Harry N. Scheiber, director of the Institute for Legal Research and Riesenfeld Professor of Law and History, was a plenary-session speaker at the 2007 9th Circuit Judicial Conference. The July conference, held in Honolulu, brought together the bench and bar from federal courts throughout the western United States.
Scheiber’s address opened a session on the courts in wartime, where he discussed the federal judiciary and the impact of martial law in Hawaii during World War II, an often-forgotten episode in the nation’s constitutional history. Scheiber is co-authoring a book on these subjects with Jane L. Scheiber, assistant dean in UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry. The book, Bayonets In Paradise, is a full history of the military courts, federal appellate litigation, and the Army’s impact on life in Hawaii during the war years.
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle welcomed the attendees at the opening session, and the closing segment featured Associate Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court. More than 800 judges, judiciary employees, government officials, and private attorneys attended the conference, whose theme was “Collision Course: When Liberty and Order Clash.”