To go free

by Acton, Richard Lord

To Go Free: A Treasury of Iowa's Legal Heritage commemorates the Sesquicentennial of Iowa's statehood with a close look at the state's legal history. To Go Free spans Iowa's entire legal history, from the Indian treaties of the early nineteenth century through the radical gambling laws of the late twentieth century. Hundreds of excerpts from original court records, statutes, personal recollections, and news reports fill the pages, along with many previously unpublished photographs. The book also contains essays on Iowa's most famous legal events, including the 1839 Iowa Territorial Supreme Court decision freeing a former slave, the political struggle to draft the Constitution of 1857, the Cherry sisters' historic libel lawsuit at the turn of the century, the anti-foreign language edict of World War I, and the Vietnam era's black armband case. Written by two legal professionals who share a passion for Iowa history, To Go Free offers a fascinating showcase of 150 years of Iowa's legal he