The Supreme Court resolved the constitu-tionality of blue laws in McGowan v.. Since this decision the Supreme Court has not revisited blue laws.. Most blue sky laws require the registrat
Trang 1Over time these exemptions produced a bewil-dering set of rules that appeared arbitrary and at times absurd For example, a hardware store could be open on Sundays, and the proprietor could sell nails, but not hammers AfterWORLD WAR IIand expansion of U.S consumer culture, Sunday closing laws were repealed, or were not enforced for commerce that did not involve the sale of alcohol Nevertheless, non-Christians and some business owners chafed under the restrictions that remained in force
The Supreme Court resolved the constitu-tionality of blue laws in McGowan v Maryland,
366 U.S 420, 81 S.Ct 1101, 6 L.Ed.2d 393 (1961) The state of Maryland mandated that many businesses must be closed on Sunday
Occupations of necessity or charity were exempted from the law, which included hospi-tals Department stores could open on Sunday, but only certain retail items could be sold on that day: tobacco products, candy, milk, bread, fruit, gasoline, oils, greases, drugs, medicines, newspapers, and magazines Maryland fined the employees of a department store for selling items not on the exempted list These items included a notebook, a can of floor wax,
a stapler and staples, and a toy submarine
The employees appealed their convictions all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Maryland blue law violated the EQUAL PROTEC-TIONand Due Process clauses of theFOURTEENTH AMENDMENT as well as the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause They contended that the law was based on specific religious beliefs and compelled all persons to minimally observe the Christian day of worship
The Court rejected these arguments and upheld the law Chief Justice EARL WARREN, writing for the majority, acknowledged that the law and other similar laws had originally been enacted for religious purposes He concluded, however, that the Sunday closing laws had evolved into further secular ends and that this defeated an Establishment Clause claim The Court, in reviewing the history of blue laws, ruled that nonreligious reasons for the laws had been propounded since the 1700s Secular argument for blue laws included the idea that it was good for the government to encourage people to take a day off work for rest and relaxation In addition, the Court ruled that the employees could not make an Establish-ment Clause claim because they did not allege
that their religious freedom had been in-fringed They had only claimed the law had caused them economic harm The Court, however, did not address how the secular goals
it described were achieved when the law merely banned the sale of certain retail items Justice
WILLIAM O.DOUGLASfiled a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the state had no business restricting innocent acts because they offended the“sentiments of their Christian neighbors.”
In his view the law violated the Establishment Clause
Since this decision the Supreme Court has not revisited blue laws As long as these laws can
be supported by a secular purpose they will be viewed as constitutional In the 40 years since McGowan, however, most states and localities have abandoned enforcement of blue laws The one exception remains the sale of alcohol on Sundays by liquor stores
FURTHER READINGS Andrus, Silas 1999 The Blue Laws Storrs, CT: Bibliopola.
“The First Amendment Religion Clauses and Labor and Employment Law in the Supreme Court, 1984 Term ”
1986 New York Law School Law Review 31 (winter) Raucher, Alan 1994 “Sunday Business and the Decline of Sunday Closing Laws: A Historical Overview ” Journal
of Church and State 36 (winter).
BLUE RIBBON JURY
A group of highly qualified persons selected by a court on the request of either party to a lawsuit to decide complex and specialized disputes
A blue ribbon jury is also known as a special jury From the earliest period of COMMON LAW, such juries were used to try cases beyond the understanding of the average person so that justice could be administered as fairly as possible A number of states still provide for blue ribbon juries by statute It is not an absolute right in all jurisdictions, however, but rather a matter wherein the court can exercise its discretion
The use of a blue ribbon jury does not violate the constitutional guarantees of trial by
a fair and impartial jury or EQUAL PROTECTION
of laws if the process by which its jurors are selected is neither arbitrary nor invidiously discriminatory
CROSS REFERENCE Due Process of Law.
