Louisville Law Examiner 
Volume 11, Number 3
Serving the University of Louisville School of Law Community 
Louisville, Kentucky - February, 1986 Circulation 5,400
Replaces Liebson
Dolson Named Associate Dean
by Jennifer C. Miller
Professor William F. Dolson has been
named the law school's new Associate
Dean by Dean Barbara Lewis. He will
officially begin the three-year appointment
 during the summer semester, al­though
he has already started to fami­liarize
himself with his new duties.
Professor Dolson will replace David
Leibson, who has served as Associate
Dean for the past year and a half. Dean
Leibson plans to leave for Leeds,
England on sabbatical at the end of the
semester, necessitating the new
appointment.
While both students and faculty mem­bers
can make recommendations and
nominations to the Dean's office, Dean
Lewis makes the final decision. Dolson
was one of several professors nominated
for the position.
Duties of the Associate Dean include
organizing the course and exam
schedules, working with the alumni, ad­vising
students on academic and person­al
problems, and aiding the Assistant to
the Dean, Kent Lollis, with financial aid
and scholarship programs.
Dolson said he accepted the position
because he always enjoyed working with
students, and he hopes to improve rela­tions
with the alumni.
"The law school already has a good
student/ professor relationship," said
Dolson, "but I feel that there is always
room for improvement."
Dolson said that he plans to work
with both the faculty and the student
representatives on the upcoming course
and exam schedules. In addition, he said
that his door will always be open for
both day and night students to discuss
any problems they might have. To ac­commodate
the night students, Dolson
plans to be in his office at least one night
a week. '
Dolson has also expressed a great deal
of enthusiasm about his new appoint­ment,
saying he enjoys taking on new
tasks and getting involved. He joined
the faculty in 1959, and his teaching is
centered in the areas of property law and
labor relations law.
In addition to being a member of the
Louisville Bar Association and the
American Bar Association (ABA), Dol­son
has served as public co-chairman of
the ABA Committee on Labor Arbitra­tion.
He helped establish the Labor and
Employment Law Institute in 1984, and
has served as its chairman for the past
two years . ln the past, Dolson served as
faculty advisor to the Student Bar
Association.
William F. Dolson Photo by Nancy Morgan
Benefit Dance
A benefit dance w_ill be held on Fri­day,
March 14, to help defray some of
the costs incurred by Professor Richard
H. Nowka because of the liver trans­plant
undergone by his infant daughter.
The dance will be held at the Ameri­can
Legion Highland Post, 2919 Bards­town
Road. Music will be provided by
The Mystics. The cost is $10.00 per per­son,
which includes beer and set-ups.
Tickets will be available at the door.
Britney Nowka was born on February
27, 1985, suffering from biliary atresia,
a congenital liver defect. After several
operations in Louisville failed to remedy
her situation, doctors concluded that a
transplant might be Britney's only hope.
The transplant was performed on
January 22, 1986, at The University of
Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Britney is still hospitalized in Nebraska.
According to Professor Nowka, the
doctors project a 2-3 month hospital
stay. In addition, she will have to spend
some time close to the Med Center as an
out patient. Nowka said she is doing fine
now, although some days are better than
others.
City Prohibits Membership In ''Hate · Groups''
by Bill Wilson
Last December, the Louisville Board
of Aldermen passed an ordinance which
prohibited all city employees from " par­ticipation
in and promotion of racist or
hate organizations with illegal objec­tives."
This action was taken amidst the
controversy which surrounded the dis­missal
of Officer Alex Young of the Jef­ferson
County Police.
Young, a high-ranking Ku Klux Klan
member, had violated a number of de­partment
regulations, including the dis­tribution
of Klan literature within the
police station and the use of police com­puters
for activities other than official
business.
The Young situation resembles the re­cent
Florida case of McMullen v. Car­son,
754 F. 2d 936 (i lth Cir. 1985).
Robert C. McMullen was hired as a
clerk by the Jacksonville Police Depart­ment.
During a news conference, called
by the Klan to disclaim responsibility for
a racially motivated "cross burning" in­cident,
McMullen identified himself as
being a member of and a recruiter for
the organization. He was subsequently
fired and brought an action in federal
court.
The II th Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld McMullen's dismissal. The court
stated that the problem in any case was
to " arrive at a balance" between the
rights of a private citizen to associate
freely and the duty of a public agency
to efficiently perform its duties.
The Jacksonville sheriff was found to
have had no alternative to dismissal,
which would have maintained the inte­grity
of the department and McMullen's
right of free speech and association.
The court also determined that mem­bers
of law enforcement agencies were
subject to greater First Amendment re­straints
than other citizens. The greater
restraints were due to a reliance by such
agencies on public esteem and opinion
in order to efficiently perform their
duties.
Professor Robert Stenger of the U of
L School of Law agrees. "I think there
are very strong arguments for the police.
If you believe the police are against your
race, you are not going to have rriuch
confidence in the police," he said. Sten­ger
added that the First Amendment
does not give an employee the right to
undermine .the effe~tiveness of an
agency.
The Louisville ordinance and a simi­lar
one passed by the eastern Jefferson
County city of Jeffersontown join ac­tions
by other cities across the nation.
These ordinances have been. primarily
focused on restricting Ku Klux Klan in­fluence
within !peal law enforcement
agencies.
The Louisville ordinance applies to all
city employees. Christie Gronefeld, an
attorney with the city of Louisville Law
Department, stated everyone is specifi-·
cally covered, except those employed by
(continued on page 7)
LQuisville Law Examiner February, 1986
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...:.,__ _L_ O____ u-is-vi-ne-. L- .a-w-- ;_Ex_a_m-in_e--r. - - ....., __ ., PJ·acemen-t Of(jc~ S.uggests
EDITORIAL BOARD
Joel D. , Zakem
.Edhor-in~Chief
Nancy Morgan
Photography Editor
Tom Jtansdell
J. B. Phillips
Associate Editors
Jennifer C Miller
STAFF
Benjamin Johnson
Managing Editor
Rebecca Ward
Br;:mdeis Brief Editor
Winnie McConnell
Night. Associ~te Editor
Bill Wilson
W. Timothy Price
Jane Moore Waldrop
Professor LAURENCE W. KNOWLES, Consultant
The Louisville Law Examiner is published six times during the acade~ic
year in the interest ~f the University of Louisville School of Law commumty.
Articles are invited from faculty members, students, and members of the
bar who wish to do freelance work. Any proposed article should be cleared
with the Editor as to. topic and length.
Address all communications to The Louisville Law Examiner, School of
Law, University of Louisville, · Louisville, Kentucky 40292. Phone: (502)
588-6398.
Progressive League Receives
.. T.holnas HQgan A ward .
by Winnie McConnell board. "Therefore, with this purpose in
mind , we believe the first award to. the,s,e
Thomas Hogan, one of the state's students was especially appropnate.
leading civil rights' attorneys and a 1969 In addition, the Foundation presented
graduate of the University of Louisvil_le a series of books on civil rights and civil
School of Law, died at the age of 40 m liberties to the U of L law school. Books
September, 1984, ~f cancer. .. . will. be donated to the school each year,
However, his commitment to ClVIl said Benson.
rights continues to live on through the Hogan began his civil. rights activism
Thomas Hogan Memorial Foundation , while a student at the U of L School of
established by Hogan's close friends and Law. Shortly after his graduation,
colleagues who believed. his death left a Hogan established his career as a civil
void in Louisville's civil rights com)llu- rights attorney when he filed suit on be-nity.
