Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Annual Membership Meeting Minutes

                                               (DRAFT, unsigned)
         Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Membership and Board of Trustees
                                                         of the
                                    Nevada Judicial Historical Society

September 16, 2011
Carson City, Nevada

The meeting was called to order at Sassafras Restaurant at 12:25 by Chairman Michael Fondi.
Present were Ron James, Vice-Chair, Janette Bloom, Treasurer, Susan Southwick, Secretary and trustees Dennis Myers, Donald Klasic, Peter Smith, Patricia Cafferata, Jeff Kintop, Justice Mark Gibbons, and Jim Smith.  Also present were members Tom Perkins, Christine Timko and Terry Rankin.  Don Southwick attended as a guest.  A quorum was present of both the membership and the Board of Trustees.

The minutes of the annual meeting of September 24, 2010 were approved as mailed.  Gibbons/P.Smith.
The minutes of the Board meeting of March 18, 2011 were approved as mailed.  Gibbons/P.Smith.
Treasurer Janette Bloom presented the fiscal year report, indicating that there was income of $750 and expenditures of $25.00 to date, with a balance of $5,521.94.  The report was approved.  Klasic/P.Smith.
Michael Fondi reviewed the annual report for 2011.  Highlights were the blog, the Elko plaque ceremony and the election of two new trustees.

Susan Southwick, representing the nominating committee, explained that trustee Ron James chose not to run for an additional term and that trustee Wendell Turner was deceased.  The Honorable Thomas Perkins, East Fork Township Justice of the Peace, was elected to fill Judge Turner’s position and Patricia Cafferata, to fill that of Ron James.  The remaining candidates were incumbents and were re-confirmed for another three years in office.

Justice Gibbons announced that the Lincoln County plaque ceremony will be held in Panaca immediately following oral arguments of the Northern Panel of the Nevada Supreme Court on October 11.  The Court has sent invitations of all local officials and the presentation will be made to the Lincoln County Commission at about 11:30 a.m.  Susan Southwick said she would attend and represent the Society if Peter Smith was unable to do so.  Patricia Cafferata said she would attend, also. 

The plaque is in honor of Judge Berry, whose tenure preceded any actual courthouse, so the Commission will decide where best to place it.

Peter Smith then discussed the updated web page, which is part of the Supreme Court’s site, and the participation of Law Librarian Christine Timko and IT staffer Derek Hawkins in setting it up and establishing links.  Ms. Timko also assisted in establishing the blog, which was created outside the Court’s aegis, and is intended to provide up-to-date information about Society events.  He requested Board guidelines for adding material and for the blog’s management.  Ms. Timko said she could make any additions or changes to the web page that were referred to her.  After some general discussion, Mrs. Southwick recommended that the original committee of Peter Smith, Karen Baggett and herself take responsibility for the blog’s content and sharing the burdens of up-keep.  The committee would also make recommendations for updates to the web site.  Membership was urged to submit content and links suggestions to the committee for Society
representation.

Mr. Smith said he had already asked the Clark, Washoe and State Bars to link to the blog from their newsletters.  Jeff  Kintop noted that his agency had digitized the Territorial Supreme Court opinions and the case files of the Nevada Supreme Court to about 1900.  He said he was still trying to develop a good means of searching them and that they were not accessible on line.  Ms. Timko said a member of the Administrative Office of the Courts was making an original compilation of information on Nevada courts which could eventually be linked to the NJHS site when completed.  Patricia Cafferata suggested a link to the Nevada On-Line Encyclopedia as a good source of judicial information, noting that she has an article on the Territorial justices there.

Under new business, Jim Smith passed around the self-published volume on Harry Claiborne by Bruce Alverson.  The Society facilitated Mr. Alverson’s contact with Judge Claiborne, but the publication was not part of the Joint Oral History Project.  He also noted a book review of another Claiborne title which appears in Nevada in the West: a magazine of  popular history.

