 inches.  Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised to see schools closed on Friday given its the first snow, its  the first week of school for the new year and it’s a  Friday and everyone wants a long weekend.  With snow on the ground, easily single digits and maybe low single digits could be in the cards Saturday morning.  You probably heard that here first but others will come around.

Sotomayor Rulings No Big Deal. Questionable ruling came in Constitutional Convention’s Shadow July 10, 2009

Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Pat Leahy

The nomination process of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court hits Congress next week.   The Constitution says that presidential appointments to the bench must be done only with the advice and consent of the Senate.  I had raised the possibility of the GOP to be able to block the nomination through a procedure that would not get her nomination out of committee.  But, either I was wrong about the potential, the right person didn’t get onto the committee or the GOP decided that politically it wasn’t a winner for them to exercise that option given that the GOP has always argued that judicial appointments should be allowed a floor vote and not be kept bottled up in a committee.  My guess is that the latter of the three choices is the case.

The news stories coming out are kinda interesting.  The UPI headline says that “most want Sotomayor” and then you see the poll that it is cited has 47% of the respondents in her favor.  Yes, that is most but it is not a majority and, in my view, the headline is true but misleading.  CNN’s more accurate headline says that “nearly half support Sotomayor.”  Trouble is that you need more than 50% for confirmation.  If we truly had a representative republic with the lawmakers doing the will of the people, then one might conclude that Sotomayor was in trouble.  But, the poll says some 70% of Democrats support her nomination and the Senate has 60% of Democrat members. 

A Pitch to the Senate?

I suppose the biggest opposition for her nomination come from those who point out that she has been involved in rulings that have gone to the Supreme Court and have been overturned by the final arbitor.  There are many numbers being tossed about but this CNN report says there have been 8 cases that have gone to the court.  5 were overturned, 2 upheld and one vacated.   The most recent of which was a case in which she joined the majority of judges that ruled against plaintiffs in a discrimination charge brought by non-African American firemen who said that they were not promoted because they were white.  Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer predicted the high court would rule against Sotomayor’s position.   The Supreme Court overturned that ruling by a 5-4 vote and now opponents of Sotomayor will call the main plaintiff. Frank Ricci, to testify.   Former MLB pitcher David Cone will also testify, presumably to say that Sotomayor saved baseball.   My bet is that she will probably be confirmed but ponder whether or not her rulings will be judged to be as liberal as many think. 

Whether or not one thinks that her rulings have been just or not, controversial rulings by judges have been a part of the Amerian landscape since the beginning of the Republic.  So, don’t think that the final nomination vote will cause  the end of the nation one way or another.  Judges are by nature put in place to make judgements, but they are still quite fallable…human, if you will.  For instance…

On This Date In History: In May 1787, an old woman in Philadelphia was grabbed and attacked by a group of people who cut her head in an ancient tradition of bleeding out any spells she may have cast. They thought she was a witch. In early July 1787, a big heat wave was going on in the city of Brotherly Love. Dogs and horses died. The fields were dry and tempers grew as hot as the weather. No word on whether anyone blamed global warming. At the same time, 55 men were gathered in Independence Hall arguing over the forming Constitution. If you look at the painting above, you will note the central figure is General Washington. Just about every painting you see will feature the Father of the Country prominently. That is because he is largely credited with holding the conventioneers together. Not by words but simply by his presence. His silent, strong leadership was what everyone looked toward to get them through the turmoil. Another person in Philadelphia did not have the General to save her.

Philadelphia: City of Brotherly Love

The old woman who was tormented in early May was a German known as Korbmacher. During the heatwave, a little boy died. Some on the streets of Philadelphia chose to blame her and attacked her again On This Date in 1787. The Pennsylvania Evening Herald story read, “We are sorry to hear that the poor woman who suffered so much some time ago, under the imputation of being a witch, has again been attacked by an ignorant and inhuman mob. On Tuesday last she was carried through several of the streets, and was hooted and pelted as she passed along. A gentleman who interfered in her favour was greatly insulted, while those who recited the innumerable instances of her art, were listened to with curiousity and attention.”

