Kurt X. Metzmeier

Review: Calvin H. Johnson, Righteous Anger at the Wicked States: The Meaning of the Founders' Constitution

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 08:34:20 PDT

After nearly two centuries of scholarship, it is perhaps impossible to forward a new idea about the motivations behind the founding of the U.S. Constitution, but University of Texas law professor Calvin H. Johnson has brought a new emotion to the debate: "righteous anger." This review examines his general thesis is that the Constitution was the result of a moral reaction to the inadequate funding of the national defense by the Continental Congress and the need for a strong central government with the power to tax. As the proponents of the "New Federalism" on the Supreme Court continue to read an "original" Constitution they imagine was written to limit the federal power, it is valuable to look again at some of the founders who were mad as hell about the states' abdication of their duty to protect the commonweal and were not going to take it anymore.

James Hughes: Kentucky's First Nominative Reporter

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:35:28 PDT

A Constitutional Amendment to Reform Kentucky's Courts

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 16:43:03 PDT

Responding to a confused patchwork of trial courts with overlapping jurisdiction, uneven justice around the state, and a growing backlog of appellate cases, voters in Kentucky went to the polls on November 4, 1975, to approve a sweeping constitutional amendment that radically revised Kentucky's court system. Although reformers had decried Kentucky's confusing court system since the 1940s, the real roots of the revision of the judicial article can be found in the failed movement in the late 1960s to replace Kentucky's 1891 constitution. Unbowed by the defeat, judicial reformers immediately set out to pass a separate amendment reforming the courts, taking care to involve the public and thus create a document that was progressive but also capable of being approved by the voters. In doing so, painful compromises were made but not so many as to detract from the revolutionary impact on the commonwealth's legal system.

Blazing Trails in a New Kentucky Wilderness: Early Kentucky Case Law Digests

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:04:39 PDT

The three stages of the history of case law digest publishing in Kentucky are discussed: the early period where digests were the product of individualistic lawyer-scholars; a middle period where state and regional legal publishers began to professionalize digest making; and the final commercial triumph of West's American Digest System. Appendixes provide a bibliography and a chronology of Kentucky digests.Available on LLJ website,

"Law in the Wilderness: An Annotated Bibliography of Legal Materials of Prestatehood Kentucky, 1774-1792"

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 08:03:29 PDT

A guide to the foundations of law in Kentucky in the contained in documents created during its early years as a Virginia territory up to its emergence as a state. Includes an extensive index to Virginia statutes regarding prestatehood Kentucky, including the charter documents of many existing counties, cities, and institutions of the state.

"William Littell

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:19:14 PDT

Biographical profile.

Warning: Statutes Under Construction - Finding Good Case Law in Old Kentucky Statutes

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:25:08 PDT

The text and cases associated with superseded statutes are valuable documents to used in interpreting new statutes. However, the basic annotated codes and databases do not reflect this history. This article briefly describes the research tools and strategies for finding these documents in the context of Kentucky statute law.

The Big Gobble: The Consolidation of the Legal Publishing Industry and What It Means for Legal Research

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:22:41 PDT

In the last decade, the legal publishing industry has undergone a historic consolidation that has eliminated the regional law publisher and reduced the industry to less than a half-dozen multinationals. This article discusses the impact on state-specific legal research.

History in the Law Library: Using Legal Materials to Explore the Past and Find Lawyers, Felons and Other Scoundrels in Your Family Tree

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:18:35 PDT

The standard law books and databases typically employed in legal research record the foibles and follies of humankind. This article discusses how these resources can be used to research local and family history.

Bloggers, Blawgs & Finding Current Law

Kurt X. Metzmeier — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:16:06 PDT

The legal publishing industry faces a challenge from legally oriented blogs, which offer opinions on new legal developments in case law and statutes, discuss the practice of law, and engage in theoretical debate. This article briefly advises researchers on how to best use blogs as an information sources, while giving proper attention to the inherent flaws in these free services.