Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse and United States Courthouse for the District of Utah

Courthouses of the West: Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse and United States Courthouse for the District of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Built in 1931, the last year of the Hoover Administration, this classic courthouse is nestled in downtown Salt Lake City.   The current name is much more recent, coming from a long serving Utah Senator who retired in 1977.

Just behind this classic revival style courthouse is a large modern office building which is the current United States Courthouse for the District of Utah, which has the local nickname of the "Borg Cube" due to its modern architecture, and in obvious reference to the characters from Star Trek.  That also forms a fairly effective commentary on what the public thinks of modern style courthouses, so I don't need to add to that, and could hardly do so more effectively.

Detail from the Frank E. Moss Courthouse

While most of the court's functions have moved to the new courthouse, the old one continues to house the bankruptcy court.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Johnson County Justice Center, Buffalo Wyoming

Courthouses of the West: Johnson County Justice Center, Buffalo Wyoming:

This is the Johnson County Justice Center in Buffalo Wyoming. This structure replaced the old Johnson County Courthouse that was in use up until recently.

I'm sure it was needed, but the old building had more charm.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: State Capitol, Cheyenne Wyoming

Courthouses of the West: State Capitol, Cheyenne Wyoming:  

 

This is the State Capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  While I didn't realize it at the time that I took this photograph, the State Capitol contains a courtroom which was used by the Wyoming Supreme Court up until it had a courthouse of its own.  The courtroom is soon to be restored.

 

State Capitol as viewed from the street.  The current Wyoming Supreme Court building would be off to the right in this photograph.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: City and County Building, Cheyenne Wyoming

Courthouses of the West: City and County Building, Cheyenne Wyoming:

This is the old City and County Building in Cheyenne Wyoming which, at one time, housed all of the offices of the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County, including the courts.

This building has been partially replaced by the Laramie County Government Complex, which physically adjoins it.

This Federal style Classical Revival building was built completed in 1919.  A better view of the building would be from its front, rather than the sides as depicted, which would show its classic columns, but under the constraints of time when this photograph was taken, that couldn't be done.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Old Anchorage City Hall, Anchorage Alaska

Courthouses of the West: Old Anchorage City Hall, Anchorage Alaska:

Once the largest building in Anchorage, albeit only very briefly, this city hall held all the municipal offices from 1936 until some date in the 1970s. 

A fairly substantial building, it provides additional evidence of how surprisingly busy Anchorage was during the 1930s.

Additional Monday at the Bar. Lex Anteinternet: The ghost of the Crow Treaty of 1868 appears in a Wyoming Court (and soon in the Wyoming Supreme Court)

As we earlier reported on this item:

Lex Anteinternet: The ghost of the Crow Treaty of 1868 appears in a ...:    Crow Indians, 1908. These men may have been living at the time the Ft. Laramie Treaty came into being. The Casper Star Tribune rep...

the Crow game warden convicted in a Wyoming court of poaching just over the Wyoming border was, as noted, convicted.  Based on the reporting of the trial, the 1868 treaty wasn't asserted much, rather mistake of geography seems to have been. However, we need to keep in mind that reporting on legal matters is usually not completely accurate.

Suggesting that it was not, in fact, fully accurate we learn today in the Casper Start Tribune that the warden is appealing his conviction and asserting his rights under the 1868 Treaty as a basis for it. The article is somewhat confusing, however, in that it states he's appealing it to Wyoming's 4th Judicial District, which can't be accurate as that's the trial level court.  He'd have to appeal it to the Wyoming Supreme Court.  His lawyer indicates that they'll take it all the way up to the United States Supreme Court if they can and must, although getting a case up there isn't easy as it isn't by right.  Additionally, based upon last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Bryant I wouldn't be terribly optimistic about that  effort as the U.S. Supreme Court is pretty clearly telegraphing that while it may have abandoned the traditional reading of the law in various things, in this area, Indian law, it apparently has not.