Eight days later, Korbmacher, which means basket-maker, was dead. The newspapers wrote that they hoped justice would be done to those who had perpetrated such a beating on a person, let alone an old woman. Well, a trial did get underway as several people said they would testify against some of the alleged attackers. Three things are interesting about the trial. First was it was held just prior to Halloween also known as All Hallows Eve or Witches Eve. Second, there is no record of the results of the trial. The third, and perhaps most intriguing is the commentary about the innocence of Korbmacher from the bench by the judge:

Judge: Old ladies are innocent

“what! that a poor wretch whose sorrows and infirmities have sunk her eyes into her head, and whose features are streaked with the wrinkles of extreme old age, should therefore become an object of terror, and be endowed with the powers of witchcraft — it is an idle and absurd superstition! If, however, some damsels that I have seen, animated with the bloom of youth, and equipped with all the grace of beauty, if such women were indicted for the offence, the charge might receive some countenance, for they are indeed calculated to charm and bewitch us. But age and infirmity, though they deserve our compassion, have nothing in them that can alarm or fascinate our nature.”

So according to the judge…Korbmacher was innocent simply because of her age. Yet, if she had been young in the “bloom of youth” well then she may very well be guilty of being a witch because everyone knows that young women have a way of putting men under their spell!!! How’s that for justice. All of this on the same streets that were at the very time witness to the construction of the very document that governs justice for all for this great nation. It’s too bad that General Washington didn’t go for a stroll at the hour of Korbmacher’s demise…his presence alone could have done what the Constitution could not.

SPC Severe Risk Sat 8am to Sun 8am

SPC Severe Risk probability Sat 8am to Sun 8am

Weather Bottom Line:  Friday is here and we will get to the low 90′s.  It’s summer.  Tomorrow will again be in the low 90′s with the possibility of a few afternoon t’storms.  Now, we have a cold front coming down and approaching.  Saturday night or Sunday morning, there will be a risk for thunderstorms.  The SPC has us in the slight risk for severe thunderstorms and has split the timing between Saturday and Sunday.  The models are a bit disheaveled but the general idea is that some time along the way, a short or series of shortwaves will move down along the approaching front.  Some models make the main short pretty strong, others have it weakening.  But, with the warm moist air at the surface, even at night, and with the lifting mechanism of even weak front, as well as the cold pool of air associated with any short wave (vorticity/upper low) there will be a pretty good shot at t’storms.  Of course, if one of these guys comes through, particularly if we haven’t had much activity, during daylight hours or early evening, then the risk for strong storms will be enhanced.   Anyway, Saturday looks to be the best day to get some yardwork done, though Sunday will be closer to seasonal averages temperature-wise.

SPC Severe Risk Sun 8am to Mon 8am

DAY 2 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK 
   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
   1245 AM CDT FRI JUL 10 2009
  
   VALID 111200Z – 121200Z
  
   …THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS FROM NY/PA WWD INTO THE MID-MS
   VLY…
  
   …THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS ACROSS THE CNTRL HIGH PLAINS…
  
   …SYNOPSIS…
   UPR HIGH WILL REMAIN ANCHORED OVER THE SRN PLAINS THROUGH SATURDAY.
   ALONG ITS NRN PERIPHERY…AN UPR TROUGH WILL CONTINUE ACROSS SERN
   CANADA WITH A STRONG SHORTWAVE TROUGH DIGGING FROM THE GRTLKS REGION
   TO THE NERN STATES.  ANOTHER UPR SYSTEM WILL REMAIN JUST OFFSHORE
   THE PAC NW CST.  IN THE LWR LVLS…A FRONT ASSOCD WITH THE FORMER
   TROUGH WILL MOVE SEWD INTO NY AND PA AND SWD INTO THE OH…MID-MS
   VLY AND PARTS OF THE CNTRL PLNS SATURDAY AFTN/EVE.  THE FRONT WILL
   BE THE FOCUS FOR PSBL SVR TSTMS.
  
