Josh Blackman is assembling a book with photos of locations involved in famous constitutional law cases. He posts a list of those cases here. If you have relevant photos, you may want to send them for inclusion.
I think Josh should consider including pictures of some of the feral cats who currently inhabit the property condemned for “economic development” purposes as a result of Kelo v. City of New London.
Fub says:
Some may require considerable research to determine the exact location. For example Mr. Yick’s laundry, from Yick Wo v. Hopkins 118 U.S. 356 (1886) was decided before the SF quake and fire of 1906, after which the city was largely rebuilt. Yick Wo Elementary School is named in his honor. But I doubt it is near his original laundry.
January 15, 2010, 8:32 pmJoe says:
I wonder if there is a means to neuter those feral cats — there is a program near me that does that sort of thing and it appears to be of some value.
This sort thing is legal nerd gold. I say this with respect, mind you.
January 15, 2010, 10:43 pmSmitty says:
Why no Lawrence v. Texas on the list?
January 16, 2010, 1:32 amIlya Somin says:
Why no Lawrence v. Texas on the list?
You’ll have to ask Josh.
January 16, 2010, 4:22 amBeldar says:
For Boumediene v. Bush, I’d actually think a photo of Ground Zero at the site of the former World Trade Center towers would be more appropriate than a photo of Gitmo, but that would be an editorial choice expressing my agreement with Justice Scalia’s dissent over Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion.
January 16, 2010, 5:07 amBeldar says:
He should also use more pictures of people than of buildings. What difference does it make what the admissions office at the University of Michigan Law School looks like? By contrast, the faces of the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board and Grutter v. Bollinger both tell you something important, even crucial, about the case.
January 16, 2010, 5:11 amBeth says:
A nitpick about the article referencing the feral cats: Justice O’Connor did not concur with the majority opinion. She wrote the dissent. (Justice Thomas also wrote a dissent.) Justice Kennedy decided with the majority and wrote a concurring opinon.
January 16, 2010, 8:03 amJosh Blackman says:
Smitty, if you can find the location of the house from Lawrence, and obtain a picture of it, I’d be happy to include it.
Beldar, I am also thinking of a followup to Constitutional Places, called Constitutional Faces.
January 16, 2010, 3:48 pmyankee says:
Wouldn’t the Griswolds’ bedroom be more appropriate than the Planned Parenthood? The case was only nominally about buying condoms; it was really about the right to use them.
January 16, 2010, 7:02 pmJosh Blackman says:
That’s a good point. Do you know the address of Estelle Griswold’s bedroom? I could not find it in the opinion of the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut at 200 A.2d 479
January 16, 2010, 7:06 pmArthurKirkland says:
The grand staircase of the Allegheny County Courthouse (a grand feature of an outstanding courthouse), perhaps with the portico of the adjacent City-County Building — the locations that precipitated County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 492 U.S. 573 (1993) — seem worthy of consideration.
A group responded to the Supreme Court decision by placing an enormous creche — one of the largest in the world, I believe, with some connection to the Vatican — at a privately owned plaza a block and one-half away from the courthouse each December. An executive of what once was a principal tenant inclined the private owner to provide a location for the creche. The creche was there in 2009, although I believe the relevant executive may have retired recently and I am certain the company’s tenancy has diminished, with a new “name” tenant recently installed, and I therefore decline to guess whether the creche will return in 2010.
I could probably arrange professional photography of the courthouse/staircase and City-County Building portico.
January 16, 2010, 9:26 pmJosh Blackman says:
ArthurKirkland, please shoot me an e-mail at joshblackman at gmail.com. Thanks!
January 16, 2010, 9:29 pmjosh says:
My recommendation? Photos of protesters outside the various courthouses for Loving v. Virginia (superimposed with protesters outside the courthouse for Perry v. Schwarzenegger). Biblical references optional.
January 17, 2010, 3:29 pmoay says:
couldn’t agree more
January 17, 2010, 7:17 pmNickM says:
How about the Russian embassy for Boos v. Barry?
Nick
January 17, 2010, 7:40 pmJosh Blackman says:
For anyone interested, I have loaded several Constitutional Places onto Google Maps. http://joshblackman.com/blog/?p=3696
January 17, 2010, 9:45 pmBrock Sporysz says:
Hi cheers for an incisive post, I really found your blog by mistake while looking on Goole for something else closely related, in any event before i ramble on too much i would just like to say how much I enjoyed your post, I have bookmarked your site and also taken your RSS feed, Once Again thanks for the blog post keep up the great work.
February 3, 2010, 8:40 amJosh Blackman says:
Constitutional Places update. I just uploaded the first two cases, Kelo v. City of New London (and yes I show the abandoned field, but no feral cats) and Katzenbach v. McClung. http://joshblackman.com/blog/?p=3958 If anyone is still interested in submitting photographs, please drop me a line at jblackman@harlaninstitute.org
February 6, 2010, 12:15 pm