The purpose of the Foundation is half of a black serviceman who was de-to
raise money fo'r an annual cash award nied entry to a country club because of
to be presented in Hogan's hono_r. his race . Hogan won an app_ellate court
Money raised b~ t~e F?.~ndatio~ w11I · ·, d~cisi_on ir: that. case, ~p~~Jdm_g t_he ~o~­also
be used to f~rfd.:pro-Jects consistent ., st1tutionahty-of the state s antl-dtscnml-with
Hogan's philo'sophy and work in nation statutes. .
the civil rights arena . Hogan is mostly known f~r bemg: o~e
During a recent ceremony at the U of of several attorneys who ftled su1t m
L Law School, the Foundation pre- 1971 seeking to desegregate J~fferso~
sented its first aw~rd to the U of L Pro- County schools. After four _years o~ h-gressive
Students 'League for its efforts tigation, the court issued a des~gregau?n
to get the university to divest itself of order, bringing about the busmg-for-m-
South Africa-related stocks due to that tegration plan in Jefferson County Pub-country's
apartheid policy. Through the lie Schools.
group 's anti-apartheid work, directors Several ·years later, Kogan repre-of
the U of L Foundation, which deals sented an anti-busing group that was de-with
investments, voted in October nied a city permit to conduct a protest
1985 to sell all the university's stock march on Derby Day. Hogan, who lost
withi'n the next two years in companies the case, said he took this case because
which do business in South Africa. anti-busing organizations also have con-
" The purpose of this annual award is stitutional rights. .
to recognize an individual or orgamza- Anyone wishing to co_ntnbute to ~he
tion's involvement in civil liberties and Thomas. Hogan Memonal FoundatiOn
to encourage young people to take part may send their donations to 809 South
in civil rights works." said Bob Benson, Fourth . Street, Louisville, Kentucky
a member of the Hogan Foundation 40203.
1·nter-yiewi~g ·Hints
by Phyllis Leibson
Placement Director
As mid-term approaches, many stu­dents
seeking summer and permanent
jobs are inquirying about the interview­ing
process. Interviews vary greatly from
employer to employer and among inter­viewers
as well. It is wise to be aware
that there are differences; therefore, one
can be prepared for anything.
. There are numerous resources in the
Placement Resource Library to assist the
student who has never had a "real' ' job
before, as well as the employed indivi­dual
who is seeking a change. In addi­tion
to several books and articles on the
subject, there is a handout of typical
questions. For additional information,
please stop in at the Placement Office.
Following is a list of questions com­monly
utilized by recruiters during the
interview process. Don't attempt to
memorize prepared r~sponses to these
questions. Rather, spend some time re­flecting
on the extent to which the issues
interface with your particular back­ground
and interests, and how you.
might respond in general fashion. These
questions were prepared by Dennis Hop­wood,
former Placement Director-at the
Northwestern School of Law, Lewis &
Clark College, Portland, Oregon.
What are your short-range objectives?
What are your long-range objectives?
What do you look for in a job?
Why are you leaving your present
positio_n1
What can.you do for us that someone
else cannot do?
Why should we hire you?
What do you know about the field
of ?
Can you work under pressure,
deadlines? .
What is your philosophy of · ?
Do you prefer staff or line work?
Why? . .
What kind of salary are you worth?
What are your five greatest acconi. ~
plishments in: your present or last job?
Your career?
What is your greatest strength? Your
gre'atest weakness?
How long would it take you to make
a substantial contribution to the firm?
.., . How long would you stay with us? .
· How do you feel about travel for
business purposes?
If you could start again, what would
you do differently?
What new goals or objectives have
you established recently?
How have you changed the nature of
your current job?
What position do you expect to have
in five years?
Why haven't you obtained a job so
far?
What features of your previous jobs
have you disliked?
W auld you describe a few situations
in which your work was criticized?
Would you object to working for a
woman?
How would you evaluate your present
firm?
Do you generally ~peak to people be­fore
they speak t9 you? ·
How would you describe the essence
of success?
What was the last book you read?
Movie you saw?
In your present position, what prob­lems
have you identified that had pre­viously
been overlooked?
What interests you most about the
position we have open? The least?
Don't you feel you might be ~etter off
in ~ different size company? Different
type firm?
Why aren't you earning more at your
age?
Will you be out to take your boss's
job?
Are you creative? Give an example.
Are you analytical? Give an example.
Are you a good manager? Give an
example.
Are you a leader? Give an example.
How would you describe your own
personality?
Have you helped reduce costs in your
present firm? How? . .
What do you think of your current
boss? ..
What do your subordinates· think of
you? '
Have you fired people befor.~?
Have you hired people before? What
do you look for in an applicant?
Why do you want to work for us?
If you had your choice of jobs and
firms, where would you go? .
What other types of jobs are you col_l­sidetirrg?
What ·firmS'? _,_ ~ · · ...
· Why do you feel you' have top man­agement
potential?
Tell us all about yourself.
Why did you choose thi~ pa.rticular
field of work? . · ~
What do you know about our firm?
What special kinp of work ~nterests
you? · · ·
What do you perceive to be--the dis-advantages
of this field? - .
Are you interested in research?
Why do you want to switch career
fields? . _
How much money do you hope to
earn at 30? At 40? _
Dq you prefer working with others or
by yourself? · · ·
~an you take instructions and criti­cism
without feeling upset? -
. Wqat have you learned fr,om ~001e of
the jobs you have held? ·
, How did your previous -employers
treat you?
Do you like routine work?
-. Do you like ·regular hours?
D~ you demand attention from your
associates and superiors?
Are you eager to please?
. 'Nhy types of people seem to rub you
in._the. wrong way?
What are your own special abilities?
What position in our fit;m .. 9o you
want to w'ork toward? .
·How do you feel about odd hours?
Overtime?
What have you done which shows ini­tiative
and. willingness to work? ·
February, 1986 . Louisville Law E~~_f!l(~er 3
Transfer Student Compares And .. Contrasts
UniversitY Of ·Kentucky, University of Louisville
~em ester, but most people stick with it · Attrition· rate ·among·students: I don't
by Jayne Moore Waldrop
Oli, 'the joy's of being a visiting stu­dent.
Not knowing where the bathrooms
are. Not knowing which professors to
take. Not knowing where theo-1-ele­phon~
s. or worse yet, the soft dfink ma­chines
are located.
It's like being a first-year law student
again. Isn't once enough in any poor
soul's life?
After completing my first two years
of law school at the University of Ken­tucky,
I moved to Louisville in August
with my husband, who is a first-year as­sociate
with a law firm here. Rather than
spend ·my last year at UK and spend
every wet;kend commuting betwet:J.l.Lex­ington
and Louisville, I decided it would
be much more sane to just transfer to
the University of Louisville. Both my
husb.and and I wantec;I to make .L.ouis­ville
our hor:ne, so why not 'get started
a little earlier ilian originally planned?
Because of a reciprocal agreement be­tween
the two law schools, a transfer
can be accomplished with relative· ease.
If a sfudent ne-eds to relocate for one of -
his or her thr.ee y.ea.rs, .the student-is put
on transient status· and is allowed to en­roll
at the new school ~ithout the regu­lar
admissions process. The grade point
average at the original school is frozen,
and only tqe credit hours transfer back.
The college at which the student first
enrolled and/ or the one at which the stu­dent
completed two years is' the school
which grants the degree. In my case, I'll
take my last final here on May 9 and
graduate from UK on May 10_ .
If a student must transfer after only
Letters To
The ·Editor
I appreciate the fact that your repor­ter,
Winnie McConnell, wrote (in the
Novemb.er issue) about sex discrimina­tion
in the legal profession. However,
either Ms. McConnell misunderstood
me or her story was edited in such a way
as to misinterpret my comments.
