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Acknowledgments i wish to acknowledge my gratitude to all of the sitting, senior, and retired judges of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, who granted me lengthy interviews and allowed me access to personal papers. I am also indebted to the Southern District’s clerk, Michael Milby, and his staff for allowing me on several occasions to disrupt their office while I examined their administrative files. Barbara Rust and her efficient staff at the National Archives and Records Administration’s Southwest Regional facility in Fort Worth, Texas, have also earned many thanks. The indispensability of their preservation work— and their ability to locate on demand the many trial and appellate court case files that I examined for this book—is shown by the frequent appearance of the Fort Worth archive in the notes of nearly every chapter. An archive of another sort has been made available to me and many other grateful historians through the efforts of Larry Turk, the owner of 1Ⲑ4 Price Books—his “headquarters for thinkers”—in Houston, Texas. I also wish to thank my colleagues at Rice University—professors and fellow students alike, in both the sciences and in the humanities. I am especially grateful for the assistance over many years of Dr. Harold Hyman and Ms. Ferne Hyman . Because their dedication to students has been in the best tradition of Rice’s residential college system and its associates program, Harold and Ferne were my close friends long before they were my mentors. By ably filling both roles and by frequently opening their home to host Harold’s ongoing graduate seminar in legal history, they made a genuine pleasure out of fulfilling Harold’s admonition to “work, work, work.” Finally, I want to thank my parents, family, and friends for seeing me through the long process of researching, writing, and editing this book. I am particularly indebted to Tim Harvey and Steve Reeves, who provided me with unvarnished criticism as well as unconditional friendship during our weekly political seminar xi xii acknowledgments known as Burger Night. Most important, I must note that Cheryl Matherly has earned my gratitude and recognition here by her exemplary service in both her personal and professional roles. This book could not have been completed without Cheryl’s generous contributions of time, energy, patience, and insight—and I have dedicated it to her, with much love and affection. ...

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