I finally finished reading Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen. It’s a great book that really puts into perspective how we wound up with our constitution. And how close it came to never happening, and then to not being ratified. It’s pretty amazing that neither John Adams nor Thomas Jefferson were there. Both were in Europe that summer. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin “laid their shoulders to the great points, knowing that the little ones would follow of themselves.”
Anyway, there is a great comment on John Marshall that I want to remember. The scene is the convention in Virginia brought afterwards to consider adopting the new constitution.
John Marshall, now in his thirty-third year, was a great strength to the Constitutionalists. Ruddy and handsome, with wild black hair, a piercing dark eye, as a concession to the occasion he had draped his tall frame in a new coat which however had cost but a pound and looked it. The assembly knew Marshall, respected him for his soldierly record in the Revolution and loved him for his sociability – which says Grisby primly, at times verged on excess.
John Marshall was with Washington at Valley Forge.
I want to add a quote from a poem at the end of Ms. Bowen’s Preface to the book:
If all the tales are told, retell them, Brother,
If few attend, let those who listen feel.
The Passing the Gavel ceremony yesterday at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena was pretty fun. I think it’s the fourth one I’ve been to now. Outgoing Chief Judge Sheri Bluebond passed two gavels, one really large and one more ornate, to incoming Chief Judge Maureen Tighe before a huge throng of well-wishers and admirers. Talk about hitting the ground running, the government shut down about the time Judge Tighe’s four year term began. Judge Tighe told us she discovered quickly that there is no manual on how to deal with that. So she met with the Chief District Court Judge Virginia Phillips, and the 9th Circuit staff, Cathy Campbell of course and others to try to figure out what to do. She was determined to make sure the courts remained accessible to those who needed them which is what happened. I say without exaggeration that if it came to a vote among bankruptcy lawyers today about who is the best judge in the Central District it would be Maureen Tighe. She has the perfect blend of patience and firmness. She has huge empathy for the parties, especially the little guy, along with the decisiveness the parties need from a judge. Congratulations Judge Tighe.
The “liberal lion” has passed. He will be missed. 
