Thursday, June 19, 2014

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: S. Arthur Spiegel | United States Co...

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: S. Arthur Spiegel | United States Co...: WWII Profile: S. Arthur Spiegel | United States Courts

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: I. Leo Glasser | United States Court...

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: I. Leo Glasser | United States Court...: WWII Profile: I. Leo Glasser | United States Courts

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: Arthur D. Spatt | United States Cour...

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: Arthur D. Spatt | United States Cour...: WWII Profile: Arthur D. Spatt | United States Courts

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: Dickinson R. Debevoise | United Stat...

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: Dickinson R. Debevoise | United Stat...: WWII Profile: Dickinson R. Debevoise | United States Courts

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: Arthur L. Alarcon | United States Co...

Lex Anteinternet: WWII Profile: Arthur L. Alarcon | United States Co...: WWII Profile: Arthur L. Alarcon | United States Courts

Lex Anteinternet: Still Serving Their Country: Nearly 70 WWII Vetera...

Lex Anteinternet: Still Serving Their Country: Nearly 70 WWII Vetera...: Still Serving Their Country: Nearly 70 WWII Veterans Remain on Federal Bench | United States Courts

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Natrona County Townsend Justice Center






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This set of photographs is a bit unusual, as you can see the courthouse actually being built, or rather rebuilt.

This is the Townsend Justice Center in Casper, Natrona County, Wyoming. The courthouse houses the state district and circuit courts for the county, those being the courts of the Seventh Judicial District.

This courthouse was the subject of a great deal of controversy. The old Natrona County Courthouse stands across the street, and was much admired by residents of the county. The district court, however, had outgrown the courthouse, and the circuit courts were located in yet another building. There was, therefore, a need to add a courthouse or revise the existing one, particularly after the addition of a third judge. Early efforts proved unpopular with the county's voters, but ultimately the state took the unusual step of funding reconstruction at this structure.

The building itself had been a downtown hotel built in the 1920s, in the golden era of tall hotels. The building had served in this capacity for many years, but entered a slow period of decline in the 1960s. By the late 1970s, the hotel was principally the residence of those down and out on their luck, or of street walkers, but the restaurant remained popular with downtown businessmen. The Petroleum Club, a long time popular club, was attached to it, but was actually in a neighboring building but with access through the Townsend.

After the Petroleum Club moved, the owners of the Townsend finally closed it and it remained vacant for over two decades. When the court needed to move, however, a deal was struck whereby the building was acquired for a nominal fee, and re construction began.

Today, the new and old parts of the building house an ultra modern courthouse, but some of the old signs remain, a written record of its origin as a hotel.

For what it is worth, if you are summoned to jury duty in the District Court for the 7th Judicial District, or the Circuit Court for the 7th Judicial District, this is where you want to go.




The photos added immediately above were taken quite some time after the originals, and were taken while I was waiting for a Circuit Court hearing.  This depicts one of the Circuit Court, courtrooms. The District Court courtrooms are quite a bit bigger.

The courtrooms in this courthouse are quite modern in the District Court, and perhaps when I get he opportunity I'll add a photograph of one. They were designed to be high tech and are.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Friday, January 31, 2014

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Carbon County Courthouse, Rawlins Wyoming


This is the Carbon County Courthouse in Rawlins Wyoming.  This Depression era courthouse was built by the Works Project Administration, like the former courthouse in Casper, Wyoming.  It houses the Carbon County Court and also serves Wyoming's Second Judicial District together with the courthouse in Albany County.


This courthouse is unique for a classic Wyoming courthouse in that it sits on an entire city block in the center of town.  While not visible in these photos, due to the mature trees, the courthouse is also unique in that it was built with attached substantial living quarters which served the sheriff and his family at the time of its construction. The concept was that the sheriff would need to live there, as the jail was housed in the courthouse.





Friday, November 1, 2013

Commentary on Lex Anteinternet: Dean Easton Resigns

Lex Anteinternet: Lex Anteinternet: Dean Easton Resigns: When the letter noted here; Lex Anteinternet: Dean Easton Resigns : came in yesterday, most of the lawyers I know were pretty surprised. We...

