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- We labored first with vices, now with laws. As a law student at Saint Louis University in the mid-1980s, I recall finding in Black's Law Dictionary (5th ed.), the following mysterious entry: "Prius vitiis laboravimus, nunc legibus." Black's offers nothing more except a descriptive pronunciation scheme and the translation: "We labored first with vices, now with laws." The entry contains no source or attribution. Professor Immel may have been present when Pliny the Elder or Cicero first uttered those words, but I have been unable to trace their origin. Even Google, the idiot savant of the Internet, turns up only the words and their translation. On the occasion of the anniversary of the 50th volume of the Saint Louis University Law Journal, the observation makes for a fitting reminder of the accumulated labor found in its stories. As law students, we indeed "labor with laws," as we are trained in our vocation to practice, teach and administer the vast seamless web of jurisprudence. All men and women who labor honorably in the profession and serve with character and integrity do their part to hold the alternative to law - runaway human vice and iniquity - at bay. However, there's even more work for those willing to do it, and the Journal presents the first opportunity for a daunting new role: somebody has to write, edit, interpret, clarify, apply and indeed "create" the laws and legal texts under which we struggle. Are you qualified and willing to serve? The invitation to join the staff of the Journal, the challenge to produce and edit legal texts (instead of merely studying them and struggling to understand them) typically comes at the start of our second year in law school (the year we are reportedly already worked to death). Saying "yes" means more labor, more responsibility and a permanent record of our success or failure enshrined in the volumes of the Saint Louis University Law Journal. Like most writing and almost all scholarly endeavors, the considerable work involved is voluntary. Nobody makes us do it. The impulse to accept the challenge springs from uncertain origins, perhaps best expressed by H.L. Mencken, who said, "Why authors write I do not know. As well ask why a hen lays an egg or a cow stands patiently while a farmer burglarizes her." Why law students join the Journal I do not know, but their labors during their tours of duty forever change them and the law, in ways that prospective employers and courts seem to appreciate. In its 57 years of existence, the Journal has been cited by the United States Supreme Court fourteen times, by the Missouri Supreme Court seventeen times and by the federal appellate courts sixty-one times.* A casual glance at a list of the luminaries who have served and contributed will make even those untutored in the law stand back and take a breath: eleven Supreme Court Justices, ten Congressmen and a list of leading academics and commentators too numerous to list (see sample listing). For the law student who signs on to haul boulders up the side of such an edifice, the labor is often overwhelming. It's an early initiation into how difficult and important it is to write well and write with care and precision, especially when we are trying to express, interpret and apply THE LAWS, those pliable, insubstantial constructs made of nothing but words, which are all that really keep us from what came before: vices. I hope I speak for all staff members, editorial board members and faculty when I say that I am proud and glad to have served and happy to see the Journal celebrate its first 50 volumes. Cheers to those beginning the labors of the next fifty! - Richard Dooling, '87 *Special thanks to David Kullman, reference librarian, Saint Louis University School of Law, for researching this information. Below is a partial list of the distinguished authors the Journal has published: Supreme Court Justices Congressmen Leading Academics Others The foregoing is a partial list of the distinguished authors the Journal has published. It does not include many distinguished American and foreign judges. Some luminaries listed were published before they achieved prominence (e.g. Eagleton's first article was pre-Senate), some during, some after they had left a position (e.g. Goldberg, Fortas). Compiled by Professor Joel K. Goldstein
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