Ranney, Joseph A. 1952–

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Ranney, Joseph A. 1952–

PERSONAL:

Born May 19, 1952, in Urbana, IL. Education: University of Chicago, B.A., 1972; Yale Law School, J.D., 1978.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Marquette University Law School, Sensenbrenner Hall, 1103 W. Wisconsin Ave., P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI 53201; DeWitt, Ross, & Stevens, Capitol Sq. Office, 2 E. Mifflin St., Madison, WI 53703. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Lawyer, historian, educator, and writer. DeWitt, Ross, & Stevens, Madison, WI, lawyer and shareholder; Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, adjunct professor of law. Legal Services of Northeastern Wisconsin, board of directors, 1982-1988, treasurer, 1985-1987, and president, 1987-1988. Also serves on the board of the Exchange Center for Child Abuse Prevention; former member of the Dane County Bar Association board of directors and former president and board member of Legal Services of Northeastern Wisconsin. Military service: U.S. Army, 1972-1975.

MEMBER:

American Bar Association, Dane County Bar Association, State Bar of Wisconsin, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Charles Dunn Award for Legal Writing, State Bar of Wisconsin, 1993; President's Award for Meritorious Achievement, State Bar of Wisconsin, 2003.

WRITINGS:

Wisconsin's Legal History: An Article Series, Wisconsin Supreme Court (Madison, WI), 1998.

Trusting Nothing to Providence: A History of Wisconsin's Legal System, University of Wisconsin Law School (Madison, WI), 1999.

In the Wake of Slavery: Civil War, Civil Rights, and the Reconstruction of Southern Law, Praeger Publishers (Westport, CT), 2006.

Author of articles on legal history.

SIDELIGHTS:

Joseph A. Ranney is a lawyer and legal historian who has written several books focusing on historical aspects of the law. In Trusting Nothing to Providence: A History of Wisconsin's Legal System, for example, the author provides what may be the first comprehensive history of one state's legal system. Library Journal contributor Margaret M. Jobe called the book "a thorough examination of … Wisconsin's legal history." Ranney focuses on the legal aspects of Reconstruction following the Civil War in his book In the Wake of Slavery: Civil War, Civil Rights, and the Reconstruction of Southern Law. The author writes of how Southern states, facing social turmoil, reconstructed their legal systems as they sought to regain social, economic, and political equilibrium. According to the author, the states reformed their laws with little interference from the Federal government. In addition to exploring various laws, such as the Jim Crow Laws, the author profiles many of the central legal and political figures of the South in the late 1860s. A Reference & Research Book News contributor called the book "a fascinating account" of how the legal system changed in the South. Elliot Mandel, writing in Booklist, referred to In the Wake of Slavery as a "careful and well-organized study."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2007, Elliot Mandel, review of In the Wake of Slavery: Civil War, Civil Rights, and the Reconstruction of Southern Law, p. 27.

Library Journal, May 15, 2001, Margaret M. Jobe, review of Trusting Nothing to Providence: A History of Wisconsin's Legal System, p. 65.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 2007, review of In the Wake of Slavery.