I could not have said that sex discri­mination
is "nearly over." I did say_ that
today it is often less overt. As a posi­tive
illustration, which Ms. McConpell
did use, I cited the increased numbers
of women in the profession, As negative
illustrations, I noted certain blatant ex­periences
I have had which I do not be­lieve
would be tolerated today: For ex­ample,
judges calling me "little lady,"
attorneys referring to me as "chick" and
"girl" in the courtroom, and "stag"
ev~nts sponsored by professional organ­izations.
However, elimination of these
overt practices does not guarantee the
elimination of sex discrimination. Dis­crimination
takes many forms and legal
protections alone will not end · its
pervasiveness.
Dr. Donna T. MortonStout
Minister /Director
Wesley Foundation
Ecumenical Center
University of Louisville
one year, he or she must go through the
formal admissions process, be accepted
under the standards set by the second
school, and receive a degree from the
new school.
There's only one hitch. Although the
grade point average of a transient stu- •
dent is n·ot affected by any grades re­ceived
at the new School, one must' not
make any grades lower than a C. Other­wise,
the credits do not transfer and you
get nothing for a semester's work in that
class. ·
The program is really beneficial for
people like myself, who for personal or
family reasons need to relocate. One fel-·
low of my classmates at UK, Mark
Reed, is also here this year. ·His wife
teaches school in Louisville, and they
spent last year commuting. It' was a
tough year, Mark reported, so we'both
decided to become transients.
As one might suspect, the question
most often asked is, "How d·o U of L
and UK compare?" It was a difficult
question to answer at 'first, but wit!l one
semester under my belt and another· un-·
derway, I have made these observations.
· Curriculum: The most noticeable dif-·
ference is the manner in which bar
courses are taught. A first-year UK stu-.
dent has only one semester of contracts,
torts, constitutional law and property.
Only civil procedure is continued into
the spring semester of the first year.
Torts, contracts and property are all
four-hour, one-semester, classes. In ad­dition,
criminal law and sales are re­quired
courses for the first year. If a
second- or third-year student wants to
study more in the torts or con law areas,
he or she 'can opt to take either as an
elective.
Basic tax is offered in one four-hour
class. Sec ned transactions and
negotiable instruments are combined in
one four-hour class. Instead of two
three-hour classes in decedent's estates,
UK offers one four-hour class called
trusts and estates.
In scheduling classes, most second­year
students at UK choose what is
known as the "Blue Plate Special." This
traditional line-up makes for a killer
so they can have a better elective know what the actua1 percentages are at
schedule during the third year. For fall, both schools, but my impression from
it includes secured transactions and ne- the rumor mill- is that it has been quite
gotiable instruments (collectively called high here. It is a major concern to many
UCC II), tax, trusts and estates (each students here, and seems to be a lead-four
hours) and Con Law II. This is in ing cause of -fea/:and low morale .. In
addition to writing a comment if you're contrast, only ~bout five of 150 students
on law journal or a brief plus oral argu- did not return for out second year' and
ments if you're trying out for moot I'm not sure their absence was due to
court. grades in every instance.
The classes themselves are quite com- Night school: The availability of night
parable. At any school, there are a few classes at U of Lis ahother difference.
great professors and a few not-so-great'- Of course, there are no night classes of-ones.
There are tough graders .and fair ~ ,, fered.a.t UK and no four-year program .
graders. Speaking of grades, this brings . It certainly provides more options for
me to my next observation, ~tudents, especialJyppperclass studems
The "8 Curve" and oth~r 'm'yths who want and/ or· need to work.
about UK: Yes, Virginia, there really is Exams: A major source of complaints
a C curve at the University of Kentucky at UK is the length of time it takes to
Colle~e of Law, _re$ardless of what . . get grades after exams .. For the fall sem-you're
heard. This has been one of the ester, grades aren't available until al-questions
I am rpost often asked about. most February. For the spring, it 's
Truly,the professors at UK do not stand usually mid-June.
in line waiting to put A's and B's on '· ·However, for the P<;lSt few semesters,
your transcript. The grading is very . the professors . have posted grades ac-
Comparable at the two scb:ools., # .. • .cording to exam numbers. This speeds ~
, Atte~dance policy: l;.her~ Is a major . 'up the proces.s a _gr~at deal, but it's still
difference here. U of Lis so much stric- - not as prompt as here.
ter on attendance. I never had a profes- Part of the problem, though, is that
sor at UK to take roll or pass around a professors and students at UK have
sign-in sheet. I know they keep up with much more freedom in scheduling ex-attendance,
·but It 'Is 'on more . of an - ariis: ihere are no formal make-up days .
honor system. or an absolute 24-hour rule governing
As a student in a pr6fessional school, cvanges i~ . ¢e exam schedule. It's all
we. h·av~. a responsibility to atterld class- ; between the _student and the professer,
es. I think it is unfortunate that it has and again, it's more of an 'honor sys~em
to be this way; becaus~,of the strictness . than absolute rules.
of the system, the few teachers·who are ·; ' . -Mobility during 'exams: Students at
more liberal in their roll-calling seem to UK are not given choices on where they
be taken advantage of. take exams. The tests are given in two
Classroom participation and prepara- rooms - smoking and non-smoking -
tion: In this area, U of L has an edge. whiCh ·are reserved in advance. Going
I think the students are more competi- intathe library is a no-no at any time
tive in class discussions and generally during the exam.
better prepared. There is an unwritten With all of the competition between
rule at UK: Every student can pass b.y the universities, and all the talk of which
saying, "I'm sorry, I'm not prepared to- is the better institution, I'm really glad
day" when called upon to recite a case. I've been able to experience both. They
Each student unofficially gets one pass are both excellent ·schools which are pro-in
each class. Some professors may viding sound educations for both in-scowl,
but most take it in stride___: once. state and out-of-state students at afford­able
tuition rates. I hope both develop
even stronger regional names.
Journal To Host National Conference
by Tom Ransdell
The University of Louisville's Jour­nal
of Family Law will host the Thirty­Second
Annual National Conference of
Law Reviews in Louisville on March
20-23.
The National Conference of Law Re­views
was established in 1955 by the
Harvard Law Review. Its purpose is to
provide a forum where out-going law re­view
editors share their experience with
in-coming editors, insuring the contin­uing
quality of the member law reviews.
This year, approximately 175 editors
from 130 law reviews are expected to at­tend
the conference which will be held
at the Brown Hotel. The editors repre­sent
law reviews from across the United
States and Canada.
Keynote speakers will include Judge
James Carrigan of the United States
District Court of Colorado; Peter Perl­man,
President of the Association of
Trial Lawyers of America; Chief Justice
Robert Stephens of the Kentucky Su­preme
Court; and David Pike, Manag­ing
Editor of the National Law Journal.
Panel members and seminar leaders
will include Dean Barbara Lewis; Dean
Henry Stephens of Chase Law School;
Dean Thomas Lewis of the U.K. Law
School; Professor Stephen Carter of
Yale; Gertrude Block of the University
of Florida, Stan Chauvin of Barnett &
Alagia, and former five-term U.S. Con­gressman
Elliott Levit as of Kilpatrick &
Cody.
Jessica Schumacher, Editor-in-Chief
of the Journal of Family Law, said,
"We are both pleased and honored to
host the Conference because law reviews
· from across the country actively seek
this ,opportunity. It is particularly nice
to be the host this year as it coincides
with our twenty-fifth year of publica­tion."
Letters to the Law Examiner are
encouraged. If possible, letters
should be typed, double-spaced, and
limited to 3{)() words. Longer letters
will be considered, but the Law Ex­aminer
reserves the right to edit any
letters submitted for publication.