68 BLUE RIBBON JURY
Trang 2BLUE SKY LAW
A popular name for state statutes providing for the
regulation and supervision of securities offerings
and sales, to protect citizen-investors from
invest-ing in fraudulent companies Most blue sky laws
require the registration of new issues of securities
with a state agency that reviews selling documents
for accuracy and completeness Blue sky laws also
often regulate securities brokers and salespeople
Almost all states have adopted blue sky laws,
regulating the sale of securities—investments in
bonds, mutual funds, limited partnerships, and
so forth These laws acquired their name as
early as 1917, when the Supreme Court issued a
decision on“speculative schemes which have no
more basis than so many feet of‘blue sky’” (Hall
v Geiger–Jones Co., 242 U.S 539, 37 S Ct 217,
61 L Ed 480)
Blue sky laws place requirements on
cor-porations and SECURITIES dealerships that offer
investments for sale to the public in a particular
state These laws are in many cases adopted
from the Uniform Securities Act, and are
usually enforced primarily by the state’s
attor-ney general’s office The federal SECURITIES AND
EXCHANGE COMMISSION (SEC) enforces federal
laws that concern foreign and interstate
trans-actions
State blue sky laws require corporations to
register securities before selling them so that
regulators can check their marketing
informa-tion for accuracy Nainforma-tional on-line computer
networks that became widely available in the
mid-1990s posed new problems for states trying
to enforce these requirements Texas, Ohio, and
New Jersey were among states that by 1995 had
begun prosecuting some of the thousands of
dealers who were offering unregistered
invest-ment opportunities to small investors on
computer bulletin boards
State laws usually require corporations to
file financial information, and can deny
cor-porations the privilege of doing business if their
profile or history is risky State investigators can
determine whether a corporation’s financial
structure allows it to sell certain securities
The laws also spell out the qualifications of
brokers, dealers, salespeople, investment advisers,
and others who work in the securities business
They require dealers to identify the type of
investments they are planning to sell and where
Among the activities blue sky laws seek
to prevent are hard-sell tactics Telephone
“stock-peddling” techniques that are high-pressure and misleading can result in the suspension of a broker’s license A 1992 survey
by Louis Harris and Associates indicated that more than one-third of all U.S citizens had received a phone call about investing, and five percent had made a purchase Many states now require that brokerages and corporations selling
on the public market also provide a printed prospectus that describes the risks of investing
What happens when blue sky laws do not work? States often provide an avenue for victims
of illegally sold securities to try to recover their money, sometimes in addition to criminal prosecution Investors can charge MISREPRESEN-TATION or lack of suitability and can demand restitution from the broker inARBITRATION.CLASS ACTION suits can also be filed against a fraudu-lent brokerage or corporation
FURTHER READINGS CCH Editorial Staff 2006 Blue Sky Law Desk Reference.
Chicago: CCH Inc.
Maynard, Therese H 1997 “Commentary: The Future of California ’s Blue Sky Law.” Loyola de Los Angeles Law Review 30 (June).
Shade, Joseph 1997 “Financing Exploration: Requirements
of Federal and State Securities Laws ” Natural Resources Journal 37 (summer).
Slobodzian, Joseph A 1999 “Third Circuit Upholds Blue Sky Law.” The National Law Journal 20 (February 1).
CROSS REFERENCES Securities; Stock.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
A group of people comprising the governing body
of a corporation
The shareholders of a corporation hold an election to choose people who have been nominated to direct or manage the corporation
as a board In the past nearly all states required that at least three directors run a corporation
The laws have changed, however, since many corporations have only one or two shareholders and therefore require only one or two directors
to serve on the board
Directors are elected at the first annual meeting of shareholders and at each successive annual meeting for one-year terms, unless they are divided into classes In a corporation that divides its directors into classes, called a classified board, conditions are often imposed concerning the minimum size of the board, the minimum number of directors to be elected
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 69
Trang 3annually, and the maximum number of classes
or maximum terms The purpose of a classified board, which is expressly permitted by most statutes, is to make takeover attempts more difficult by staggering the terms of the directors
Removal of a director during the course of his or her term may occur for cause by shareholders or by the board itself if there is a provision in the bylaws orARTICLES OF INCORPO-RATIONthat confers such power upon them The removal of a director for cause is reviewable by
