Tribute by Harvey Couch
My great admiration for Judge Wisdom caused me to be especially pleased when I was invited to contribute to this symposium in his honor. I was asked to describe some of his significant opinions and I immediately thought of his momumental efforts in Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Separate School District and United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education. I was informed, however, that someone else was writing on the civil rights cases. Then, I though of his remarkable opinion in Offshore Co. v. Robison, but I learned that Judge Alvin Rubin was writing on the admiralty cases and I certainly did not want to intrude on his territory. Well, I assumed I could consider the three-judge district court opinions that made available United States v. Louisiana, a mammoth opinion of which Judge Wisdom is justifiably proud and especially fond because he could write about Louisiana legal history, a subject close to his heart. As I should have expected, someone else was treating that case.
Judge Wisdom has written more than a thousand opinions, so I knew there were still many from which to choose. Any selection of cases is somewhat arbitrary, but I have settled on a baker's dozen (plus one) that—though having varying degrees of significance—all produced notable opinions by Judge Wisdom.
About the Author
Harvey Couch. Acting Dean and Professor of Law, Tulane University School of Law; B.A. 1959, Hendrix College; M.A. 1962, LL.B. 1963, Vanderbilt University.
Citation
60 Tul. L. Rev. 356 (1985)