   …NY/PA WWD INTO THE UPR OH VLY…
   BANDS OF TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ONGOING AT 12Z SATURDAY AHEAD OF
   THE CDFNT FROM THE CNTRL GRTLKS REGION TO THE MIDWEST.  MAINTENANCE
   OF A FAIRLY STRONG SSWLY LLJ WILL ADVECT MODEST LLVL MOISTURE NWD
   INTO THE UPR OH VLY TO NY DURING THE DAY.  THIS WILL PARTIALLY
   OFFSET CONVECTIVE CLOUD DEBRIS AND AROUND 1000 J/KG SBCAPE IS NOT
   OUT OF THE QUESTION DURING PEAK HEATING.  AS LARGE SCALE HEIGHT
   FALLS SPREAD SEWD…TSTMS WILL REKINDLE/DEVELOP AMIDST 35-40 KTS OF
   WLY BULK SHEAR.  A FEW STORMS WILL PROBABLY DEVELOP INTO BOWS GIVING
   DMGG WIND GUSTS AND PERHAPS HAIL. 
  
   …LWR OH VLY TO NRN MO…
   COMPARATIVELY STRONGER INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO EVOLVE ACROSS THIS
   REGION SATURDAY AFTN AS LWR 70S SFC DEW POINTS BECOME COMMON ALONG/S
   OF THE CDFNT.  THIS IN COMBO WITH STRONG HEATING AND PRESENCE OF
   STEEP MID-LVL LAPSE RATES WILL CONTRIBUTE TO SBCAPES OVER 2500 J/KG.
    AS SRN PERIPHERY OF THE GRTLKS IMPULSE /AND PSBLY A
   CONVECTIVELY-ENHANCED VORT CENTER/ GRAZE THE REGION…TSTMS ARE
   EXPECTED TO FORM INVOF THE FRONT FROM SRN IA/NRN MO AND TRANSLATE
   ESE INTO THE LWR OH VLY BY EVENING. VERY UNSTABLE
   CONDITIONS…EVIDENCE OF DRY MID-LVL AIR IN FCST SOUNDINGS AND
   UNIDIRECTIONAL WNWLY FLOW REGIME ABOVE H7 ARE SUGGESTIVE OF A BOW
   ECHO ENVIRONMENT WITH DMGG WINDS AND LARGE HAIL LIKELY.  ACTIVITY
   COULD PERSIST WELL INTO SATURDAY NIGHT INTO PARTS OF NWRN KY/SRN
   IND. 
  
   …CNTRL PLAINS…
   THERE WILL PROBABLY BE A MINIMUM IN SVR TSTM PROBABILITIES ALONG THE
   BAROCLINIC ZONE OVER MOST OF THE CNTRL PLAINS AS STRONGEST SWLY LLJ
   AXIS AIMS TOWARD THE MID-MS VLY AND DIURNAL LLVL FLOW TURNS UPSLOPE
   OVER THE HIGH PLAINS.  HOWEVER…STRONG HEAT MAY LOCALLY BREACH THE
   CAP AND CONTRIBUTE TO AT LEAST ISOLD SVR STORM PROBABILITIES. 
  
   MEANWHILE…SHORT TERM MODELS SUGGEST MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW WILL
   STRENGTHEN OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF CO DURING THE AFTN AS A WEAK
   PLAINS ANTICYCLONE SETTLES SWD.  APPROACH OF ANOTHER WEAK
   DISTURBANCE ALONG NRN PERIPHERY OF THE UPR RIDGE WILL ENHANCE HIGH
   TERRAIN CONVECTION BY MID-AFTN AND A WDLY SCTD STORMS WILL ERUPT BY
   LATE AFTN ALONG THE FRONT RANGE.  ROUGHLY 40 KTS OF BULK SHEAR AND
   VERY STEEP LAPSE RATES WILL RESULT IN A SUPERCELL ENVIRONMENT WITH
   VERY LARGE HAIL POSSIBLE.  ACTIVITY WILL DEVELOP EWD INTO ADJACENT
   SWRN NEB AND NWRN KS DURING THE LATE EVENING.