· Letters must contain a complete
name and address, as well as the
author's phone number (address will
not be published, if requested).
4 Louisville Law Examiner Febraa11:
·>r*f:&?.£ / . ~
Photo by Nancy Morgan
Kathleen S. Bean is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Louisville.
This article was written before the decision of the United States Supreme Court
not to reconsiderthe Indianapolis Antipornography Ordinance.
by Kathleen S. Bean
The Seventh Circuit, in August of
1985, found the Indianapolis antiporno­graphy
ordinance, similar to the Model
Antipornography Law' drafted by
Andrea Dworkin2 and Catherine
MacKinnon, 3 to be unconstitutional.
American Booksellers Ass'n, Inc. v.
Hudnut, 771 F.2d 323 (7th Cir. 1985).
The distance between the orientation of
the authors of the Model Law and the
orientation of the court which struck
down the Indianapolis ordinance pro­hibiting
pornography is a long one. Ba­sically,
the authors of the Model Law
speak of sex discrimination and subor­dination
of women. The courts and the
opponents speak of the constitutio~al
right of freedom of speech. .
My task, in this short essay, is not to
say who should travel the distance
between the two. On the other hand,
neither do I propose to give a balanced
presentation of the different views of the
authors and the opponents of the Model
Law.
For the record, the Model Law bas
been criticized as unjustifiable and un­justified
regulation of content of speech,
prior restraint of speech, overbroad and
vague. See Gershel, Evaluating a Pro­posed
Civil Rights Approach to Porno­graphy:
Legal Analysis as if Women
Mattered, 11 WM. MITCHELL L.
REV. 41,73 & 75 (1985) for a constitu­tional
analysis discussing overbreadth,
vagueness and unjustifiable regulation
of speech. See ali;o American Booksel­lers
Ass'n, Inc. v. Hudnut, 598 F: Supp.
1316 (S.D. Ind. 1984), aff'd, 771 F.2d
323 (7th Cir. 1985).
Whether these cnttctsms are
well-founded is beside the point of my
essay. I choose to use this forum to pre­sent
the Model Law authors' theory of
pronography. Their perspective provides
an explanation of the Model Law and
additionally provides an explanation for
the seemingly incongruous position of
feminists (usually aligned with the poli-tical
left or liberals) who appear to be
consorting with the likes of the Moral
Majority, the Eagle Forum, and the Na­tional
Federation for Decency, tradi­tionally
right-wing moralists. Blakely, Is
One Woman's Sexuality Another
Woman's Pornography?, MS., April
1985, at 47.
First of all, the authors of the Model
Law speak a language which originates
from a woman-centered perspective.
Thus, to understand what the authors
say, one must understand that the lan­guage
they speak is not the language
their opponents speak. In the field of
pornography, for example, the oppo­nents
of the Model Law speak the lan­guage
of obscenity. The language of ob­scenity
is a moral measurement. If por­nographic
material is "obscene" it is not
protected by the first amendment. Mil­lei
v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973),
provides the basic guidelines for the
courts ' determination of what is
obscene:
(a)Jf!hether the average person, apply- .
ing contemporary community stan­dards,
would find that the work, taken
as a whole, appeals to the prurient
interests ... ;
(b) whether the work depicts or des­cribes,
in a patently offensive way, sex­ual
conduce specifically defined by ap­plicable
state law; and
(c) whether the work, taken as a
whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, po­litical,
or scientific value. Miller at 24
(citations omitted). What is important
to note about the Miller definition of
obscenity and the . text of the Miller
opinion is that the definition and the
orientation of the Court as a whole con­cerns
itself with material that has to do
with sex and sexual acts and depictions
of sex and sexual acts. This is explicit
and implicit throughout the Court's
opinion. Because sex and sexual conduct
and its depiction or description is at the
base of obscenity, the arguments con­cerning
regulation of "obscene" mate­rials
center around what is obscene -
Brandeis Brief: Feminist~
that is, what sexual "conduct" is per­missible
to publish and what is not.
Thus, the opponents of the Model Law
speak in a language that views porno­graphy
as material which concerns sex,
and the issue is whether the material ls
"obscene." Hoffman, Feminism, Por­nography
and Law, ·133 U. PA. L.
REV. 497, 504-10 (1985).
The Model Law does not deal with sex
or obscenity. It establishes its own lan­guage
and its own orientation and dis­claims
any association with morality.
MacKinnon, Not a Moral Issue, 2
YALE L. & POL. REV. 321, 322-23
(1984). The Model Law speaks alan­guage
of "pornography" - not ob­scenity
- .and specifically defines por­nography
as "the graphic sexually ex­plicit
subordination of women through
pictures and/or words that also includes
one or more of the following:''
(i) women are prc:;sented dehumanized
as sexual objects, things, or commodi­ties;
or
(ii) women are presented as sexual ob­jects
who enjoy pain or humiliation; or
(iii) women are presented as sexual
objects who experience sexual pleasure
in being raped; or
(iv) women are presented as sexual
objects tied up or cut up or mutilated
or bruised or physically hurt; or
(v) women are presented in postures
or positions of sexual submission, ser­vility,
or display; or
(vi) women's body parts - including,
but not limited to, vaginas, breasts, or
buttocks - are exhibited such that
women are reduced to those parts; or
(viii) womert are presented being pene­trated
by objects or animals; or
(ix) women are presented in scenarios
of degradation, injury, torture, shown
as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised,
or hurt in a context that makes these
conditions sexual. Model Antipornogra­phy
Law, reprinted in Blakely, supra, at
46.
"Women" is used as a generic term
- that is if men, children or transsex­uals
are used in place of women, the pic­tures
or words may still constitute por­nography.
To constitute pornography
under the Model Law, the material must
be sexually graphic and explicit, must
subordinate women and be in one of the
above nine categories. The Model Law
regulates pornography by various
methods; very generally it prohibits it,
with a civil cause of action provided for
aggrieved persons as the enforcement
.mechanism.
While the Dworkin-MacKinnon defi­nition
includes as an element of porno­graphy
sexually explicit depictions or
words, their pornography is not about
sex or morality, but about power and
equality, which is the woman-centered
perspective of pornography. By con­trast,
Miller makes no reference to issues
of power or equality when analyzing the
· issue of pornography and obscenity. To
the authors of the Model Law, sex is
relevant only because pornography is
the politicalization of sex. Indeed, it is
the politicalization of sex and sexuality
which .makes pornography an issue to
the feminists who are proponents of the
Model Law.
The authors' pos1t10n is that this
woman-centered perspective is one -
which has been silenced by the male-su­premacy
hierarchy of our culture and si­lenced
to the extent that we are unaware
of what we do not see, or for a more ac­curate
metaphor, of the silence we do
not hear. Dworkin, Silence Means Dis­sent,
i-Iealthsharing, Summer 1984, at
23-25. Before we will hear this silence,
we must become conscious of the inclu­sively
pervasive effects of the male-do­minated
cultural perspective. More sim­ply
put, although deceptively so, we
need to take off our male-perspective
glasses and view things, i.e., pornogra­phy,
with a perspective which recognizes
the validity of female experience. H.
EISENSTEIN, CONTEMPORARY
FEMINIST THOUGHT 35-41 (G. K.
Hall & Co., 1983). See Hoffman, supra,
at 512 arid 512 n. 87 & 88. Viewing por­nography
with a woman-centered per­spective
(which takes some practice) will
reveal pornography to be a political
statement not seen before the
woman-centered perspective was used.
Two examples will help clarify this
and provide some practice. MacKinnon
uses Justice Stewart's now infamous
statement concerning obscenity: "I
know it when I see it." Jacobellis v.
