tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7137106923170618524.post-43008851784055286112008-07-21T10:00:00.007-05:002008-07-21T10:00:01.383-05:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shaynes.com/Site_Intro/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_p9_ic0kIeAI/SIK-wb8a3FI/AAAAAAAAB20/st2KWI0eFvk/s400/MS_080708_074.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224948257047370834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >Meg</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Last night, as I was working on the web page for Julia (a photo of whom you will see here in a few days), I watched Al Pacino's powerful semi-documentary, semi-performance of Shakespeare's <span style="font-style: italic;">Richard II</span>I, arguably the bloodiest of England's kings (at least as Shakespeare would have it). It brought to mind probably the best college course I ever took, "The Legal and Constitutional History of England," a seminar taught by Marjorie Gesner. I had not long been a pre-law major, and Gesner was someone I absolutely had to impress. Why? Because she was principally responsible for the awarding of a single full-tuition scholarship to The University of Chicago Law School.<br /><br />The substance of the course stays with me even today, over forty years later. We covered major events in the evolution of English law from before the Conquest (1066) until modern times. We followed the gradual loss of royal power, and of the lords, into the English "constitution," and into the Commons. Since so much of our American law relating to interpersonal relationships (notably contracts and torts) derives from the English Common Law, and that Common Law came about in the English courts, I have had a healthy appreciation for courts' ability to evolve the law above and beyond the momentary foolishness of legislatures. We would be well to remember this long and honorable tradition whenever conservatives rail against radical judges and "judge-made law."<br /><br />And Professor Gesner? Well, I did very well in her courses (I took another, the name of which I don't remember), and in my senior year was awarded that scholarship, which went a long way toward making</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > possible</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" > my attendance at UofC Law School.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;">------------------------<br /></div><br /><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Meg from a recent session using HDR (High Dynamic Range) techniques.<br /></span></div>Stephen Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08135121754647981021noreply@blogger.com