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Manuscript Group 358
Case Files, 1972-1988
82 cubic feet
The papers of Judge J. Blaine Anderson were donated to the University of Idaho Library at the request of Dean of the College of Law, Sheldon Vincenti, by the Judge's widow, Grace Little Anderson, in December 1989. They were processed by Judith Nielsen between December 1991 and February 1992.
J. Blaine Anderson was born in Trenton, Utah, on January 19, 1922. He married Grace Little on November 14, 1944; they had four children, three sons and one daughter. He graduated from the University of Idaho College of Law in 1949 and was admitted to the Idaho bar the same year. He practiced in Blackfoot as a partner in the law firm Furchner and Anderson until 1971, when he was appointed a district judge for the District of Idaho. One of his best known decisions was Marshall v. Barlow (1975) that held as unconstitutional an Occupational Safety and Health Administration provision that allowed the search of businesses without a search warrant.
In 1976 he was appointed U.S. Court of Appeals Judge for the 9th Circuit, the largest of the 12 federal circuit courts. As chief administrative judge of the Northern Unit, which included Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, Judge Anderson was the highest ranking federal judicial officer in Idaho. While on the court he wrote the decision holding that the National Football League violated anti-trust laws when it refused to permit the Oakland Raiders to move to Los Angeles (see case 1795). He also wrote the decision in the Committee for an Independent P-I (Post Intelligencer), People Opposed to a One-Newspaper Town, et al. v. Hearst Corporation and the Seattle Times, which was concerned with the joint operating agreement between the Seattle Times and Post Intelligencer in 1982 (see case 1735).
Anderson was a member of the University of Idaho Alumni Hall of Fame and was awarded the first Faculty Award of Legal Merit from the College of Law in 1974. Well-respected by his fellow jurists for his excellent reasonings and opinions, he was awarded an honorary J.D. degree from Lewis & Clark College in 1978. He was a member of the American Bar Association, Idaho State Bar Association, South East Idaho District Bar, American Judicature Society, the American College of Probate Counsel, and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. In addition to his judicial duties he was chairman of Idaho's Air Pollution Committee from 1959-1960. He was still active on the appeals court when he died at his Boise home on April 17, 1988, at the age of 66.
The case files of Judge J. Blaine Anderson span the years 1972 to 1988, with the bulk of the material covering his years on the appeals court, 1976 to 1988.
The papers include legal briefs, opinions, and other documents, memos and manuscript notes concerning cases the judge heard as District Court Judge and Appeals Court Judge. There is a card file index to all cases.
It has been reported that several law clerks purged the files of controversial material before shipment of the records from Judge Anderson's Boise office. This may account for some of the missing or empty folders. Other folders have evidence that individual documents were removed.
All of Judge Anderson's files were in labelled folders thus making it possible to reconstruct series divisions and original order. The folders in series two were stamped with a file number, and those in series three were labeled with either yellow or blue labels. Since the folders were in good condition and the folders themselves sometimes contained additional information, such as the place and date the case was heard, the material was kept in the original folders; however, in the case of very "fat files", the papers were divided and some material was placed in new folders. Several alphabetical card files facilitate access to the individual cases.
Four drawers of Rolodex cards comprise series one. Information on the cards includes the name of the case, file number, and occasionally a synopsis of the point of law which was the reason for the appeal. These cards must be consulted to access the collection.
Series two consists of the cases the judge heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals at sessions held in Anchorage, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, Seattle and Honolulu. These are in consecutively numbered folders, each case having its own number, and are accessed through use of the card index. All cases were checked against the card file and a check mark was placed in the upper right hand corner of the card if the case is in the collection. The following inventory lists only the file numbers in each box. The court of appeals case files include legal briefs, motions, opinions, judge's memos to each other, and manuscript notes pertaining to the cases.
Series three consists of Idaho District Court cases. These are divided into two subseries, yellow labels and blue labels, both filed alphabetically. The yellow labelled cases are indexed by the name of the case and these cards have a "y" in the upper right hand corner of the index card. The files with blue labels are indexed under subject; a majority are under "Three Judge Court", but there are exceptions. These cases are identified by a "b" on the index card. The material contained in the folders is somewhat more extensive than that contained in the folders in series two.