Ohio, 378 U.S. 184, 197 (1964)(Stewart,
J:, concurring). Justice Stewart's state­ment
is a quite literal description of the
male perspective. When ·he sees ob­scenity,
he defines what he sees as ob­scenity
and thus it is obscenity. It is the
quintessential male perspective. He sees
through male glasses and by seeing ob­scenity
he creates obscenity; he makes
it obscenity by saying it is so. MacKin­non,
supra, at 325. Justice Stewart's
personal perspective is a political per­spective
because the male personal do­minates
in our culture and thus defines
the political. And what Justice Stewart
sees, of course, is a depiction or descrip­tion
of sex and sexual conduct which he
may or may not consider so immoral
that it is obscene. He does not see
power, inequality or politics when he
views the material in question.
Feminist Sheila Rowbotham relates a
personal story which again demonstrates
the difference of seeing through men's
eyes o.r women's eyes:
The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour
appeared on television. A group of peo­ple,
including the Beatles, go on a coach
trip ... Then at one point all the boys
on the bus are separated from the girls.
You follow the boys in the film ... and
where should they go, but into a strip­tease.
I ... caught myself going to watch
another woman as if I were a man. I was
experiencing the situation of another
woman stripping through men's eyes. I
. was being asked to desire myself by a
film made by men. Catching myself ob­serving
myself desiring one of my selves
I remained poised for an instant in two
halves ... I could see through their eyes,
but I could feel with her body. I was a
man's woman. I had thus contributed
towards making an object of myself and
other women. I was partly responsible
for our degradation.
ry, 1986 Louisville Law Examiner 5
s Formulate Model ntipornography Law
S. ROWBOTHAM, WOMAN'S
CONSCIOUSNESS, MAN'S WORLD
40-41 (Penguin 1981).
To speak the language of the propo­nents
of the Model Law, we must recog­nize
the female personal perspective of
pornography, which is not one of ob­scenity
and sex, but one of subordina­tion
of women by men and male power
and female powerlessness. Additional­ly,
we must accord political validity to
this personal perspective. Until it is
recognized as valid, it remains silent; so
long as it is silent, it cannot be.
MacKinnon says it best: "Obscenity
law is concerned with morality ... The
feminist critique of pornography is po­litics
... Morality here means good and
evil; politics means power and power­lessness.
Obscenity is a moral idea; por­nography
is a political practice. Ob­scenity
is abstract, pornography is con­crete."
MacKinnon, supra, at 322-23.
The authors of the Model Law do not
attempt to regulate pornography be­cause
it is disgusting, offensive or ob­scene.
They wish to regulate it because
it is an act of domination by men of
women. Pornography is not a place for
arguments about morality and sex; the
argument is about power and equality,
and thus the Model Law'~ regulation
and prohibition of pornography is about
the exercise of power and domination.
Again, taking from MacKinnon's work,
women are not depicted as subordinate
in pornography; they are subordinate in
pornography. Pornography is not a de­piction
of a fantasy about domination
and submissiveness or sadism and maso­chism;
pornography is domination of
women by men.
To appreciate the impact of "seeing
it makes it so" we must understand what
the authors refer to when they use the
word "subordination" in connection
with pornography. Tliis is . the specific
political statement that the authors see
or hear when they see or hear
pornography.
Because men have power over women
in the political, economic and social
hierarchies, how men see women is how
women are; how men view women de­fines
who women can be, i.e., the state­ment
of Justice Stewart is his view and
his view is what he sees. Women can be
no more than they are seen to be because
they are defined by those in power. It
is to the benefit of those in power, or
those who wish to stay in power, to de­fine
others as powerless. To be subor­dinate
is to be powerless. Thus, in por­nography,
the authors argue, what is de­fined
- not depicted, but defined - is
the female gender, and it is defined as
subordinate to male gender. Thus, por­nography
creates the subordination of
women, and the domination of men,
through the politicalization of sex.
Dworkin explains the socio-political
dynamic of subordination this way: To
subordinate, you must have a hierarchy.
Our hierarchy has men on the top and
women on the bottom. The people on
the top of the hierarchy then uses a pro­cess
of objectification to dehumanize the
people on the bottom of the hierarchy.
Having made those people objects, it
then becomes permissible to treat those
people as less than human. If someone
is on the bottom of the hierarchy and
is turned into an object, that person be­comes
submissive, and that person's be­havior
becomes submissive. "The
fourth element of subordination is vio­lence.
Whenever you see a social situa­tion
in which violence is widespread -
so widespread that in fact it's normal­ized-
then you know you already have
the other three existing elements solidly
in place." Blakely, supra, at 46. For
those not familiar with the content of to­day's
pornography, material "readily
available" in Minneapolis at the time
that city was holding hearings on an
antipornography statute drafted by
MacKinnon and Dworkin included de­pictions
of a woman being aroused by
having her genitals licked by a bear; a
woman with a full fist in her anus; and
a woman "draped in chains, ring
through· genitals, cutting self with fin­gernails.''
Baldwin, The Sexuality of In­equality:
The Minneapolis Pornography
Ordinance, 2 LAW & INEQUALITY
629, 631-32 n.ll (1984). These depic­tions
from Hustler magazine are just a
very small sampling of the type of por­nography
produced.
For those not familiar with the extent
of today's pornography, some figures
and comparisons may be helpful. While
the numbers vary, the pornography
trade is at least a multi-billion dollar in­dustry.
Gershel, supra, at 56 & 56 n.67.
The combined average circulations per
issue of Playboy and Penthouse maga­zines
for the last six months of 1982
were 8,873,397, exceeding the combined
circulations of Time and Newsweek,
which were 7,556,206 for the same
period. Hoffman, supra, at 515 n.l01,
(citing Leisure Time: Basic Analysis, 150
STANDARD AND POOR'S INDUS.
SURV. §§ 2, L22, L31 (Sept. 16, 1982).
The pornography industry is said to be
as big as the film and record industries
combined. Gershel, supra, at 56 n.67
(citing Cook, The X-Rated Economy,
FORBES, Sept. 18, 1978, at 81). "In
1980, pornographic video cassettes out­sold
other video cassettes by three to
one." Id. (citing M. Langelan, The Po­litical
Economy of Pornography,
AEGIS, Autumn 1981 at 5).
Thus, in the eyes of the authors of the
Model Law, pornography is the subor­dination
of women. Gender (femaleness
or maleness) means whatever it means.
Pornography gives meaning to the fe­male
gender, and the meaning it gives,
not depicts, is that female means sub­ordinate
to male. The authors of the
Model Law do not see pornography as
speech about sex or morality or sexual
domination or sexual submissiveness. It
is a part of a systematic male-dominated
hie·rarchy subordinating women. It is
not personal speech, but a political act
of discrimination, violating the civil
rights of women. Once the woman-per­spective
transcends the male-perspective
definition, "pornography appears as
neither perversion . nor entertainment,
but as a genre expressing threats and
hostility aimed at the maintenance of
male power over women." Hoffman,
supra, at 515. Pornography is the act,
the pain, the harm; it does not "speak"
that women are subordinate. It is
woman subordinate.
'The ModeL. Law is reprinted at the
end of this essay. While there are dif­ferences
between the Indianapolis and
the Model Law -language, the theory and
philosophy behind the laws are the
same; thus no distinctions are made in
the textual discussion.
2 Andrea Dworkin is a creator and one
of the leading exponents of the radical
feminist anlaysis of pornography. She
has authored several books, including
Woman Hating (1974), Pornography:
Men Possessing Women (1981) and
Right-Wing Women (1983). She is co­author
with Catherine A. MacKinnon of
the antipornography ordinance enacted
in Indianapolis.