a court Many jurisdictions have put into effect statutes that concern the removal of directors with or without cause
The functions of directors involve a fidu-ciary duty to the corporation Directors are in control of others’ property and their powers are derived primarily from statute
Directors are responsible for determining and executing corporate policy For example, they make decisions regarding supervision of the entire enterprise and regarding products and services
Liabilities of directors extend to both their individual and joint actions A director who commits a tort against his or her corporation can be held personally liable Directors are bound by certain duties such as the duty to act within the scope of their authority and to exercise due care in the performance of their corporate tasks
BOARD OF PARDONS Part of the executive branch of state government authorized to grant pardons, and restore civil and political rights, to individuals convicted of crimes
A pardon, in the legal sense, releases an indi-vidual from punishment or penalty, but does not necessarily exonerate them of guilt
Unlike the federal government, where the president possesses the power to pardon per-sons convicted of felonies, many states have delegated this EXECUTIVE BRANCH function to boards of pardons These boards review pardon applications and determine if individuals have demonstrated that they have acted constructi-vely Pardon applicants who have been law-abiding citizens and who have stable work and family histories have the best chance of receiv-ing pardons Review boards are empowered through state constitutions to issue pardons or,
in some cases, to recommend pardons to the governor
The membership of boards of pardons varies from state to state For example, in Georgia the governor appoints those who sit on the five-member board, whereas in Minnesota the board is composed of the governor, chief justice of the state supreme court, and the state attorney general Where a statute does not designate constitutional officers (e.g., governor
orSECRETARY OF STATE) pardon boards generally consist of individuals with experience or an interest in the criminal justice system Members may be current or former law enforcement officers, correctional officials, lawyers, educa-tors, and business people Board members usually serve four- or five-year terms In many states the board also reviews applications for parole (early and conditional release) from prison, but the popularity of mandatory sen-tencing has greatly reduced the need for these boards to conduct parole reviews
Eligibility for pardons is governed by statute Generally, a person convicted of a crime
of violence must wait ten years since the discharge of the sentence and cannot be on parole or probation A person convicted of a nonviolent crime generally must wait five years before applying for a pardon Some pardon boards also allow an applicant to seek relief earlier forGOOD CAUSE However, these pardons are difficult to obtain because pardon boards usually must vote unanimously to grant them
An applicant must file the appropriate paperwork with the board of pardons The board then notifies the sentencing judge and prosecutor of the hearing date and time Many states also notify crime victims of the hearing date and publish notices in local newspapers where the crime occurred At the hearing, the applicant explains to the board why he or she is deserving of a pardon and presents character witnesses Judges, prosecutors, and victims may also testify
The pardon board considers all testimony and any written submissions before voting Boards of pardon may grant an absolute pardon, which is also called a full or uncondi-tional pardon In contrast, the board may grant
a conditional pardon, which must state the terms and conditions on which it was granted
A person who receives an absolute or condi-tional pardon still bears a criminal record and
70 BOARD OF PARDONS
Trang 4is required to disclose this information on
employment applications and similar forms
However, pardon boards may issue a pardon
extraordinary that sets aside the conviction and
effectively erases the person’s criminal record
With an pardon extraordinary the recipient
does not have to disclose the conviction except
in a judicial proceeding
Pardon board decisions are not appealable
to a court of law A person who is denied a
pardon usually will face an uphill battle to
secure it at a future time For example, in
Minnesota two of the three pardon board
members must grant permission for the filing
of a second application
FURTHER READINGS
Abadinsky, Howard 2005 Probation and Parole: Theory and
Practice 9th ed Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kalinich, David, John Klofas, and Stan Stojkovic 2008.
Criminal Justice Organizations: Administration and
Management 4th ed Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Miller, Vivien 2000 Crime, Sexual Violence, and Clemency:
Florida’s Pardon Board and Penal System in the
Progressive Era Gainesville: Univ Press of Florida.
