Volume 37 of Western Legal History will be devoted to the unique experience of Native Americans and Pacific Islanders. Our Guest Editor, Judge Diane Humetewa (D. Arizona), an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe and the first Native American woman to be appointed to the federal trial bench is assembling a talented group of writers to topics related to tribal history, sovereignty, federal recognition, land and water allocation, gaming, language recognition, and the historical conflict between Native Nations amid the westward development of the United States on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Fill in the form below to purchase Western Legal History Volume 36: Bankruptcy: History and Development of U.S. Bankruptcy Law, 1970-2026 OR become an NJCHS member at $50 or above and receive a free copy!
The mission of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society is to preserve and share the history of the law within the Ninth Circuit and to raise awareness of the critical role the judicial system plays in society. Founded in 1986, our 501(c)(3) nonprofit pursues its mission through presenting panels and programs, publishing a journal and collecting and sharing oral histories. You can support the Society’s worthy mission by making a testamentary gift to the organization. The Society gratefully accepts bequests. Your decision to share some of your testamentary distributions with the Society will help ensure that in the future the NJCHS can continue to energetically pursue its endeavors, which are intended to benefit the bench, bar and public within the Ninth Circuit.
For identification purposes, the Tax EIN for the 501(c)(3) Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society is 94-2984882. The mailing address is NJCHS, 95 7th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. To learn more about planned giving opportunities or to ask questions, please contact Executive Director Johanna Hartwig (johanna.hartwig@njchs.org; 510-915-2900).
THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING SUPPORTING THE SOCIETY IN THIS WAY!
This special program will start with a screening of a 12-minute documentary highlighting a powerful moment in Warsaw on January 11, 2020, when judges, prosecutors, and lawyers from 26 European countries demonstrated their solidarity with Polish judges fighting to maintain what remained of judicial independence. Following the screening, NJCHS Board Member and Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown will facilitate a conversation with Chief Judge David Estudillo (WAWD) and Senior Judge John Coughenour (WAWD) on judicial courage, the responsibilities of impartial decision-making, and the challenges judges face in upholding the rule of law amid public and political pressures.
1 hour of WA CLE available. In person and online participation available. Program co-presented by NJCHS, M. Margaret McKeown Federal Bar Association, Protect Our Judges, and the Berkeley Judicial Institute.
Still from 12-minute documentary on 1/11/20 Warsaw protest in support of independence of Polish Judges.
Thursday, August 6 3:00-4:30pm PST.
U.S. District Courthouse 700 Stewart St Seattle, WA 98101
Hon. M. Margaret McKeown, Moderator is a Senior Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She received the American Inns of Court Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Ethics and Professionalism Award and the William H. Webster Profiles in Leadership Award, among others. Judge McKeown is the author of the book Citizen Justice: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas—Public Advocate and Conservation Champion.
Chief District Judge David G. Estudillo is the Chief District Judge for the Western District of Washington. Chief Judge Estudillo was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden on April 29, 2021, confirmed by the United States Senate on September 14, 2021, and received his commission on October 7, 2021. He became the Chief District Judge on September 3, 2022 and is a member of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council. Chief Judge Estudillo served as a Washington State Superior Court Judge for six years in Grant County, and was serving as the President of the Washington State Superior Court Judges Association when he received his commission. As an attorney, Chief Judge Estudillo practiced immigration law, insurance defense, and general civil litigation for 16 years.
Judge John C. Coughenour was raised in the Midwest and earned his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1966. After a brief stint on the law faculty at the University of Washington, he was a litigation partner at the Seattle firm of Bogle & Gates, before being nominated by President Reagan for the federal bench in 1981.
Judge Coughenour served as Chief Judge of the District from 1998 to 2004. During his time on the bench, he has presided over numerous high-profile trials and delivered several controversial decisions. His notable cases include a bank fraud trial involving the Montana Freemen, an anti-government group that had a three-month standoff with the FBI in 1996; the case of Michael Forwell, the British national sentenced to 15 years in 1996 for attempting to smuggle 72 tons of marijuana into Washington; and the case of Ahmed Ressam, the so-called “Millennium Bomber” who was convicted of attempting to blow up Los Angeles International Airport on January 1, 2000. In 2006, Judge Coughenour assumed senior status, though he continued to maintain a full case load in that capacity until only recently.