3Catherine A. MacKinnon is an as­sociate
professor at the niversity of
Minnesota Law School and author of
Sexual Harassment of Working Women
(1979). MacKinnon and Dworkin were
hired as consultants by the city of Min­neapolis
to draft a pornography ordi­nance,
due to their expertise gained
through teaching a course on pornogra­phy
at the University of Minnesota.
Blakely, Is One Woman's Sexuality
Another Woman's Pornography?, Ms.,
April 1985, at 40.
*The author thanks Kathy Schell and
Paul Cammarata for their assistance in
the preparation of this essay.
Other works consulted for the pre- ·
paration of this issay include A.
DWORKIN, PORNOGRAPHY: MEN
POSSESSING WOMEN (1981); M.
FRENCH, BEYOND POWER: ON
WOMEN, MEN AND MORALS
(1985); C. GILLIGAN, IN A DIF-FERENT
VOICE (1982). .
Model Act
The following is a model civil rights Jaw drafted by Andrea
Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnon. It differs somewhat from ear­lier
verion.s originally introduced in Minneapolis and Indianapolis.
Section I. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
Pornography is sex discrimination. It exists in (PLACE], pos­ing
a substantial threat to the health, safety, peace, welfare, and
equality of citizens in the community. Existing (state and) federal
laws are inadequate to solve these problems in [PLACE).
Pornography is a systematic practice of exploitation and subor­dination
based on sex that differentially harms women. The harm
of pornography includes dehumanization, sexual exploitation, forc­ed
sex, forced prostitution, physical injury, and social and sexual
terrorism and inferiority presented as entertainment. The bigotry
and contempt i\ promotes, with the acts of aggression it fosters,
diminish opportunities for equality of rights in employmem, edu­cation,
property, public accommodations and public services; create
public and private harassment, persecution and denigration; pro­mote
injury and degradation such as rape, battery, child sexual
abuse, and prostitution and inhibit just e~forcement of laws against
these acts; contribute significantly to restricting women in parti­cu
lar from full exercise of citizenship and participation in public
life, including in neighborhoods; damage relations between the
sexes; and undermine women's equal exercise of rights to speech
and action guaranteed to all citizens under the Constitutions and
laws or the United States and (PLACE, INCLUDING STATE(.
Section 2. DEFINITIONS.
I. Pornography is the graphic sexually explicit subordination of
women through pictures and/ or words that also includes one or
more of the following: (i) women are presented dehumanized as
sexual objects, things, or commodities; or (ii) women are presented
as sexual objects who enjoy pain or humiliation; or (iii) women
arc presented as sexual objects who experience sexual pleasure in
being raped; or (iv) women are presented as sexual objects tied up
or cut up or mutilated or bruised or physically hurt; or (v) women
are presented in postures or positions of sexual submission, ser­vility,
or display; or (vi) women's body parts- including but not
limited to vaginas, breast~. or buttocks- are exhibited such that
women are reduced to those part s; or (vii) women are presented
as whores by nature; or (viii) wome·n are presented being penetra­ted
by objects or animals; or (ix) women are presented in scenarios
of degradation, injury, tortu re, shown as filthy or inferior, bleed­ing,
bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual.
2. The use of men, children , or transsexuals in the place of
women in (l) above is pornography for purposes of this law.
Section 3. UNLAWFUL PRACTICES.
I. Coercion into pornography: 1t shall be sex discrimination to
coerce, intimidate, or fraudulently induce (hereafter, ''coerce")
any person, including transsexual, into performing for pornogra­phy,
which injury may date from any appearance or sale o{ any
product(s) of such performance(s). The maker(s), seller(s), exhi­bitor(
s), and/ or distributor(s) of said pornography may be sued
for damages and for an injunction, including to eliminate the pro­duct(
s) of the performance(s) from the public view.
Proof of one or more of the following facts or conditions shall
not, without more, negate a finding of coercion : (i) that the per­son
is a woman; or (ii) that the person is or has been a prostitute;
or (iii) that the person has attained the age of majurity~or (iv) that
the person is connected by blood or marriage to anyone involved
in or related to the making of the pornography; or (v} that the
person has previously had, or been thought to have had, sexual
relations with anyone, including anyone in volved in or related to
· the making of the pornography; or (vi) that the person has pre­viously
posed for sexually explicit pictures with or for anyone, in­cluding
anyone involved in or related to the making of the porno­graphy
at issue; or (vii) that anyone else, including a spouse or
other relative, has given permission on the person's behalf; or (vii i)
that the person actually consented to a use of the performance that
is changed into pornography; or (ix) that the person knew that the
purpose of the acts or events in question was to make pornogra­phy;
or (x) that the person showed no resistance or appeared lO
cooperate adively in the photographic sessions or in the events that
produced the pornography; or i.(i) that the person signed a con­tract,
or made statement-; affirming a willingness to cooperate in
the production of pornography; or (xii) that no physical force,
threats, or weapons were used in the making of the pornography;
or (xiii) that the person was paid or otherwise compensated.
2. Trafficking in pornography: It shall be sex discrimination to
produce, sell, exhibit, or distribute pornography, including through
private clubs.
·(i) City, state, and federally funded public libraries or private
and public university and college libraries in which pornography
is available for study, including on open shelves but excluding spe­cial
display presentations, shall not be construed to be trafficking
in pornography.
(ii) Isolated passages or isolated parts shall not be actionable
under this section.
(iii) Any woman .has a claim hereunder,.as a woman acting against
the subordination of women. Any man, child, or transsexual who
alleges injury by pornography in the way women are injured by
it also has a claim.
3. Forcins pornography on a person: Jt shall be sex discrimina­tion
to force pornography on a person, including child or trans­sexual,
in any place of employment, education, home, or public
place. Only the perpetrator of the force or responsible institution
may be sued.
4. Assault or physical auack due 10 pornography: It shall be sex
discrimination to assault, physically attack, or injure any person ,
including child or transsexual, in a way that is directly caused by
specific pornography. The perpetrator of the assault or attack may
be sued for damages and enjoined where appropriate. The
maker(s), di stributor(s), seller(s), and/or exhibitor(s) may also be
sued for damages and for an injunction against the specific porno­graphy's
further exhibition, distribution, or sale.
Section 4. DEFENSES.
I. h shall not be a defense that the defendant in an actiOn un­der
ihis law did not know or intend that the materials were porno­graphy
or sex discrimination.
2. No damages or compensation for losses shall be recoverable
under Sec. 3(2) or other than against the perpetrator of the assault
or attack in Sec. 3(4) unless the defendant knew or had reason to
know that the materials were pornography.
3. In actions under Sec. 3(2) or other than against the perpetra­tor
of the assault or attack in Sec. 3(4), no damages or compensa­tion
for losses shall be recoverable against maker(s) for pornogra­phy
made, against distributor(s) for pornography distributed ,
against se ller(s) for pornography sold, or against exhibitor(s) for
pornography exhibited, prior to the effective date of this law.
Section 5. ENFORCEMENT'.
1. Civil action: Any person aggrieved by violations of this law
may enforce its provisions by means of a civil action. No criminal
penalties s.hall attach for any violation of the provisions of this
law . Relief for violation of this act may include reasonable attor­ney's
fees.
2. Injunction: Any person who violates this law may be enjoin­ed
except that:
(i) In actions under Sec. 3(2), and other than against the perpe­trator
of the assault or attack under Sec. 3(4), no temporary or
permanent injunction shall issue prior to a final judicial determi­nation
that the challenged activities constitute a violation of this
law.
(ii) No temporary or permanent injunction shall extend beyond
such marerial(s) that, having been described with reasonable speci­ficity
by the injunction , have been determined to be va lidly pro­scribed
under this law.