Lex Anteinternet: Dean Easton Resigns

Lex Anteinternet: Dean Easton Resigns: Interesting development at the UW law school as of yesterday:   Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Friends of UW College o...

Monday, September 30, 2013

Still Open For Business

This is an announcement e-mail message generated by Court action through the CM/ECF system. Please DO NOT RESPOND to this e-mail because the mail box is unattended.
Judiciary to Remain Open If Government Shuts Down
In the event of a government shutdown on October 1, 2013, the Federal Judiciary will remain open for business for approximately 10 business days. On or around October 15, 2013, the Judiciary will reassess its situation and provide further guidance. All proceedings and deadlines remain in effect as scheduled, unless otherwise advised. Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) will remain in operation for the electronic filing of documents with courts.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Lex Anteinternet: Contempt of Court

Lex Anteinternet: Contempt of Court: I don't follow the news of criminal trials, or even civil trials, that occur outside of the local area.  I suspect that's surprisin...

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Holscher's Hub: Lahaina Cannons.

Holscher's Hub: Lahaina Cannons.: The Lehaina Cannons, two cannons raised from a sunken Russian warship that went down in 1816 off of Honolulu.  The guns were moved to th...

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Lahaina Banyan Courthouse, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.






This is the Lahaina Banyan Courthouse in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. The courthouse was built in 1859 to replace a courthouse that had been destroyed in a typhoon the prior year.  The courthouse served the Kingdom of Hawaii until in U.S. annexation in 1898.  It was renovated, while still being used as a courthouse in 1925.  It is now a museum, visitors center and a community center.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Big Horn County Courthouse, Basin Wyoming

This is the classic courthouse of Big Horn County, Wyoming, another court in the state's 5th Judicial District.  The court sits on enormous grounds.  It was built in 1918.






Washakie County Courthouse, Worland Wyoming

 

This is the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland, Wyoming.  The Courthouse dates from the early 1950s (1954, I think).  It's a classically styled courthouse, with a single large courtroom.  I've tried one case in this courthouse, some years ago.

 Entrance to the adjoining jail, which is a substantial structure, mostly from the same era, itself.
  
 A somewhat visually jarring feature of this courthouse is the small Chamber of Commerce building on the corner.  That structure oddly has the appearance of a 1950s vintage drive in restaurant, and its my suspicion that it was.  I wonder if it might have predated the building of the courthouse which, together with the jail, takes up the entire block.


 Large American Indian monument, carved from a substantial block of Douglas fir, on courthouse grounds.


Friday, February 1, 2013

Pennington County Courthouse, Rapid City, South Dakota



This is the Pennington County Courthouse in Rapid City, South Dakota.  The original Greek Revival style courthouse was built in 1922, with the addition being added in 1990.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Lex Anteinternet: A legal Gerontocracy?

Lex Anteinternet: A legal Gerontocracy?: There's a bill pending in Wyoming's legislature which proposes to remove the mandatory retirement age for the judiciary, which is pre...

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Lex Anteinternet: What people read

Lex Anteinternet: What people read: We've had this blog up for a couple of years now, with the first posts being in 2009 . There were none in 2010, but we really took off in p...

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Fergus County Montana Courthouse, Lewistown Montana









This is the very impressive Fergus County Courthouse in Lewistown Montana.  Lewistown is full of surprises, as its a small town with some very substantial architecture, including this wonderful courthouse, which was built in 1908.

As can be seen from these photographs, the courthouse grounds has several monuments on it, at least one of which I missed.

A second set of photos from our Flickr site:



Saturday, November 10, 2012

Monday, November 5, 2012

Hot Springs County Courthouse, Thermopolis Wyoming









This is the Hot Springs County Courthouse in Thermopolis, Wyoming.  I'm unsure of the vintage of this courthouse, but the monumental style suggests it was built during the 1930s.  The building includes both bas reliefs and reliefs in the windows featuring ancient references to the origins of the law. The courthouse serves the Circuit Court of Wyoming's 5th Judicial District and the the District Court for the same district.