[at-l] Original 2000 Mile Cheater?

[icw@xxxxxxxxxxx (Clark Wright)]

interesting - i wonder what the old registers and ATC records say?  From
a lawyer's perspective, Justice Douglas was an amazing advocate for "the
environment."  [see my many prior musing for why I put that phrase in
quotes.]  Douglas was a strong advocate for, in legal parlance, giving
trees and other natural resources legal "standing" in the courts, such
that anyone who enjoyed such resources could file a lawsuit in the
courts in the name of the resource and be heard.  This concept was not
adopted by our courts, but Douglas' efforts were a primary force in
liberalizing the law of "standing" such that environmental groups can
often have standing to file suits [some good; some bad] seeking to
protect natural resources by only having one member show a close enough
connection to that natural resource.

Faults and all, he was quite a fellow!

thru-thinker

Jim Bullard wrote:

> I read a review http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/posner-antihero.html of a
> biography of Justice William O. Douglas today (Wild Bill: The Legend and
> Life of William O. Douglas - by Bruce Allen Murphy).  The biography
> characterizes Justice Douglas as "a liar to rival Baron Munchausen".  He
> apparently lied about all sorts of things (that can be objectively
> demonstrated to be false) from his ancestors to his childhood, his military
> record (turns out he didn't have one) and his education.
>
> Why bring this up on AT-L?  In light of the discussion a while back about
> truthfulness when claiming 2000 miler status I recalled reading somewhere
> that among the listed 2000 milers is Justice William O. Douglas.  This
> review (I haven't read the book) mentions "a well-publicized 185-mile hike
> along the Chesapeake & Ohio canal towpath" and makes passing reference to
> spending summers in the Cascades but, in light of his tendency to invent
> his history, it made me wonder if fibbing to the ATC to get 2000 miler
> status was really such a new thing.  Food for thought.
>
> Saunterer
>
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