Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming

Courthouse decorated for Memorial Day, 2014.

This is the Platte County Courthouse located in Platte County's seat, Wheatland Wyoming. The courthouse, in addition to housing the county court for Platte County, also houses one of the four courtrooms of Wyoming's 8th Judicial District, with the others being located in Douglas, Lusk and Torrington. The courthouse was built in 1917, and somewhat uniquely it has a monument dedicated to farmers called "The Irrigator". The Statute of Liberty is a monument for Platte County World War Two servicemen.

I've photographed this courthouse and its features at least three times. The first time was on a dreary July day in 2011.  I did it again in May 2014.  These most recent photographs are from November 2018.

A difference over this period of time is that a plaque commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Platte County, which was in 1911, was put in. Additionally, a nice sidewalk clock was added on the walkway to the entrance of the courthouse.

A New Wind River Tribal Judicial Center?

 

 The current Wind River Tribal Court.

We wrote about this courthouse quite some time ago, here:

Courthouses of the West: Wind River Indian Reservation Tribal Court: This is the Wind River Indian Reservation Tribal Court, which also houses various other law related facilities. The court is located in F...

An interesting article in the Star Tribune reports that  representatives of the Tribal judicial system appeared in front of a committee of the Wyoming legislature this past week to seek support, which they received, for a new judicial center.  The Federal government will have to provide the funding, but state support can't hurt.

The jail is grossly overcrowded and apparently the new three judge panel for the Court is enforcing the criminal law much more rigorously than in the past.  The deficiencies of the courthouse, which includes the jail and the headquarters for the police department, are showing themselves.  About three times as many prisoners are housed there on a daily basis than it was built for.

I can attest personally that the courtroom is quite inadequate.  I hope they receive the funding they're seeking, and soon.

Town of Mills, Wyoming Municipal Court.

This is the Town of Mills Municipal Court in Mills, Wyoming.  Mills is a city adjacent to the City of Casper, so I should have added this additional Natrona County municipal court some time ago.

Lex Anteinternet: Monday At The Bar: Forgetting the past so we can ...

Lex Anteinternet: Monday At The Bar: Forgetting the past so we can ...: When I was first practicing law, a million years ago, the City of Casper determined to replace its part time contract judges with a full tim...

Lawrence County Courthouse. Speerfish South Dakota.

Probably the most remarkable thing about this photograph of the Lawrence County Courthouse in Speerfish, South Dakota is that (other than it being poorly aligned) is that there are no motorcycles in the photograph.  It took me four tries to achieve that.

Which is part of the hazards associated with taking a photograph in the Sturgis area during motorcycle rally week.

I don't know the vintage of this well preserved classic courthouse, but it's clearly an older one and very nice in appearance.  The court houses South Dakota's Fourth Judicial District and serves as the county seat for Lawrence County as well.

University of Wyoming College of Law Large Moot Court, Laramie Wyoming

This is the large Moot Court Room for the University of Wyoming.  Having been in most of the courtrooms in the state I can safely say that its one of the nicest in the entire state.

The back half, or gallery half, of the courtroom has a moveable wall that can open up to allow greater space, or perhaps just more conventional space in the courtroom and also allow the courtroom to function as a lecture hall.  Viewed as a courtroom, what we see here in front of us is the bar of the court.

When I went to UW's College of Law it didn't have a moot courtroom at all, now it has two, a large one and a small one (I have yet to see the small one).  This particular room was the large classroom at the time.  It is quite a facility and I guess it demonstrates how much the physical assets of the College of Law have improved in the past three decades.

According to the University, the College of Law will allow the courtroom to be used by the state courts upon request, if it is not already in use.

Lex Anteinternet: And the nominee is . .

Lex Anteinternet: And the nominee is . .: Neil Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. He's a conservative textualist who is well suited to replace the late Antonin Scali...

Harris County Texas Courthouses

These photographs depict, from a distance, the old and new Harris County Texas courthouses.  The old one, a classically styled courthouse, was built in 1910.  The new one much more recently, having been started in 2003.