In answer to a query whether any of the medallions had been sold at face value, Justice Gibbons noted that the trigger price was $50/oz., and silver never quite reached that level.

Chairman Fondi suggested either September 14 or 21, 2012 for next annual meeting and the 14th was chosen.  It was agreed that Sassafras was a good location if it could be arranged.
The meeting of the membership was adjourned at 1:40 and the chairman convened the meeting of the Board of Trustees. 

The only item was election of the offices of chairman, treasurer and vice-chairman.  Chairman Fondi and Treasurer Bloom were re-confirmed in office and Jeff Kintop was elected Vice-Chair by unanimous vote.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted:

___unsigned  ___________
Susan Southwick, Secretary

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

1867, first US Supreme Court reversal of a Nevada decision

Ex Parte Crandall 1 Nev 294 may be the first Nevada Supreme Court decision ever reversed by the U. S. Supreme Court.  Nevada became a state in 1864 and in 1865 the legislature imposed a tax of one dollar on every person leaving the state by common carrier.  The US Supreme Court found this to be a violation of the commerce clause.

A good write up can be found on the Online Nevada Encyclopedia, follow this link:

http://onlinenevada.org/crandall_v._nevada

Lincoln County, October 11, 2011

The Society will be presenting a plaque to Lincoln County in honor of the Honorable George G. Berry, that county's first presiding judge, on October 11, 2011.  The ceremony will take place at the Lincoln County High School in Panaca at about 11:30 am, after the close of oral arguments before the Nevada Supreme Court held there that morning.  Tommy Rowe, Chairman of the County Commission will accept the plaque.

Judge Berry was the presiding judge in Humboldt County in 1866 when Lincoln County was first created and placed into the 5th Judicial District with Humboldt County.

The public is invited to attend. 

2011 Annual Report

Nevada Judicial Historical Society
Annual Report
2011



Memberships:   After a membership low of 7 paid memberships in 2010, there were 11 paid members, many at the patron level in 2011, for an income of $425.00.  There were two new members.

Treasury:  Treasurer Janette Bloom reported an August 31 balance of $5,521.96.

Projects:

            Joint Oral History Project:  Although the UNR History Department has taken over stewardship of the those histories remaining in editing stage, none were actually published in 2011.

            Silver Medallions:  One medallion set was sold for $300.00.

            CDs:  No CDs were sold in 2011, although two were distributed to new members.

            Courthouse  Plaques:  The Elko County plaque was dedicated at a joint session of the Northern Panel of the Supreme Court, and the Elko County Commission, with
 Judge Andrew Puccinelli on May 4.  The event, celebrating not only Law Week, but Elko County’s 100th anniversary of its 1911 courthouse, had good local turn-out with television coverage.  Several NJHS members attended.  The Lincoln County plaque honoring Judge George G. Berry will be presented October 11, again by the Northern Panel.

            Web site and Blog:  A committee consisting of Peter Smith, Karen Baggett and Susan Southwick was appointed at the March meeting to update the Society’s web page, which resides as part of the Supreme Court Library’s site.  With the assistance of Christine Timko, Law Librarian, and court IT staff, the Society’s information was reorganized and brought up to date, with links established to items of interest on other sites, including the “Ten Cases.”  To permit easy up-dating, a Society blog was established to announce up-coming events and other items of interest.  The blog can be accessed from a link on the web page or directly at http://nevada-jhs.blogspot.com.  Improvement in design and additional links will be on-going and the management of the blog will be determined by the Board at its annual meeting.

Elections:   Ron James chose not to run for an additional term and was replaced on the ballot by Patricial Cafferata.  The Honorable Wendell Turner is deceased and his position as Justice of the Peace trustee was replaced on the ballot by the Honorable Thomas E. Perkins, East Fork Township Justice of the Peace.  The positions of Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Treasurer will be filled by the Board at the Annual Meeting.


Respectfully submitted:


_____s/s_______________________
Michael E. Fondi, Chariman