Slipping backward : a history of the Nebraska Supreme Court /
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| Author / Creator: | Hewitt, James W. |
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| Imprint: | Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, ©2007. |
| Description: | 1 online resource (x, 243 pages, 6 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Series: | Law in the American West ; v. 8 Law in the American West ; v. 8. |
| Subject: | |
| Format: | E-Resource Book |
| URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11153287 |
| Summary: | Slipping Backward: A History of the Nebraska Supreme Court , written by one of the state's leading legal minds, is the first history of the Nebraska Supreme Court and the first book-length study of a Great Plains supreme court. James W. Hewitt draws on his intimate knowledge of the subject matter gleaned from years as a lawyer in Nebraska and applies a historian's objectivity to the analysis. Hewitt explores the court through the work of the four men who greatly influenced and led it: Robert G. Simmons (1938-63, the first modern chief justice), Paul W. White (1963-78), Norman Krivosha (1978-87), and William C. Hastings (1987-95). During these four eras, respect for the court declined in the eyes of the bar and the public. Hewitt examines every case decided by the court from 1938 through 1995, analyzes many of the leading decisions, and assesses the abilities and performances of the judges who served. He shows why the court fell far behind in its workload during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and delineates the steps it took to alleviate the backlog. He also reviews the changes in the nature of cases coming before the court and the exponential growth of criminal appeals necessitated by decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. While Slipping Backward is critical of the court's shortcomings, it finds the court to be composed of decent men trying to do a decent job. Hewitt has crafted a model study of the modern legal system and its judiciary and has documented the evolution of a diverse Nebraska. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (x, 243 pages, 6 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-230) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780803209886 0803209886 9780803205956 0803205953 1280823895 9781280823893 9786610823895 6610823898 9780803224339 0803224338 |