The new courthouse is a seventeen story structure.  Locals in the law seem quite proud of it, but I don't know what I think.  It retains some classic elements but it's sort of big and overgrown.

Sublette County Courthouse, Pinedale Wyoming

This is the Sublette County Courthouse in Pinedale, Wyoming.  The courthouse is the seat, for Sublette County, of the two courts of Wyoming's 9th Judicial District.

I'm unsure of the vintage of this courthouse, but I'm guess it dates to at least the 1950s, although I could be in error.   The court is in a Federalist style.

Lex Anteinternet: Rally for Public Lands, Casper Wyoming, November 5...

Rally for Public Lands, Casper Wyoming, November 5, 2016

 



 Rally for Public Lands:

 Join Us!

—WHEN—

Saturday, November 5th

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

—WHERE—

Izaak Walton League,

4205 Fort Caspar Road

—WHAT—

Live music, keynote speakers, food & drinks!

Jefferson County Courthouse, Port Arthur Texas.

This is the courthouse for Jefferson County, Texas, in Port Arthur.

This courthouse is one of the many public works projects courthouses Built during the Great Depression.  As the sign for the courthouse notes, it was built in 1935 and 1936, at time during which the fortunes of Port Arthur frankly look t have been better than they currently are.

Does this courthouse belong on this blog?  That's a question I'll soon be addressing but it is debatable.  This Courthouse is technically west of the Mississippi, but culturally, it's in the Deep South.  I've posted it, but frankly, this is about as far east and south, in more ways than one, that a person can get and still claim, if they can, that this is a "Western" courthouse.

Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse and United States Courthouse for the District of Utah. Salt Lake City, Utah.

Built in 1931, the last year of the Hoover Administration, this classic courthouse is nestled in downtown Salt Lake City.   The current name is much more recent, coming from a long serving Utah Senator who retired in 1977.

Just behind this classic revival style courthouse is a large modern office building which is the current United States Courthouse for the District of Utah, which has the local nickname of the "Borg Cube" due to its modern architecture, and in obvious reference to the characters from Star Trek.  That also forms a fairly effective commentary on what the public thinks of modern style courthouses, so I don't need to add to that, and could hardly do so more effectively.

Detail from the Frank E. Moss Courthouse

While most of the court's functions have moved to the new courthouse, the old one continues to house the bankruptcy court.

Lex Anteinternet: What Are You Reading?

Over on our most active blog, Lex Anteinternet: What are you reading?:

What are you reading?

A new trailing thread, dedicated to what we're currently reading.

And. . . we hope. . . with participation from you.

What are you reading right  now? Add it down in the commentary section
__________________________________________________________________________________

June 21, 2016

Give Me Eighty Men

I'm presently reading Give Me Eighty Men by Shannon Smith. It's a history of the Fetterman Fight, and a history of the history of the Fetterman Fight. I'll review it when I'm done, but I'll note that the favorable mention of the book by the authors of The Heart of All That Is caused me to pick it up, even though I'd been inclined to previously avoid it.

So far, I'm enjoying it, and its certainly raising a lot questions in my mind about the Fetterman battle, although I'm reserving my judgment on various things so far.

Stop over and let us know what you're reading!

That thread:  What Are You Reading?

Lex Anteinternet: More Monday At The Bar. U.S. Supreme Court: The ...

Lex Anteinternet: More Monday At The Bar. U.S. Supreme Court: The ...: One of the most shocking features of US Constitutional law is that the Bill of Rights doesn't apply, at all, to Indians on the Reservat...

Lex Anteinternet: Additional Monday at the Bar. Lex Anteinternet: T...

Lex Anteinternet: Additional Monday at the Bar. Lex Anteinternet: T...: As we earlier reported on this item: Lex Anteinternet: The ghost of the Crow Treaty of 1868 appears in a ... :    Crow Indians, 1908. Th...