BOARD OF REGENTS
An independent governing body that oversees a
state’s public colleges and universities
All 50 states have governing bodies that
oversee the administration of public education
A number of states call the body that
admin-isters the state college and university system
the board of regents The word regent is an
English term that originally meant ruler In the
British university system, a regent presided over
academic debates; this association with higher
education increased over time Some states refer
to their educational bodies as boards of trustees,
which suggests the type of role such boards
play in education In a few states, including
New York, the board of regents also oversees
elementary and secondary education Most
boards of regents, however, deal only with
post-secondary education institutions
Boards of regents gain their authority from
either state constitutional provisions or statutes
States that create a board of regents through
constitutional means grant these boards great
political independence For many states such a
provision creates a “fourth branch of
govern-ment,” insulated from direct interference by a
governor or legislature Board members,
how-ever, are selected by these branches They are
either nominated by the governor and con-firmed by the legislature, or elected directly by the legislature Regents serve for specified terms
of office and are selected as at-large members or drawn from particular regions of the state
A board of regents has a number of duties it must perform It must do short-range and long-range planning, develop and articulate the vision and mission of the university system, hire and oversee the university chief executive and other top leadership, and make broad policy decisions
Regents are not expected to be involved in day-to-day administration, but they do serve on standing committees that review all aspects of university life In addition, they are often called on to lobby the governor and legislature for funding Though these boards meet monthly or bimonthly, the work is constant This is not surprising, as the annual budgets of state college systems rival those of midsize corporations Unlike corporate directors, regents do not receive compensation for their service
Boards of regents approve policies that may
be challenged in court For example, numerous university systems have implemented student codes of conduct, which ban certain types of speech and behavior because they are consid-ered to be “hate crimes.” These policies sometimes result in lawsuits alleging the restriction of FIRST AMENDMENT rights (UWM Post, Inc v Board of Regents of University of Wisconsin, 774 F.Supp 1163 [E.D.Wis.1991])
Boards of regents also have been involved in controversy over AFFIRMATIVE ACTION admission policies Some policies have generated litigation that has reached the Supreme Court (GRATZ V
BOLLINGER, U.S. , 123 S.Ct 2411, L
Ed.2d [2003])
Because of such high profile issues, boards
of regents have been attacked by those who have opposing viewpoints In some cases, a new governor or a displeased legislature will replace regents with whom they disagree In general, however, boards are usually diverse bodies, composed of business executives, doctors, labor leaders, farmers, lawyers and, in some cases, a member of the student body Historically, the independence of boards of regents has been respected
FURTHER READINGS Birnbaum, Robert 1991 How Colleges Work: The Cyber-netics of Academic Organization and Leadership San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
BOARD OF REGENTS 71
Trang 5——— 2001 Management Fads in Higher Education: Where They Come From, What They Do, Why They Fail San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Duderstadt, James J 2000 A University for the 21st Century.
Ann Arbor: Univ of Michigan Press.
BODY The principal part of anything as distinguished from its subordinate parts, as in the main part of
an instrument An individual, an organization,
or an entity given legal recognition, such as a corporation or “body corporate.” A compilation of laws known as a “body of laws.”
BODY EXECUTION
An arrest; a seizure of a defendant
A sheriff or other public officer can be ordered
by a court to arrest aDEFENDANT and the officer executes the order by taking the body of the defendant into custody The order itself may be called aCAPIAS, or capias ad satisfaciendum (Latin for“that you take him in order to satisfy it”)
vBOGGS, CORINNE CLAIBORNE Corinne Claiborne (“Lindy”) Boggs was a Democratic representative from New Orleans, the first woman from Louisiana elected to the U.S Congress During her 17 years in Congress her political acumen and experience made her a popular and effective politician
Boggs was born March 13, 1916, on Brunswick Plantation, in Louisiana Her father owned a successful sugar plantation She received her bachelor’s degree in 1935 from Sophie New-comb College at Tulane University and taught history in Romeville, Louisiana Her 1938 MAR-RIAGEto Hale Boggs marked the beginning of an enduring and formidable political dynasty
Boggs and her husband first went to Washington in 1940 when he was a first-year
representative from New Orleans Then only 24 and 26 years old, respectively, the young couple devoted themselves to the DEMOCRATIC PARTY Boggs’s husband lost his bid for reelection in
1942 but regained his seat in 1946, beginning a string of 22 consecutive victories by him or Boggs During the years that her husband was in Congress, Boggs, in addition to raising their three children, worked as his campaign manager, did community work in New Orleans, organized social events, and devised an innovative bill-tracking system for her husband at a time when
no such system existed When her husband was killed in an airplane crash in 1972, Boggs ran in the special election to fill his seat She won easily, becoming Louisiana’s first woman—and one of only 14 women—in Congress
Although Boggs took her seat in 1973 as a first-year representative, her three decades as a congressional wife had given her the types of contacts enjoyed only by senior members The friendships and alliances she had developed with prominent Democrats helped her gain
an appointment to the House Appropriations Committee There she used her influence to deliver many important appropriations to her home district, including money for colleges, hospitals, housing projects; a $10 million energy research center at the University of New Orleans; and numerous navigational and hurri-cane protection projects
Boggs built a reputation as a compassionate, even-tempered lawmaker who quietly worked long hours in the nitty-gritty, behind-the-scenes operation of the Appropriations Committee Boggs’s other “firsts” included being the first woman to chair the Democratic National Convention, in 1976, and the first female regent
Corinne Claiborne “Lindy” Boggs 1916–
◆
◆
◆
◆
◆
◆
◆
1916 Born,
Brunswick
Plantation, La.