Section 6. SEVERABILITY.
Should any part(s) of this law be found legally invalid, the re­maining
part(s) remains valid.' A judicial declaration that any part(s)
of this law .cannot be applied validly in a particular manrier or to
a particular case or category of cases shall not affect the validity
of that part(s) as otherwise applied , unless such other application
would clearly Frustrate the (LEGISLATIVE BODY'S! intent in
adopting this law.
Section 7. LIMITATION OF ACTION.
Actions under this law must be filed within one year of the al­leged
dis..:riminatory acts.
•In the event that this law is amended to a preexisting human
rights law, the complaint would first be made to a Civil Rights
Commission. Any injunction issued under Sec. 3(2), the traffick ­ing
provision, would require trial de novo (a full court trial after
the administrative hearing).
(From MS. Magazine. April 1985).
I
Louisville Law Examiner
~ . 6
Mandatory_ Retirement
February,, 1986
Professor William E. Biggs To Step Down In May
by J. B. Phillips . I persuaded them that I had even greater
aptitude in the law."
This spring, the law school will mark While in the service, the professor
the loss of one of its most distinguished spent the first half of the war in a medi-instructors.
Professor William E. Biggs cal training center in Texas. He subse-will
be retiring following an enviable quently went through Officer's Candi-career
of service to both the University date School, and was stationed in San
and the community. He will be compell- Francisco as a medical administration
ed to retire under state law, having turn- officer. · '"
ed 70 in December, although his appear- Following -the war, he went back to
ance and demeanor belie his age. his old law firm in late 1945, where he
Professor Biggs has _spent much of his stayeq until the summer of 1948. By that
life around the University of Louisville. time, he had decided that he wanted to
He earned a B.A. degree in Pre- go into teaching. When asked what
Law/ Political Scfence from U of L in prompted this decision, he stated, "It is
1938, and graduated with a J.D. in 1940. hard to remember." He had, however,
Upon graduation, he was employed at done a good bit of teaching while. in the
Davis, Boehl, Vispr, and Marcus. The lervice, and decided that he liked it.
successor to this· firm is· now knowll as ;."-, · After leaving ~tlie ·practice of-law in
Boehl, Stopher, . . Graves, and i948,J3iggs ret1,1rned to lPof Land earn-
Deindorfer. ,. . ' -~ ed ~Master's d~ree in Political Science.
Biggs was drafted 'the following year;.. He--went to Ofiio State in 1950-51 to
and served his country for four and one- complete his course work for a Ph.D.
half years in the arm.i.medicai depart- He completed his dissertation on
ment. The Professor reflected, "Luc- Worker's Compensation in 1956, com-kily,
the law backgr-ound was enough to posing it during summers of 1951-56.
get me into clerk , school,. .. they almost The professor landed his first full-sent
me to the motor pool; apparently time teaching job at the,. University of
I have a good meoharucafaptitude, but Maryland, where he taught for one sem"
• <~;,.: {_ ester b.e. fore getting..a.. ,better offer'(rom ~
William E. Biggs
American University in Washington,
D.C. There, he worked with ~ special
program called the "Washington Sem­esler
.''~ .
Photo by Nancy Morgan
----. " · -The· Washington Semester was a 'co­When
asked what he planned to do
upon retirement,. Professor Biggs jok­ingly
replied, "Anything I want to."
However, in a more serious vein, he
went on to say that he plans to serve as
a visiting professor at Southwestern
Uniyersity at Los Angeles. this summer.
He qas also been in contact with two
other Jaw schools regarding part-time
teaching, although he could not be
specific. Since he has never greatly en­joyed
research aqd writing, h w d
like to experiment with half-time
teaching.
Boston University
SchoolofLaw
Tfw LL. \I. l>qrn·t· in Ban kin;! Lm, ~tudie~
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-
,;.;., . ..,.
A unique. multidisciplinary course of study
offering a singular educational opportunity
for lawyers who· wish to practice in this
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Taught by faculty of the Boston University
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program provides an exceptional blend
of intellectual and practical education at one
of the n~tloo·s foremost law schools. The
curriculum has· been meticulously designed
to prC?v1de courses covering the full range of
banking law subjects and cour~es specially
developed to introduce lawyers to the legal.
econ-omic an_d managerial aspects of the
financial Setvices Industry'
Applications are now being accepted for
full or part-time enrollment in
September 1986.
H)r a t•at~ t•t~ntainin~t tlc-tailt-tl
information ami applit•atiun funns, ~· rill':
Graduate- Pru~ram in Bankintt l..aw Stutlit-s
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Boston Uniwnih· Sc·huol of l..aw
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or call: 617/353-30'23
~ operativeprogram of about 60 colleges,
· adrniflisf~red· through American.Univer­~
sit)< Various--~olleges sent their top stu­,
dents in their junior and senior years,
and these candidates would spend a sem­ester
in Washington. Biggs was in charge
of about 3 of these students each sem­ester
for aoout five years, prior to
s.witching to full-time teaching.
"' The professor went on sabbatical in
1959, and journeyed to Dayton, Ohio,
to work with a research group that was
trying to organize a city-county merger.
He wound up staying in Dayton three
years. During this time, he did some
part-time teaching at the University.
· · 'One of the courses that he was teach­.
ing while at Dayton was "Introduction
to Law." Biggs invited then dean Mar­lin
Volz to Dayton to speak to the stu-dents,
and as a result, Biggs was asked
to teach at U of L as a visiting profes­sor
for a year, since Carl Warns would
be on leave.
That visiting professorship ripened in­to
a fill-time job in 1962, where he stay­ed
for three years. By 1965, while con­tinuing
to teach part-time as a law pro­fessor
at U of L, Biggs began to teach
political science at the newly opened
Kentucky Southern College on what is
now the Shelby Campus. This arrange­ment
lasted two years until 1967, when
he came b·ack to U of L full-time.
Since then, Professor Biggs has re­mained
at U of L, with the exception of
a sabbatical in 1976. While on leave,
Biggs went to Frankfort to work with
the legislature and the Legislative Re-
. search Commission. He considered this
good experience, since he taught muni­cipal
law and legislation. Moreover,
during this time, he also worked with
legislators from Jefferson County. Since
then, he has mostly taught Administra­tive
Law (which he first taught at Ameri-can
University in 1952), Workers' Com­pensation,
and Torts.
There-have been many changes in the
legal education process since Professor
Biggs earned his J.D. in 1940. First of
all, in 1938, the law school was located
at · Confederate Place between the jail
and the courthouse, the actual building
being an old townhouse, where Jeffer­son
Park is now: The law school was
moved to its present location the spring
of Biggs' junior year.
Back then, one could go to law school
before earning an undergraduate degree
- a student could be admitted at U of
L following two years of undergraduate
work with a "C" average. Biggs him­self
started with a "combined degree,"
which required 3 years of pre-law
courses, the freshman year of law school
counting as the fourth year on the
bachelor's degree.
The law school was small before the
seco_nd world war. Biggs started law
school with a class of 20. His class grad­uated
18- 2 had dropped out in the in­terim,
both for financial reasons. At
that time, one could sit for the Kentucky
Bar examination one year before gra­duation.
Biggs' class took the exam in
the summer of 1939; all but one person
passed.
As a result, upon graduation, all but
one of the senior class had been admit­.
ted to the Kentucky Bar. Moreover, the
person who had not passed was only re­quired
to retake one subject.
As evidence of growth. Biggs stated
that the law school faculty,_ at the time
numbered 5 instructors, and that all
(continued on page 7)
February, f986 Louisville Law Examiner .. 7
Pr.ofessor Biggs To ~etire
contributed a lot through his teaching.
