WESTERN LEGAL HISTORY THE JOURNAL OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY COMMEMORATING THE CENTENNIAL OF THE JAMES R. BROWNING UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 1905-2005 VOLUME 18, NUMBERS 1 & 2 2005 Western Legal History is published semiannually, in spring and fall, by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, 125 S. Grand Avenue, Pasadena, California 91105, (626) 795-0266/fax (626) 229-7476. The journal explores, analyzes, and presents the history of law, the legal profession, and the courts- particularly the federal courts-in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Western Legal History is sent to members of the NJCHS as well as members of affiliated legal historical societies in the Ninth Circuit. Membership is open to all. 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Copyright 02005, Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society ISSN 0896-2189 The Editorial Board welcomes unsolicited manuscripts, books for review, and recommendations for the journal. Manuscripts (three copies, and one disk in Microsoft Word for Windows, if possible) should be sent to the Editor, Western Legal History, 125 S. Grand Avenue, Pasadena, California 91105. Texts, including quotations and endnotes, must be double spaced. Notes must be numbered consecutively and appear in a separate section at the end of the text. Authors are requested to follow the style for citations used in this journal. Manuscripts that are no more than thirty pages in length, not counting notes, charts and tables, and photographs, are preferred. Also preferred are manuscripts not concurrently under consideration by another journal. Whether because of prejudice or custom, writers in earlier times often used language considered strange or offensive today. Because Western Legal History publishes articles that present the historical record as accurately as possible, it occasionally publishes quotations containing such language. The publication of such is not to be construed as representing the attitudes of either the authors or Western Legal History. Communication with the editor is encouraged before submission of any manuscript. At that time, other guidelines for the preparation and publication of an article may be discussed. Consultation about punctuation, grammar, style, and the like is made with the author, although the editor and the Editorial Board are the final arbiters of the article's acceptance and appearance. Articles published in this journal are abstracted and indexed in America: History and Life; HistoricalAbstracts; the Index to Legal Periodicals;and the Legal Resources Index. NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS HON. JAMES R. BROWNING HON. SUSAN Y. ILLSTON Chairman San Francisco San Francisco CURTIS A. JENNINGS, ESQ. MARC M. SEUTZER, ESQ. Phoenix President HON, ROBERT J. JOHNSTON Los Angeles Las Vegas JEFFREY M. FISHER, ESQ. MICHAEL A. KAHN, ESQ. Vice President San Francisco San Francisco ROBERT D. LOWRY, ESQ. JOHN FRANCIS CARROLL, ESQ, Eugene Treasurer TIMOTHY M. LYNCH, ESQ. San Pedro Anchorage GARETH T. EVANS, ESQ. THOMAS J. MCDERMOTT, JR., ESQ. Secretary Indian Wells Los Angeles HON. M. MARGARET MCKEOWN GERSHAM GOLDSTEIN, ESQ, San Diego Immediate Past President GERALD T. MCLAUGHLIN, ESQ. Portland Los Angeles J. BRUCE ALVERSON, ESQ. HON. MARGARET M. MORROW Las Vegas Los Angeles SETH ARONSON, ESQ. HON. GERALDINE MUND Los Angeles Woodland Hills LEROY J. BARKER, ESQ. TERRY NAFISI Anchorage San Francisco JEROME L, BRAUN, ESQ. HON. THOMAS G. NELSON San Francisco Boise CHRISTINE W.S. BYRD, ESQ. RONALD L. OLSON, ESQ. Los Angeles Los Angeles JOHN CARSON, ESQ. HON. DIARMUID O'SCANNLAIN Los Angeles Portland HON. DAVID 0. CARTER PER A. RAMFJORD, ESQ. Santa Ana Portland HON. RICHARD R. CLIFTON HON. MANUEL L. REAL Honolulu Los Angeles WILLIAM I. EDLUND, ESQ. HON. PAUL G. ROSENBLATT San Francisco Phoenix HON. MORRISON C. ENGLAND, JR. HON. MARY M. SCHROEDER Sacramento Phoenix ROBERT H. FAIRBANK, ESQ. GERALD K. SMITH, ESQ. Los Angeles Phoenix PARKER C. FOLSE III, ESQ. HON. CHRISTINA ANN SNYDER Seattle Los Angeles PAUL T. FRIEDMAN, ESQ. ROBERT S. WARREN, ESQ. San Francisco Los Angeles FREDERICK P. FURTH, ESQ. MICHAEL A. WHITE, ESQ. San Francisco Saipan HON. LLOYD D. GEORGE DOUGLAS R. YOUNG, ESQ. Las Vegas San Francisco HON. ALFRED. T. GOODWIN Pasadena HON. RONALD M. COULD BOARD MEMBERS EMERITI Seattle PETER R. HAIIBEIN, ESQ. SHIRLEY