1914–1918
World War I
1935 Earned bachelor’s degree from Sophie Newcomb College
1938 Married Hale Boggs
1940 Hale Boggs elected to U.S House of Representatives 1946 Hale
Boggs reelected to the House;
began 26- year tenure
1939–45 World War II
1950–53 Korean War
1961–73 Vietnam War
1972 Hale Boggs killed in plane crash
1973 Became Louisiana’s first congresswoman
1976 Served
as first female chair of Democratic National Convention
1990 Retired from Congress
2006 Received Congressional Distinguished Service Award
1994 Washington through
a Purple Veil published
1997–2001 Served
as U.S ambassador
to the Vatican
THAT THERE IS NO
TRUE DEMOCRACY
UNLESS ALL ITS
CITIZENS HAVE EQUAL
THAT ALL PEOPLE
SHOULD BE ABLE TO
PARTICIPATE IN THEIR
BOGGS
72 BODY
Trang 6of the Smithsonian Institution At the time of
her retirement, she was the only white
con-gressperson representing a district where most
of the voters were African American, defying the
conventional wisdom that voters prefer
candi-dates of their own race
In addition to her work on the
Appropria-tions Committee, Boggs served on the Banking,
Currency, and Housing Committee, where she
worked to pass legislation aimed at solving the
housing problems of elderly people and
mem-bers of other low- and middle-income groups
A strong supporter of equal opportunities for
women, she helped pass legislation that
guar-antees equal access to credit and prohibits
discrimination on the basis of sex in the
granting of small-business loans
During her many years in Washington, D.C.,
Boggs acted as an unofficial hostess for the
Democratic party, presiding over parties and
receptions attended by most of the Democrats in
the nation’s capital In looking back on her career,
Boggs expressed pride in having played a“small
role in opening doors for blacks and women,”
in helping to fund Head Start, and in securing
money for businesses owned by minorities and
women She stressed that leaving public office
would not mean the end of her career
Since leaving the House, Boggs has lectured
at Tulane University and the University of
New Orleans and established the Hale and
Lindy Boggs Center for Legislative Affairs, at
Georgetown University Law School In January
1991 she attended the dedication of the Lindy
Claiborne Boggs Room, a reading room for
congresswomen at the U.S Capitol
In 1997 Boggs was confirmed by the Senate
as U.S ambassador to the Vatican, a position
she held until March 2001 Since that time she
has spoken on the topics of health care
ADVOCACY and other health issues
Boggs has also spoken of her political and
personal experiences, including raising two
politi-cally active daughters Her older daughter,
Barbara Boggs Sigmund, was the mayor of
Princeton, New Jersey, when she became
termi-nally ill with cancer Boggs cited Sigmund’s illness
as one of the reasons she did not run for reelection
in 1990; Sigmund died later that year Boggs’s
younger daughter, Corinne “Cokie” Roberts,
works as a journalist and congressional reporter
for National Public Radio and ABC News
In 2006 Boggs was awarded the Congressio-nal Distinguished Service Award for her service
in the House of Representatives
FURTHER READINGS Berry, Dawn Bradley 1996 The 50 Most Influential Women
in American Law Los Angeles: Contemporary Books.
Boggs, Lindy, with Katherine Hatch 1994 Washington through a Purple Veil: Memoirs of a Southern Woman.
New York: Harcourt Brace.
Catholic Health Association Available online at <www.
chausa.org> (accessed August 24, 2009).
Ehrenhalt, Alan, ed 1983 Politics in America Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly.
Gilbert, Lynn, and Gaylen Moore 1981 Particular Passions:
Talks with Women Who Have Shaped Our Times New York: Potter.
Keil, Sally Van Wagenen 1979 Those Wonderful Women in Their Flying Machines New York: Rawson Wade.
O ’Neill, Lois D., ed 1979 The Women’s Book of World Records and Achievements Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press.
Stineman, Esther 1980 American Political Women Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited.