People always liked him .as a teachc;r,
particularly the students. · J
Dean Barbara Lewis, Professor Biggs
has made great contributions to the leg­-
-islative process over a long period of
time, a fact which should be recognized
(continued from page 6) and commended.
classes were taught in the morning. In
addition, tuition was only $75 a
semester.
During the war, the faculty at the law
school dwindled to only 1 or 2 members,
who taught a student body of 5. The stu­dent
body was composed of "women
and W-s," said Biggs.
Apparently, the low numbers before
the war were a result of the fact that
money was scarce. Biggs believes that
this is the reason that there are now so
few attorneys above the age of 65 .
Biggs proudly' admits that he has
never regretted devoting his life to teach­ing;
he also claims that there have not
been many changes in teaching methods
over the years. He was taught by the
Socratic method, and vividly recalls be­ing
required to stand when reciting. The
Klan
Ordinance
(continued from page 1)
agencies which are jointly funded by the
city and county.
Ms. Gronfeld went on to say that in
all probability employees of such agen­cies
are also covered. "I think the coun­ty
has passed a similar ordinance."
Section l contains the most important
and potentially most controversial
clauses. It outlines the restrictions on ci­ty
employees:
ection l (a) No city employee may
....,.-~--p-a-r't:'icipate in and promote the illegal ac­tivities
of racist/ hate groups known to
advocate racial or religious inequality
through illegal or violent means.
(b) No city employee shall permit his
or her personal prejudice to impact ad­versely
on his or her job performance or
relationships with the public to be
served.
(c) No city employee who takes an
oath of office, including but not limit­ed
to police officers, shall take an oath
of office sworn to by such employee.
When a Section I violation is a1leged,
an inquiry is made by 3 Aldermanic
members, who report their findings to
the Mayor and Personnel Director.' Any
person found to be in violation· of Sec­tion
l is to be terminated.
The American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) was involved in the defense of
Robert McMullen. However, David
Friedman, general cour.sel of the Ken­tucky
chapter, has no present plans to
challenge the Louisville action.
"We have no stand on the ordinance
at this time, " he said.
A member of the ACLU added that
general advice was not usually given on
municipal legislation. The normal pro­cedure
is to wait until a case arises and
then decide on whether a particular or­dinance
should be challenged.
ut of L Law Professor Laurence
Knowles believes the ordinance, unlike
McMullen, does not prohibit member­ship
in a racist or hate group. Gronefeld
agrees, "Membership in any organiza­tion
is not p'rohibited by this particular
ordinance.''
(continued on page B)
years 'have not erased these memories.
Biggs remembers the feeling because, as
he puts it, "Standing with your note­book
shaking in your hands, you felt
very alone in the world." Apparently,
some things have hardly changed.
The admiration of one's colleagues is .
an accurate gauge of a teacher's career.
By this standard, Professor Biggs is held
in high esteem indeed. Professor Wil­liam
F. Dolson, who has known Profes­sor
Biggs ever since he started teaching
at U of L, stated that Biggs had dedi­cated
himself to the law school and had
"He always had students in his office
talking to him about personal prob­lems,"
said Dolson.
Moreover, Biggs was also a good
liason with the undergraduate students.
Professor Dolson concluded by saying
that "it was great having him as a col­league
all these years ."
In the final analysis, Professor Biggs's
service to legal education and to the pro­fession
over a very long period of time
is impossible to measure. He has served
as a friend, mentor, and counselor to
any number of students. As noted by
He has •- served for years without
recognition or compensation with the
Legislative Research Commission, and
also presently works with the govern­ment
law center here on campus. He has
earned the respect of his colleagues and
the profession. He is a fine teacher, and
by the admission of the Dean, he is,
"One of the most dedicated people in
terms of this area of service that I
know,'' and ''truly a gentle man in the
very fullest and best meaning of the
word."
How to
With the American Express• Card
you can buy everything from new
spectacles to some pretty spectac­ular
clothing. The la)est in audio
equipment and the latest albums.
The Card is the perfect way to pay
for just about anything you'll want
during college.
How to get the
before you graduate.
Because we believe that college is the first
sign of success. we've made-it easier for you
• to get the American Express Card. GrAduating
students can get the Card as soon as they
·-. accept a SIO,OOO carl'Cr--oriented job. If you 're
not graduating this semester, you can apply
for a special sponsored Card. Look for
student applications on campus. Or call
1-800-THE- CARD. and tell them you want ·
a student application.
The American Express Card. ~
Don't leave school withoUt it;>M
8
Klan
Ordinance
(continued from page 7)
Both Knowles and Stenger are unclear
on how a racist or hate organization is
defined under the Louisville action.
"How do you know what is a ra­cist/
hate group that advocates illegal or
violent means?" asked Stenger. "Mar­tin
Luther King clearly advocated ille­gal
means. Sit-ins, march-ins, having
parades without permits, were at the
time not legal. What the Nazis did was
valid under the law' although the rest of
the world found it abhorrent."
Knowles is concerned with Section I
(a) and its prohibi~ion on p~r.ti_cip~~ion
and promotion of Illegal acti~Ities. Do
you participate or promote m such ac­tivity
just by paying dues? Or do. y~u
have to knowingly pay dues that w1.Jl m
fact promote illegal activities?"
Professor Stenger also has reserva-
Louisville Law Examiner February, 1986
tions about the constitutional validity of
1 (a). He doubts whether the restraints
on First Amendment rights of law en­forcement
officers can be applied to
other city employees. "I think there's a
real distinction between the police and
others. The police depend so much on
credibility within the community. Other
city employees may not depend on such
a high degree of credibility to perform
their job." . .
Knowles believes that some provlSlons
of the ordinance are already punishable
by existin~ ~a_w. "Isn't par~ic~pat~~? in
illegal activities already cnmmal. he
asked. "Contracts (between the em­ployees
and the city) probably cover
some of these actions too, wouldn't
they?''
Stenger concludes that the ordinance
was meant to issue a warning. "I think
Louisville is making a statement that we
don't want people who are visibly active
in city activities to be active in these
groups." ·
Gronefeld disagreed. "One of the
purposes of this was to act as a clarifi­cation
of policy, but we enforce all or­dinances
and we will enforce this one as
well."
Nader Appearance Slated
Ralph Nader, the noted consumer
rights activist, will visit Louisville on
April 17. He will be part of the U of L
School Law's annual Law Day festivi­ties.
This year's event is entitled "A
Celebration of the 200th Birthday of the
United States Constitution."
According to Law School Assistant
Dean and Professor David Leibson,
Nader will be the featured speaker at a
luncheon held at the Commonwealth
Convention Center. The luncheon is
sponsored by the Law School and the
Evelyn Crady Adams Lecture Fund.
Later in the afternoon, Nader will ad­dress
another gathering which will prob­ably
be held in the Allen Courtroom.
Leibson also no\ed that present plans
called for an impromptu session after­wards,
with a question and answer
period.
Reservations for the luncheon may be
made by contacting the Dean's Office
at the School of Law. Members of the
Kentucky Bar Association may receive
one continuing legal credit hour by at­tending
the event.
John M. Harlan . . Louis D. Brand~ist Pi' ..
~ Louisville\, ~·
Law Examiner
Volume 11
Dolson
Named
Associate
Dean
Page 1
Transfer
Student
Compares
UK, U Of L
·page 3
U Of L To
Host J ourna1
Conference
Page 3
Feminism
And
Pornography
Page 4
February, 1986 Number 3
' . .., ..... , .. ,&.'' -..... --·~
·Photo by Nancy Morgan