Success Without Victory: Lost Legal Battles and the Long Road to Justice in America (Critical America)

332 Pages·2004·1.09 MB·English

by  Jules Lobel

SUCCESS WITHOUT VICTORY

JULES LOBEL
SUCCESS WITHOUT VICTORY

Lost Legal Battles and the
Long Road to Justice in America
a

New York University Press • New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London

www.nyupress.org

© 2003 by New York University

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lobel, Jules.

Success without victory : lost legal battles and the

long road to justice in America / Jules Lobel.

p. cm. — (Critical America)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0–8147–5112–1 (cloth : alk.paper)

1. Law—United States—Anecdotes. 2. Justice and politics.

3. Political activists—United States—Anecdotes.

I. Title. II. Series.

K184.L63 2003

349.73—dc21 2003012365

New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my parents,
Paul and Lena Lobel,
with gratitude and love

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction: Losers, Fools, and Prophets 1
2 Can Law Stop War? The Constitution and Iraq 10
3� A Tradition of Resistance:
Antislavery Litigators and the Fight for Freedom 46
4 “A Fine Agitation”: Women’s Suffrage Goes to Court 74
5 Plessy v. Ferguson: The Fool’s Last Battle 100
6 Plant-Closing Litigation: “Youngstown Sure Died Hard” 125
7� Politics versus Law:
Were Travelers to Cuba Trading with the Enemy? 152
8 Challenging United States Intervention in Central America 184
9 End of an Era: Fighting U.S. Action in Kosovo 236
10 Conclusion 264
Notes 271
Index 309
Series List 317
About the Author 321
vii

Acknowledgments
I COULD NOT HAVE COMPLETED THIS BOOK without the lov/
ing support of my wife, Karen Engro, and the continued grilling of my
three children, Michael, Caroline, and Sasha, as to when I would be fin/
ished.
Without my colleagues at the Center for Constitutional Rights and
the National Lawyers Guild, particularly Michael Ratner, this book
could not have been written. They gave me the opportunity to be a part
of wonderful organizations that are in the forefront of the legal and po/
litical resistance to oppressive government policies. They also taught
me a lesson that is at the heart of this book—that progressive legal work
must be tied to a political movement.
I thank all the people who graciously agreed to be interviewed for
this book. Congressman Ron Dellums and Congressman Tom Campbell
gave time from very busy schedules. Staughton and Alice Lynd, Lee
Halterman, Robert Brauer, Michael Ratner, Elisabeth and David Linder,
Charles Houston Jr., Beth Stephens, Dorothy Brooks, Oliver Hill, Arthur
Kinoy, Victor Rabinowitz, Ruth Wald, Juan Williams, and Dan Snow
also generously provided insightful interviews that enriched this book.
I particularly want to thank Sara Miles for her invaluable editing of
my draft manuscript. I also am grateful to my editors at New York Uni/
versity Press for all the help they gave me in producing this book. My
work was also enormously aided by my friends and family members
who read my drafts—my sister Myra Lobel, my wife, Karen Engro, and
my friends George Lowenstein, Todd May, Art McDonald, Margaret
Randall, Michael Ratner, Elisabeth Linder, Lee Halterman, Staughton
Lynd, and Arthur Kinoy.
I have benefited from the generous institutional support of the Uni/
versity of Pittsburgh Law School. I particularly want to express my ap/
preciation to the members of the Document Technology Center at the
law school, LuAnn Driscoll, Karen Knochel, Darleen Mocello, Barbara
ix