BOILERPLATE
A description of uniform language used normally
in legal documents that has a definite, unvarying meaning in the same context that denotes that the words have not been individually fashioned to address the legal issue presented
Corinne Claiborne
“Lindy” Boggs GETTY IMAGES BOILERPLATE 73
Trang 7vBOLIN, JANE MATILDA Jane Matilda Bolin was the first black woman judge in the United States
Jane Matilda Bolin was born April 11, 1908,
in Poughkeepsie, New York, to Gaius C Bolin and Matilda Emery Bolin Her father, who was born to a Native American mother and a black father, was the first African American graduate
of Williams College He went on to become a lawyer and practiced law in Poughkeepsie for more than 50 years Bolin’s mother was born in England and immigrated to the United States with her parents
Bolin was raised in a middle-class family
She attended public elementary and secondary schools After graduation from high school, she
entered Wellesley College and soon was named
a Wellesley scholar, one of the top 20 women
in her class She received her bachelor of arts degree, with honors, in 1928
Shortly after her graduation from college, Bolin announced her intention to attend Yale Law School Her father was at first opposed to the idea because he felt that the law was a profession unsuited to women He let his daughter know he would prefer her to pursue teaching, but she was determined to become a lawyer Bolin graduated from Yale Law School
in 1931, becoming the first African American woman to do so
Bolin was admitted to the New York bar in
1932 and began her legal career with her father and brother’s law firm in Poughkeepsie In 1933 she married Ralph E Mizelle, also an attorney, and they settled in New York City
Bolin’s judicial career commenced just a few years after she and her husband began practic-ing law together On April 7, 1937, she was named assistant corporate counsel in New York City’s law department She served two years in that position before being summoned, to her complete surprise, to the office of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia On July 22, 1939, La Guardia appointed Bolin justice of the Domestic Relations Court of the City of New York (later called the family court), making her the first black female judge in the United States She presided over family court cases for four consecutive ten-year terms, until she reached the mandatory retirement age of 70
In her many years on the bench, Bolin saw the full spectrum of domestic cases: serious crimes, including homicides, committed by juveniles; nonpayment of family support; spouse
Jane Matilda Bolin 1908–2007
◆
◆
◆
◆
◆
1961–73 Vietnam War 1950–53
Korean War 1939–45
World War II 1914–18
World War I
1908 Born,
Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
2007 Died, Queens, N.Y.
1928 Received B.A.
from Wellesley College
1931 Became first African American female graduate
of Yale Law School
1937 Appointed assistant corporation counsel of New York City
1939 Became first African American female judge in U.S when Mayor La Guardia appointed her to the New York City Domestic Relations Court
1967 Thurgood Marshall became first African American U.S Supreme Court justice
1978 Retired at then-mandatory age of 70
1979 Became member
of New York State Regents Review Committee
◆
Jane Bolin.
THE LIBRARY OF
CONGRESS
CAN HELP A CHILD
THAN SETTLE AN
ARGUMENT BETWEEN
ADULTS OVER
—J ANE B OLIN
74 BOLIN, JANE MATILDA
Trang 8battering; child neglect; lack of supervision for
children; ADOPTION; and PATERNITY Upon her
retirement in 1978, she noted that during her
years as a judge she had viewed a steady increase
in violent behavior among young people Asked
if she could suggest solutions to the problem,
Bolin responded that the answers were very
complex and that she could not accept the“easy
answers” psychiatrists and social workers were
handing out, “saying it’s because of the wars
or the violent programs on television.”
