Gale Encyclopedia Of American Law 3Rd Edition Volume 2 P9 pptx

Over 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. After
WORLD
WAR II
and 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Sunday closing laws were repealed, or were not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-
TION
and Due Process clauses of the FOURTEENTH
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 Justic e
EARL WARREN,
writing for the majority, acknowledged that the
law and other similar laws had originally been
enacted for religiou s 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 b lue 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 h arm. 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. DOUGLAS filed a dissenting opinion in
which he argued that the state had no business
restricting innocent acts because they offe nded
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 R EFERENCE
Due Process of Law.
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
68 BLUE RIBBON JURY
BLUE 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 fraudu lent 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 partnersh ips, 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. National on-line computer
networks that became widely available in the
mid-1990s posed new problems fo r 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 hig h-
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 in
ARBITRATION. 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
Securitie s; 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 corporatio n.
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 term s, 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
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 69
annually, 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 staggeri ng 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 or
ARTICLES OF INCORPO-
RATION
that 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 executiv e 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
or
SECRETARY OF STATE) pardon boards generally
consist of individuals with experience or an
interest in the crimin al 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 for
GOOD 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
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
70 BOARD OF PARDONS
is 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 den ied a
pardon usually will face an uphill batt le 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 debate s; 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.
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BOARD OF REGENTS 71
———. 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 a
DEFENDANT and the officer
executes the order by taking the body of the
defendant into custody. The order itself may be
called a
CAPIAS,orcapias ad satisfaciendum (Latin
for “that you take him in order to satisfy it”).
v
BOGGS, 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’sdegreein1935fromSophieNew-

comb College at Tulane University and taught
history in Romeville, Louisiana. Her 1938
MAR-
RIAGE
to 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
1905
1925
1950
1975
2000
I CAME TO REALIZE
THAT THERE IS NO
TRUE DEMOCRACY
UNLESS ALL ITS
CITIZENS HAVE EQUAL
OPPORTUNITY
, AND
THAT ALL PEOPLE
SHOULD BE ABLE TO
PARTICIPATE IN THEIR
GOVERNMENT
.
—CORINNE “LINDY”

B
OGGS
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
72 BODY
of 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’sillness
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
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3
RD E DITION
BOILERPLATE 73

v
BOLIN, 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
1905
1950

1975
2000
1925
❖ ❖◆
◆
◆◆◆◆
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
I’D RATHER SEE IF I
CAN HELP A CHILD
THAN SETTLE AN
ARGUMENT BETWEEN
ADULTS OVER
MONEY
.
—JANE BOLIN
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
74 BOLIN, JANE MATILDA
battering; 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 way
PROBATION officers 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 or
RELIGION.
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 organiza tions: 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, “Ididn’t
get all the sleep I needed, and I didn’t g et to travel
as much as I would have liked, because I felt my
first obligation was to my child.” Bolin’sfirst
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 reading 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 in
GOOD FAITH full va lue for the
property and, without any
FRAUD,goesinto
possession.
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BONA FIDE 75
v
BONAPARTE, CHARLES JOSEPH
CHARLES JOSEPH BONAPARTE, who served as U.S.
attorney general under president
THEODORE
ROOSEVELT
, w as 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 the
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT that

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
General
WILLIAM HENRY MOODY, who left in Decem-
ber 1906to 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
▼▼
▼▼
18501850
19251925
19001900

18751875
❖
❖
◆
◆
◆
◆
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
TO HAVE A POPULAR
GOVERNMENT WE
MUST
, FIRST OF ALL,
AND BEFORE ALL
ELSE
, HAVE GOOD
CITIZENS
.
—CHARLES JOSEPH
BONAPARTE
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
76 BONAPARTE, CHARLES JOSEPH
political 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
ADVOCACY of 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 />website home page: (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 />site/flash/BIO/Charles_J._Bonaparte.htm; website home
page: (accessed July 8,
2009).
CROSS REFERENCES
Federal Bureau of Investigation; Justice Department;
Roosevelt, Theodore.
v
BOND, HORACE JULIAN
In the annals of the CIVIL 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 RIGHTS movement.
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 MANN Bond, served as presi dent.
Julian Bond.
FREDERICK M. BROWN/
GETTY IMAGES FOR
NAACP
TO HAVE A POPULAR
GOVERNMENT WE
MUST
, FIRST OF ALL,
AND BEFORE ALL
ELSE
, HAVE GOOD
CITIZENS
.
—JULIAN BOND
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION
BOND, HORACE JULIAN 77