Fifty Years (More or Less) of Federal Courts: An Anniversary Review

This Article considers the Hart & Wechsler paradigm from the perspective of its leading figures. Class notes in the archives at Harvard Law School reveal the perspective of Henry Hart as he prepared to teach his course in "Federal Courts.” Apart from the insights into Hart's view of the canon, the notes reveal Hart's own answers to the many questions about substance, process, relevance, and change that occupy the discipline today. After considering the work of Herb Wechsler, the Article finds the two co-authors used different tools to solve problems in Federal Courts. Hart often emphasized the decided cases as the inputs in his analytical process; Wechsler, in contrast, often looked to text, history, and structure in making constitutional arguments about the role of the courts in a federal system. Both strands of analysis continue to shape the field and fairly claim a place within the Hart & Wechsler paradigm.