From the beginning of her career, Bolin was
determined to fight racial prejudice in any way
she could She worked to bring about changes in
the wayPROBATIONofficers were assigned to cases
in family court When she became a judge, black
probation officers were assigned exclusively
to cases involving black families; through
Bolin’s efforts, probation officers were
eventu-ally assigned without regard to race orRELIGION
She also instituted a requirement that private
social service agencies receiving public funds
accept children without regard to ethnic
background “They used to put a big N or PR
on the front of every [file], to indicate if the
family was black or Puerto Rican,” she recalled,
because the agencies were segregated
Bolin has been described as a militant, but
quiet, fighter for justice She earned a reputation
as a courageous, no-nonsense, hard worker who
never shirked an assignment In addition to
being a committed professional, Bolin served on
the boards of a number of organizations: the
New York Urban League, the National
Associa-tion for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) and its New York chapter, the Harlem
Tuberculosis Committee, the legislative
com-mittee of the United Neighborhood Houses, the
Wiltwick School for Boys, the Dalton School,
and the Harlem Lawyers’ Association She was a
member of the Committee on Children of New
York City, the Scholarship Service and Fund for
Negro Students, and the Committee against
Discrimination in Housing
Bolin and her first husband had one child,
Yorke Bolin Mizelle, who was born in 1941 and
became a New York businessman Asked how she
combined motherhood, community activities,
and a high-pressure career, Bolin said, “I didn’t
get all the sleep I needed, and I didn’t get to travel
as much as I would have liked, because I felt my
first obligation was to my child.” Bolin’s first
husband died in 1943 In 1950 she married
Walter P Offutt Jr., a minister, who died in 1974
In recognition of her many accomplish-ments and contributions to the field of FAMILY LAW, Bolin received many awards, including honorary doctor of law degrees from Morgan State University, Western College for Women, Tuskegee University, Hampton University, and Williams College However, asked to recount her most memorable experience, she did not speak of her many achievements Rather, she told the story of a child who was in trouble and whose mother asked Bolin to send the child to the same institution where she had spent some time When Bolin said she preferred to help the mother keep her child at home, the woman told her the institution had helped her, and she wanted the same help for her child Bolin listened to the mother’s reasoning and complied with her wishes
After her retirement, Bolin worked as a family law consultant and did volunteer tutor-ing in math and readtutor-ing with public school children Bolin died in New York on January 8,
2007, at the age of 98
FURTHER READINGS Drachman, Virginia G 1998 Sisters in Law: Women Lawyers
in Modern American History Cambridge: Harvard Univ.
Press.
Harrington, Mona 1994 Women Lawyers: Rewriting the Rules New York: Knopf.
Hine, Darlene C., ed 1993 Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia Brooklyn: Carlson.
Mack, Kenneth W 2002 “A Social History of Everyday Practice: Sadie T.M Alexander and the Incorporation
of Black Women into the American Legal Profession ” Cornell Law Review 87 (September).
Smith, Jessie C., ed 1992 Notable Black American Women.
Detroit: Gale Research.
BONA FIDE [Latin, In good faith.] Honest; genuine; actual;
authentic; acting without the intention of defrauding
A bona fide purchaser is one who pur-chases property for a VALUABLE CONSIDERATION
that is inducement for entering into a contract and without suspicion of being defrauded
or deceived by the seller He or she has no notice of any defects of the title A bona fide purchaser pays inGOOD FAITHfull value for the property and, without any FRAUD, goes into possession
BONA FIDE 75
Trang 9vBONAPARTE, CHARLES JOSEPH
CHARLES JOSEPH BONAPARTE, who served as U.S
attorney general under president THEODORE ROOSEVELT, was one of the organizers of the Civic Reform League and the National Munici-pal League, and he helped to found a Special Agents Force within theJUSTICE DEPARTMENTthat was the forerunner of the FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION(FBI)
A grandson of Jerome Bonaparte, who was Napoleon’s youngest brother, Charles Joseph Bonaparte was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 9, 1851 After graduating from Harvard College in 1871, he attended Harvard Law
School, graduating in 1874 Bonaparte returned
to Baltimore and established a private practice At the time, public corruption of elected officials was widespread in the United States and the political situation in Maryland was considered to be the worst in the country Bonaparte, of Italian-American descent, became interested in civic reform, commenting in an article published in Forum magazine that the politicians of that period
if not technically criminals themselves, were the
“allies and patrons of habitual lawbreakers.”
In 1881, Bonaparte became one of the founders of the National Civil Service Reform League Along with other political reformers he sought to raise the awareness of the electorate regarding crimes such as BRIBERY and UNDUE INFLUENCE and the need for fair and impartial administration of the government The reformers were known in the popular parlance as “goo-goos” because they sought good government Bonaparte also helped to found the National Municipal League in 1894 The organization, an amalgamation of various citywide reform groups throughout the United States, elected Bonaparte its president in 1905
Bonaparte was a member of the REPUBLICAN PARTY although not a particularly active one
In 1892 Bonaparte and Theodore Roosevelt met
in Baltimore when they both spoke to a local civil service reform organization In 1902, President Roosevelt appointed Bonaparte to the Board of Indian Commissioners In 1905, Roosevelt named Bonaparte secretary of the United States Navy
In his second term of office, Roosevelt found it necessary to name a replacement for Attorney GeneralWILLIAM HENRY MOODY, who left in Decem-ber 1906 to become an associate justice on the U S Supreme Court Because of his reformer passions, Bonaparte was chosen by Roosevelt to be Moody’s successor Roosevelt, who had first begun his
Charles Joseph Bonaparte 1851–1921
◆
1851 Born,
Baltimore, Md.