M. HUFSTEDLER, ESQ. Billings Los Angeles RITA M. HAEUSLER, ESQ, HON. SAMUEL P. KING Los Angeles Honolulu HON. PROCTER HUG. JR. HON. JOSEPH T. SNEED Reno San Francisco WESTERN LEGAL HISTORY BRADLEY B. WILLIAMS, EDITOR JUDITH FORMAN, COPY/PRODUCTION EDITOR EDITORIAL BOARD JUDITH AUSTIN ARTHUR D. HELLMAN Boise University of Pittsburgh GORDON MORRIS BAKKEN School of Law California State University, DAVID J. LANGUM Fullerton Samford University MICHAL BELKNAP Cumberland School of Law California Western CLARE V. MCKANNA, JR. School of Law San Diego State University HON. JAMES R. BROWNING R. JAMES MOONEY Senior Circuit Judge, University of Oregon U.S. Court of Appeals Law School for the Ninth Circuit CLAUS-M. NASKE ELIZABETH J. CABRASER, ESQ. University of Alaska, San Francisco Fairbanks LAWRENCE M. FRIEDMAN PAULA PETRIK, PH.D. Stanford Law School George Mason University CHRISTIAN G. FRITZ PETER L. REICH University of New Mexico Whittier Law School School of Law JOHN PHILLIP REID DALE GOBLE New York University University of Idaho School of Law School of Law HARRY N. SCHEIBER, PH.D. HON. ALFRED T. GOODWIN University of California Senior Circuit Judge, Boalt Hall School of Law U.S. Court of Appeals MOLLY SELVIN, PH.D. for the Ninth Circuit Santa Monica PAUL BRYAN GRAY, ESQ. ROBERT S. WOLFE, ESQ. Claremont Santa Ana MICHAEL GRIFFITH, PH.D. JOHN R. WUNDER, J.D., PH.D. Oakland University of Nebraska STEPHEN W. HAYCOX, PH.D. University of Alaska, Anchorage WESTERN LEGAL HiSTORY VOLUME 18, NUMBERS 1 & 2 2005 CONTENTS Acknowledgments Vi Foreword ix Introduction Hon. M. MargaretMcKeown THE BUILDING IN 1905 A Post Office That's a Palace: Details Concerning the Magnificent Structure Uncle Sam Has Built in San Francisco FrancisJ. Dyer An Architect's View of the San Francisco Courthouse August G. Headman Remarks of Judge Morrow at Opening of United States Post Office and Court House O Hon. William W Morrow 2 Cover photo: The James R. Browning United States Courthouse, as it appeared on a postcard circa 1905, published by Richard Behrendt, San Francisco. (Collection of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society) Vi WESTERN LEGAL HISTORY VOL. 18, Nos. I & 2 THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION IN 2005 Introduction of the Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor Marc M. Seltzer 39 Music and the Law The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor 1 Greetings from the U.S. General Services Administration Stephen A. Perry 4 A Sense of the Time William Deverell Significant Events from the Northern District of California Hon. Vaughn R. Walker U1 The Honorable James R. Browning: An Enduring Legacy U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi U.S. Senator Max S. Baucus Hon. Dorothy W Nelson 6f Of Earthquakes, Fires, and Lawsuits: A 1906 Trial in San Francisco Book Reviews 151 Articles of Related Interest 159 Memberships, Contributions, & Grants 165 AcKNOWLEDGMENTS The Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society thanks the following for their generous support for the Centennial Celebration and for this issue of Western Legal History: Joseph W. Cotchett, Esq. Furth Family Foundation Farella, Braun & Martel The Morrison & Foerster Foundation Cooley Godward LLP Hanson, Bridget, Marcus, Vlahos & Rudy Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman Bingham McCutcheon Folger, Levin & Kahn Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe Latham & Watkins Munger, Tolles & Olson O'Melveny & Myers Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood Gersham Goldstein, Esq. Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati Foundation Susman Godfrey LLP FOREWORD O n August 29, 1905, San Francisco welcomed a grand new building to its burgeoning cityscape at the corner of Seventh and Mission Streets. With congressional authorization, that corner lot was purchased in 1891. Designed by James Knox Taylor, super- vising architect for the Department of the Treasury, the building was constructed over seven years at a cost of $2.5 million, the equivalent of about $50 million today, although the materials and workmanship are irreplaceable. Like many federal government buildings of the era, it was de- signed in the Beaux Arts classical style, and like many built around the country, it was intended to house a post office, the federal courts, and other federal agencies. In fact, for many years the building was known by