 

The courthouse for Wyoming's 4th Judicial District in Sheridan Wyoming.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Federal Building, Anchorage Alaska

Courthouses of the West: Federal Building, Anchorage Alaska:

This is the Federal Building in Anchorage Alaska, which was built in 1941.  The Art Deco style building is very substantial, and the building is one of several in Anchorage which show the extent of development in the city in the 1930s and 1940s.  It was, and is, a very modern building for the port city, which might surprise those who wouldn't have expected this type of architecture and development for Anchorage in this, pre oil development, era.

The courtroom was, and is, a prominent feature of the building.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Natrona County Courthouses from the air.

Courthouses of the West: Natrona County Courthouses from the air.:

Natrona County's courthouses from the air, as viewed from a Ford Tri Motor.  The classic old courthouse is in the upper middle of the photograph, but the Townsend Justice Center and the Hall of Justice are also visible.  The Federal Courthouse is not visible, however.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Old Sweetwater County Courthouse, Green River Wyoming

Courthouses of the West: Old Sweetwater County Courthouse, Green River Wyom...: 

This is the old Sweetwater County Courthouse in Green River Wyoming.  This courthouse, built in 1906, is on the same block as the new courthouse that replaced it. Fortunately, this attractive originalcourthouse was preserved when the new one was built.  I don't know what use this courthouse serves today.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Sweetwater County Courthouse, Green River, Wyoming...

Courthouses of the West: Sweetwater County Courthouse, Green River, Wyoming...:

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Natrona County Townsend Justice Center

Courthouses of the West: Natrona County Townsend Justice Center:

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Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: United States Post Office and Courthouse, Oklahoma...

Courthouses of the West: United States Post Office and Courthouse, Oklahoma...:

This is the 1912 vintage Federal courthouse and post office in Oklahoma City.  This classic courthouse is no longer used for civil or criminal ntrials, having been replaced by a new courthouse nearby, but it is still used for bankruptcy proceedings.  I've been told that the most famous trial to have been held here was the criminal trial of Machine Gun Kelly.

The courthouse was a courthouse of the Western District of Oklahoma, and for a time was used by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals prior to Oklahoma being reassigned to the 10th Circuit.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming

Courthouses of the West: Platte County Courthouse, Wheatland Wyoming:

Courthouse decorated for Memorial Day, 2014.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Pennington County Courthouse, Rapid City, South Dakota

Courthouses of the West: Pennington County Courthouse, Rapid City, South Dakota

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Washakie County Courthouse, Worland Wyoming

Courthouses of the West: Washakie County Courthouse, Worland Wyoming:

 

This is the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland, Wyoming.  The Courthouse dates from the early 1950s (1954, I think).  It's a classically styled courthouse, with a single large courtroom.  I've tried one case in this courthouse, some years ago.

 Entrance to the adjoining jail, which is a substantial structure, mostly from the same era, itself.

  

A somewhat visually jarring feature of this courthouse is the small Chamber of Commerce building on the corner.  That structure oddly has the appearance of a 1950s vintage drive in restaurant, and its my suspicion that it was.  I wonder if it might have predated the building of the courthouse which, together with the jail, takes up the entire block.

 Large American Indian monument, carved from a substantial block of Douglas fir, on courthouse grounds.

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Fergus County Montana Courthouse, Lewistown Montana

Courthouses of the West: Fergus County Montana Courthouse, Lewistown Montana

Courthouses of the West: Hot Springs County Courthouse, Thermopolis Wyoming...

Courthouses of the West: Hot Springs County Courthouse, Thermopolis Wyoming...:

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Morrill County Nebraska Courthouse, Bridgeport Nebraska

Courthouses of the West: Morrill County Nebraska Courthouse, Bridgeport Nebraska

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Scottsbluff County Courthouse, Gering Nebraska

Courthouses of the West: Scottsbluff County Courthouse, Gering Nebraska:

Monday at the Bar: Courthouses of the West: Kimball County Nebraska Courthouse, Kimball Nebras...

Kimball County Nebraska Courthouse, Kimball Nebraska

This is the Kimball County Courthouse in Kimball Nebraska.  This fine looking courthouse was opened in 1928 and was constructed of Carthage stone, with floors of Ozark gray marble and fixtures made of solid walnut.  MKTH Photo.