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In his article, the author deals with the issue of the “nationalization” of civil rights in the USA, by which, in the context of the issue, he means primarily the incorporation of civil liberties contained in the federal Bill of Rights at the level of individual states of he Union. As he explains, this incorporation was rejected until the Civil War based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Barron v. Baltimore in 1833. Other possibilities for such incorporation opened up after the passage of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in 1868. However, even here, this solution was first rejected in the so-called “slaughterhouse cases” of 1873, when the “immunities and privileges clause” of the amendment was not used. The gradual incorporation of the Bill of Rights thus occurs only through the “due process clause” of the 14th Amendment, as evidenced in particular by the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court adopted in the 20th century. This whole process, which very well documents the issue of the federal system in the USA, is primarily completed in the 1960s.

Book review on GROTIUS, H. Moře jsou svobodná. Praha: Karolinum, 2023, 108 s.

The author deals in his article with the relation of the famous German poet J. W. Goethe towards the law. First, he depicts his legal studies in Leipzig and Strasbourg which were finished with the formulation of the thesis which helps us to learn about his opinions on some important legal problems of that time. After this the author makes us familiar with Goethe’s short working in the role of the counsel in native Frankfurt and much longer activity of office holder in Weimar duchy. Here his career advancement and the problems J. W. Goethe met at this occasion are analysed. The following part of the text is devoted to the problematics of the contract between Faust and Mephistopheles from the legal point of view. At the end of the article the author finally deals with some Goethe’s opinions on the political and mainly to the state law related matters of his time.

In his article, the author discusses the development of American criminal law in the 19th century, with the focus on prison issues. In this context, he also recalls the views of the French thinker Michel Foucault on this topic expressed in his now classic work “Discipline and Punish”. In order to provide the necessary context, this section is preceded by a brief outline of the development of American criminal law since its colonial beginnings. Then, as far as the prison system itself in the newly founded United States of America is concerned, the author highlights two different approaches to prisoners that were applied in the jail houses Eastern Penitentiary in Pennsylvania and Auburn Prison in New York. He also focuses on the economic side of the issue, whereas part of the text aims to analyse the phenomenon of the “convict lease system” as practised particularly in the American South. Finally, he concludes his article by mentioning other attempts to reform the prison system in the second half of the 19th century.

Book review: Dostál, M. Dějiny Nejvyššího soudu Spojených států. Praha: Ústav státu a práva AV ČR, 2020, 736 s.

The article deals with the work of Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811) in terms of its relation to the problems of “law and literature”. It focuses on the fact that this German writer belongs to those great creators who attached extraordinary care to the question of law and justice in his work. At first, the paper deals shortly with the life of this important figure of the German letters. Then the main attention is paid to the nouvelle “Michael Kohlhaas” which might be considered as the most important of his works related to the “law and literature” topic. This is given especially by the general preset of the story in which the main hero fights for the achievement of the justice tirelessly even at the cost of sacrificing his family's happiness and his life. Next part of the paper makes us familiar with certain aspects of the plot. Finally, the other works of Kleist related to the problems of “law and literature” and legal questions involved are analyzed.

Book review: CHAPOUTOT, J. Zákon krve (Myslet a jednat jako nacista). Praha: Rybka Publishers, 2021, 534 p.

In this article the author deals with the problematics of the “federal common law of crimes” in the period since the foundation of the American statehood till the end of the 18th century whereas he claims that the existence of this law is illustrated especially by the negotiation of the crime of high treason on the federal courts. In this connection he deals firstly with the organization of the federal courts on which were these cases negotiated. Further part covers the concept of the crime of high treason in earlier English law because from this law exactly the American federal courts had to go out. The main part of the article is devoted to the depiction of the concrete judicial pleas related to high treason which were negotiated at that time. Finally, the author mentions some other crimes which may be put in the category of the “federal common law of crimes” as well.

In this article the author deals with the Herman Melville’s fiction “Billy Budd” from the perspective of the current “law and literature”. So firstly he contextualizes this book in writer’s work whereas he also claims that it is a story that Melville wrote at the very end of his life. Further he makes us familiar with the legal problematics of the mutiny in the English law because exactly this plays a key role in the fiction. He pays his attention as well to the concrete naval mutinies in Spithead and Nore which passed exactly in the year 1797 in which Melville set his fiction. As his inspiratory source he mentiones as well the mutiny in American Navy on the USS Somers in the year 1842. In the further part of his study the author makes us firstly familiar with the plot of the fiction whereas he pays mainly his attention to the legal aspects of the process against the sailor Billy Budd which ends with the adjudgment death penalty. Finally he claims that the death of Billy Budd was not in accordance with the idea of the correct legal process and rather it was the sacrifice of Billy Budd in the interest of the preservation of the existing social order in the time of the war.

Book review: Behringer, W. Chonrad Stoeckhlin a „noční houf“ (Příběh z raného novověku). Praha: Argo, 2018, 200 s.

The author deals in his article with the problematics of the “writ of the assistance case” in the year 1761 which was later labeled by the American president John Adams as the moment when the child of American independency was born. Firstly the author make us familiar with the legal aspects of this theme whereas mentions as well its statutory anchorage and practises. Further he goes over to the concrete representation of the Paxton’s case in which scope was the “writ of assistance case” heard. He emphasizes especially the argumentation of James Otis before the Supreme Court of Massachusetts who pleaded against the issuing of the “writs of assistance”. In the next section of his article the author deals with the constitutional aspects of the beginning rupture between the colonies and the mother country. In this connection make us again familiar with the argumentation of James Otis this time concerning the competency of the British Parliament towards the colonies. Further he deals as well with the phenomenom of the Grenville’s acts and the resistence against them (mainly the Stamp Act) as well as the discussions concerning internal and external taxes in the connection with the release of the Townshend’s acts whereas the fact that the colonies at the end don’t meant to accept any acts of the British Parliament led inevitably to the proclamation of the independency. In every case it was just “writ of assistance case” which at the end led to the release of till our days valid fourth amendment of the American federal constitution in the year 1791.

Book review: Hvížďala, K. – Přibáň, J. Hledání dějin. Praha: Karolinum, 2018, 258 s.