Steven J. Jager, Author at

Independent Historian

Steven J. Jager is a Seattle based attorney and founding partner of Jager Law Office PLLC who practices in Washington, Alaska and Oregon. He lectures frequently and is a past board member of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers. Mr. Jager graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Economics degree from Seattle University in 1977, and received his Juris Doctor degree from Gonzaga University in 1980, and is presently enrolled in a part time capacity at the University of Washington, pursuing a degree program in History. Mr. Jager currently, or has served on the boards for the following Seattle based educational institutions: St. Joseph’s Elementary School (as chair), Holy Names High School, Seattle University Department of Economics Board of Advisors and the Gonzaga Law School Board of Advisors. The father of three educated adult daughters, and a lifelong voracious reader, Mr. Jager has traveled widely throughout the world and to all 50 United States.

Guinn v. United States (1915)

Guinn v. United States (1915) held the “grandfather clause” enacted by the Oklahoma State Legislature invalid because it violated the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Fifteenth Amendment, the last of three post-Civil War Amendments ratified to end slavery, endowed the rights of … Read MoreGuinn v. United States (1915)

Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill (1922)

The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill (hereinafter “Dyer Bill”) refers to a 1922 Congressional effort to pass federal legislation to address and otherwise provide federal prosecution of nationwide lynchings, particularly those in the southern states. The bill was first introduced by Missouri Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer in … Read MoreDyer Anti-Lynching Bill (1922)

(1896) The Plessy v. Ferguson Decision

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was the seminal post-Reconstruction Supreme Court decision that judicially validated state sponsored segregation in public facilities by its creation and endorsement of the “separate but equal” doctrine as satisfying the Constitutional requirements provided in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States … Read More(1896) The Plessy v. Ferguson Decision

The Dred Scott Decision, 1857

The Dred Scott v. Sandford case (1857) was the most important slavery-related decision in the United States Supreme Court’s history. Coming on the eve of the Civil War, and seven years after the Missouri Compromise of 1850, the decision affected the national political scene, impacted … Read MoreThe Dred Scott Decision, 1857

Wade Hampton McCree Jr. (1920-1987)

Wade Hampton McCree, Jr. was a noted American attorney, jurist, and law professor. Born to middle-class parents in Des Moines, Iowa, his father, Wade Hampton McCree, Sr., was an alumnus of Fisk University. He had a respected career as a pharmacist and later as a … Read MoreWade Hampton McCree Jr. (1920-1987)

William Henry Lewis (1868-1949)

William H. Lewis, was a world-class collegiate athlete, lawyer, and politician. Lewis, the son of former slaves Ashley Henry Lewis, a Baptist minister, and Josephine Baker, was born in Berkeley (now Norfolk), Virginia in 1868. He began his college education at Virginia Normal and Collegiate … Read MoreWilliam Henry Lewis (1868-1949)

Melody Barnes (1964- )

Melody Barnes was chosen by then President-elect Barack Obama to serve as the Director of Domestic Policy Council shortly after the presidential election in 2008, a position she held until her resignation at the end of 2011. Born in Richmond, Virginia to Charles and Mary … Read MoreMelody Barnes (1964- )