Series four contains extensive files on two district court cases. The Nevada-Paiute Indian case (U.S. and Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of Indians v. Truckee-Carson Irrigation District) was heard in the District Court of Nevada and concerns the tribe's claim to substantial portions of the Truckee river in order to maintain it as a viable fishery. The Sun Valley Cases are the four consolidated law suits brought against Sun Valley Airlines and Beech Aircraft as a result of the crash of a Beech Aircraft, owned and operated by Sun Valley Airlines, near Fairfield, Idaho, on February 20, 1972, in which five people were killed.
I. Card Index 1-2 II. Circuit Court of Appeals, 1976-1988 3-68 II. District Court, 1972-1978 69-77 A. Yellow Labels, 1972-1977 B. Blue Labels, 1973-1978 IV. Other Cases, 1973-1970 79-82
Box Cases
1-2 Card index
3 Cases 1-74, 1976-1979 4 Cases 75-144, 1976-1978 5 Cases 145-195, 1976-1977 6 Cases 196-300, 1977-1978 7 Cases 301-336, 1976-1978 8 Cases 337-399, 1976-1978 9 Cases 400-487, 1977-1978 10 Cases 488-586, 1978 11 Cases 587-661, 1978-1979 12 Cases 662-702, 1978-1980 13 Cases 703-733, 1978-1979 14 Cases 734-778, 1978-1979 15 Cases 799-810, 1978-1980 16 Cases 811-840, 1979 17 Cases 841-872, 1979-1981 18 Cases 873-913, 1979-1980 19 Cases 914-976, 1979-1981 20 Cases 977-1016, 1979-1983 21 Cases 1017-1052, 1980-1981 22 Cases 1053-1095, 1979-1983 23 Cases 1096-1159, 1980 24 Cases 1160-1193, 1980-1981 25 Cases 1194-1223, 1980-1982 26 Cases 1224-1264, 1980-1981 27 Cases 1265-1312, 1981 28 Cases 1313-1253, 1981-1982 29 Cases 1354-1395, 1981-1984 30 Cases 1396-1449, 1980-1983 31 Cases 1450-1502, 1981-1982 32 Cases 1503-1562, 1981-1983 33 Cases 1563-1608, 1982-1984 34 Cases 1608-1648, 1982-1985 35 Cases 1649-1686, 1982-1984 36 Cases 1687-1736, 1982-1985 37 Cases 1737-1787, 1983-1984 38 Cases 1788-1822, 1983-1987 39 Cases 1823-1883, 1983-1984 40 Cases 1884-1937, 1983-1984 41 Cases 1938-1970, 1983-1986 42 Cases 1971-2022, 1983-1985 43 Cases 2023-2060, 1984-1986 44 Cases 2061-2105, 1984-1986 45 Cases 2106-2139, 1984-1985 46 Cases 2140-2178, 1984-1986 47 Cases 2179-2216, 1984-1986 48 Cases 2217-2248, 1984-1986 49 Cases 2249-2281, 1984-1987 50 Cases 2282-2318, 1985-1986 51 Cases 2319-2366, 1985-1986 52 Cases 2367-2401, 1985-1987 53 Cases 2402-2439, 1985-1987 54 Cases 2440-2481, 1985-1987 55 Cases 2482-2521, 1985-1988 56 Cases 2522-2561, 1986-1987 57 Cases 2562-2598, 1986-1987 58 Cases 2599-2617, 1986-1988 59 Cases 2618-2668, 1986-1987 60 Cases 2669-2706, 1986-1988 61 Cases 2707-2740, 1986-1988 62 Cases 2741-2782, 1986-1988 63 Cases 2783-2820, 1987-1988 64 Cases 2821-2861, 1987-1988 65 Cases 2862-2896, 1987-1988 66 Cases 2897-2938, 1987-1988 67 Cases 2939-2973, 1987-1988 68 Cases 2974-3031, 1987-1988
69 A-Chk, 43 folders 70 Chl-F, 38 folders 71 C-Kn, 36 folders 72 Ko-Mo, 31 folders 73 Mo-Q, 23 folders 74 R-S, 31 folders 75 T-U, 27 folders 76 U-Z, 15 folders
76 A-Ida, 6 folders 77 Idaho-Z, 5 folders
77-79 Nevada Paiute Indians, 1974-1980, 48 folders 79-82 Sun Valley Cases, 1973-1976, 96 folders
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