In addition to his work on the court, Judge Coughenour taught trial advocacy at the University of Washington School of Law for over fifty years. His former law clerks created an endowment in his name to provide continued support for the school’s trial advocacy program. He also regularly travels internationally to participate in judicial reform activities with judges and lawyers, and hosts delegations in Seattle regarding the same.
Judge Coughenour served as Chair of the Ninth Circuit working groups on Jury Instructions and Gender Bias, and he is past President of the Ninth Circuit District Judges’ Association.
CLE Information
1 hour of Washington CLE is available.
Robes, Rule of Law, and Reflection: A Judicial Conversation on Courage and Independence featuring NJCHS Board Member M. Margaret McKeown | Virtual Registration
Robes, Rule of Law, and Reflection: A Judicial Conversation on Courage and Independence featuring NJCHS Board Member M. Margaret McKeown | In-Person Registration
The program will feature distinguished panelists Professor MJ Palau-McDonald of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s William S. Richardson School of Law, Logan Narikawa, President of the Japanese American Citizens League, and Brian Niiya, public historian, Content Director for Densho, and editor of the Densho Encyclopedia. NJCHS Board Member Judge Richard Clifton of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will moderate. Bringing together perspectives from legal scholarship, community leadership, and historical advocacy, the panelists will explore the context of the case in Hawaii’s history. Panelists will discuss the impact of the case on parental rights, education, cultural identity, and the relationship between government authority and individual rights. Through thoughtful discussion and reflection, the program will examine the experiences of Japanese Americans in Hawaiʻi, while considering the broader relationship between law, democracy, and public memory.
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 United States District Court for the District of Hawai’i. The program is co-sponsored by the Federal Bar Association, Hawaii Chapter, Dentons LLP, Cades Schutte LLP, Densho, and the Japanese American Citizens League, and the Hawai’i chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
Thursday, June 18 Panel begins at 5:30pm HST Reception to follow.
Prince Kuhio Federal Building and United States Courthouse 300 Ala Moana Blvd Honolulu, HI 96850
Register Here!
Contact Georgia Johnson at georgia.johnson@njchs.org if you would like to register for tomorrow’s event.
Professor MJ Palau-MacDonald is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Hawai’i’s William S. Richardson School of Law, where she is also affiliated with the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawai’an Law. As a Native Hawai’an who grew up in the Bay Area, her scholarship focuses on empires, restorative environmental justice for Indigenous Peoples, and the intertwined legal histories of Hawai’i and the Pacific. Her published and forthcoming works can be found in the Boston University Law Reviews, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, and Western Legal History, among others.
With his family tracing their ancestral roots to the Japanese archipelago, Logan Narikawa is honored to be able to call Hawai’i his current Oceanic home. Logan holds a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. from the American Studies department at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. His research considers the relationships that have historically existed and might be obtained between settlers and Hawai’ans in Hawai’i. This sort of new father and husband is convinced that we must act with audacious courage in order to deliver a more hopeful, compassionate and healthy world to our children. Logan has taught the “Japanese in Hawaii” course at University of Hawaii and is the current President of the Japanese American Citizens League of Hawaii.
Brian Niiya is a public historian specializing in Japanese American history. Currently the content director for Densho and editor of the online Densho Encyclopedia, he has also held various positions with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai’i that have involved managing collections, curating exhibitions, and developing public programs, and producing videos, books, and websites. His writings have been published in a wide range of academic, popular, and web-based publications, and he is frequently asked to give presentations or interviews on the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
CLE Information
1 hour of Hawaii CLE is available.
100 Years Ago: Farrington v. Tokushige and Hawaiian Society in the 1920s | In-Person Registration
100 Years Ago: Farrington v. Tokushige and Hawaiian Society in the 1920s | Virtual Registration
