Join NJCHS and PCHS for a program marking the centennial of Pierce v. Society of Sisters, featuring Senior District of Oregon Judge Anna J. Brown and Professor William G. Ross. This special event brings together judges, attorneys, and historians to explore the impact and enduring legacy of this landmark case a century after it was decided. Professor Ross, the Albert P. Brewer Professor of Law and Ethics at Samford University Cumberland School of Law, will be among the featured speakers. A nationally sought-after expert on American legal and constitutional history, he also served as Guest Editor of Volume 36 of the Western Legal History Journal, The Parental Rights Trilogy.
This program builds upon themes explored in Western Legal History, Volume 35: The Parental Rights Trilogy: A Centennial Symposium, which examines the lasting legacy of Meyer v. Nebraska, Pierce v. Society of Sisters, and Farrington v. Tokushige. Together, these cases reveal how debates over education, language, parental rights, and cultural preservation shaped the American West during the 1920s and continue to resonate today. Read Volume 35 online here.
Presented by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society in partnership with the Pioneer Courthouse Historical Society.
Tuesday, October 20
Panel begins at 4:00pm PDT
1 hour of Oregon CLE is available.
Reception to follow.
Pioneer Courthouse
700 SW 6th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204
Register Here!
In-Person Registration Virtual RegistrationContact Georgia Johnson at georgia.johnson@njchs.org if you would like to register for tomorrow’s event.
Questions? Contact Georgia Johnson: Georgia.Johnson@NJCHS.org
Meet our Panelists!
William G. Ross is the Albert P. Brewer Professor of Law and Ethics at Samford
University Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama, where he has
been on the faculty since 1988. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard
Law School, Ross was a litigator in New York City from 1979 until 1988.
Ross is a nationally sought after expert on the topics of legal ethics,
American legal and constitutional history, the federal judicial appointments
process, and federal separation of powers issues. His publications have been
cited in more than 1,000 scholarly articles. Some of his most recent books
include: The Honest Hour: The Ethics of Time-Based Billing by Attorneys (Carolina
Academic Press, 1996) which was cited by the U. S. Supreme Court in Gisbrecht
v. Barnhart (2002); Legal Fees: Law and Practice (with John W. Toothman, Carolina
Academic Press, 2003); and World War I and the American Constitution (Cambridge
University Press, 2017