Matheson Courthouse, Salt Lake City Utah

This impressive structure in downtown Salt Lake City houses Utah's Third Judicial District.  The interesting design, poorly photographed here, combines modern and classical elements to make for an attractive courthouse.

Rock Springs City Hall, Rock Springs Wyoming

This is a photo I took of the old Rock Springs City Hall while on my way to a deposition.  It's really taken from the wrong angle, and it's not a great photo. This photos is typical of the "on my way" to somewhere photos that end up on this blog.

And its of a city hall, not a true courthouse, but almost every city hall of this vintage served as a city court and city jail.  This one has a small jail in it, by my recollection, based upon the one time I toured it.  It's now a museum.

The building was built in 1894.

Lex Anteinternet: Limiting Supreme Court terms

Lex Anteinternet: Limiting Supreme Court terms: An interesting proposal is being floated to limit Supreme Court terms to 18  years, with those terms being staggered so that one comes up e...

Lex Anteinternet: Antonin Scalia passes on.

Lex Anteinternet: Antonin Scalia passes on.: By the time this goes up here, this will hardly be in the category of really new "news", as it was already widely discussed an...

Johnson County Justice Center, Buffalo Wyoming

This is the Johnson County Justice Center in Buffalo Wyoming. This structure replaced the old Johnson County Courthouse that was in use up until recently.

Holscher's Hub: Blog Mirror: Heritage Calling: 10 Tips for Archi...

Holscher's Hub: Blog Mirror: Heritage Calling: 10 Tips for Archi...: 10 Tips for Architectural Photography.

State Capitol, Cheyenne Wyoming

 

This is the State Capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  While I didn't realize it at the time that I took this photograph, the State Capitol contains a courtroom which was used by the Wyoming Supreme Court up until it had a courthouse of its own.  The courtroom is soon to be restored.

 

State Capitol as viewed from the street.  The current Wyoming Supreme Court building would be off to the right in this photograph.

City and County Building, Cheyenne Wyoming

This is the old City and County Building in Cheyenne Wyoming which, at one time, housed all of the offices of the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County, including the courts.

This building has been partially replaced by the Laramie County Government Complex, which physically adjoins it.

This Federal style Classical Revival building was built completed in 1919.  A better view of the building would be from its front, rather than the sides as depicted, which would show its classic columns, but under the constraints of time when this photograph was taken, that couldn't be done.

Laramie County Government Complex, Cheyenne Wyoming

 Laramie County government complex

This is the Laramie County government complex, which houses the District and Circuit courts of the 1st Judicial District. This fairly new building is quite modern in design and appearance.

Old Wyoming State Penitentiary, Rawlins Wyoming.

This may seem like sort of an odd entry for this blog, but it really should come as no surprise.  The penitentiary is part of the judicial system, and therefore it has a place on a blog that's dedicated to judicial buildings.

This particular penitentiary is the old Wyoming State Penitentiary, the second penitentiary the state had. The first one was located in Laramie Wyoming in territorial days. That building is still there, and is used as a museum. When I went to the University of Wyoming, it was the sheep barn.

This one, the second penitentiary, is located in Rawlins Wyoming.  It's also a museum, as it has been replaced by a new, more modern, penitentiary also located near Rawlins.

I don't know if court was ever held inside the penitentiary.  I doubt it. But it does serve to remember that institutions like this are part of the judicial system.

Old Anchorage City Hall, Anchorage Alaska

Once the largest building in Anchorage, albeit only very briefly, this city hall held all the municipal offices from 1936 until some date in the 1970s.  

A fairly substantial building, it provides additional evidence of how surprisingly busy Anchorage was during the 1930s.

Federal Building, Anchorage Alaska

This is the Federal Building in Anchorage Alaska, which was built in 1941.  The Art Deco style building is very substantial, and the building is one of several in Anchorage which show the extent of development in the city in the 1930s and 1940s.  It was, and is, a very modern building for the port city, which might surprise those who wouldn't have expected this type of architecture and development for Anchorage in this, pre oil development, era.

The courtroom was, and is, a prominent feature of the building.