1874 Graduated from Harvard Law School
1881 Founded the National Civil Service League
1905 Appointed secretary of the Navy
1906–09 Served
as U.S attorney general
1921 Died, Baltimore, Md.
1914–18 World War I
1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act signed into law 1861–65
U.S Civil War
Charles Joseph
Bonaparte.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
GOVERNMENT WE
AND BEFORE ALL
—CHARLES JOSEPH
B ONAPARTE
76 BONAPARTE, CHARLES JOSEPH
Trang 10political career in New York City by campaigning
for municipal reform, was now seeking reform on
a national basis by going after corrupt businesses
and corporations that had formed“trusts” aimed
at stifling competition and keeping wages low
Roosevelt had become the nation’s “trust-buster,”
and Bonaparte joined the pursuit, launching
antitrust investigations aimed at corporations
such as Standard Oil and the American Tobacco
Company, and railroads including the Union
Pacific During his tenure in office, Bonaparte
argued more than 50 cases before the Supreme
Court
While pursuing his various antitrust
investi-gations, Bonaparte found himself hindered by
the lack of a permanent investigative staff within
the Justice Department Temporary
investi-gators, who were private detectives or SECRET
SERVICE operatives on loan from the TREASURY
DEPARTMENT carried out the investigations
Congress, under pressure from corporations to
end the investigations, enacted a law that
prohibited the Justice Department from using
members of the Secret Service for the
Depart-ment’s investigations
In 1908 Roosevelt directed Bonaparte to
create an investigative force that would be a
subdivision of the Justice Department Before
he left office, Bonaparte suggested making the
division permanent His suggestion was upheld
by his successor,GEORGE WICKERSHAM, who called
the group the Bureau of Investigation The
23-member unit developed by Bonaparte was
renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) in 1935
After leaving office in March 1909,
Bona-parte continued to pursue his ADVOCACYof civil
reform He died on June 28, 1921, at his estate,
Bella Vista, located outside Baltimore
FURTHER READINGS
Hall, Kermit L., and Peter Karsten 2008 The Magic Mirror:
Law in American History 2d ed New York: Oxford
Univ Press.
Justice Department 1985 Attorneys General of the United
States, 1789–1985 Washington, D.C.: GPO Available
online at http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/attygeneraldate.html;
website home page: http://www.usdoj.gov (accessed
July 8, 2009).
“Remarks of Arthur Gajarsa Judge, United States Court of
Appeals of the Federal Circuit ” June 26, 1998.
Washington, D.C.: Italian Historical Society of America.
Available online at http://www.italianhistorical.org/
site/flash/BIO/Charles_J._Bonaparte.htm; website home
page: http://www.italianhistorical.org (accessed July 8,
2009).
CROSS REFERENCES Federal Bureau of Investigation; Justice Department;
Roosevelt, Theodore.
vBOND, HORACE JULIAN
In the annals of theCIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, the career of politician, activist, and educator Julian Bond holds a unique place Bond’s work on behalf of social justice spans the period from the 1960s through the twenty-first century As a college organizer in 1960, he helped found the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), arguably the most important group channel for the young people who expanded and radicalized the movement In 1965 he became one of the first members of his generation to make the transition from activism
to political office, subsequently serving for nearly two decades in Georgia state government
Through his legislation, writing, teaching, and planning for legal affairs groups, Bond is widely recognized as an intellectual leader of the contemporary CIVIL RIGHTSmovement
Born on January 14, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee, Bond was the son of black educators
His childhood was steeped in the intellectual life
of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where his father,HORACE MANNBond, served as president
Julian Bond FREDERICK M BROWN/ GETTY IMAGES FOR NAACP
GOVERNMENT WE
AND BEFORE ALL
—J ULIAN B OND