Hundreds of Utah's top lawyers, judges and community leaders took a trip back in time recently, as the prestigious law firm of Snow, Christensen and Martineau celebrated the life and times of one of its founding fathers, U.S. Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland.

In a black tie gala at Little America Hotel, the firm played host to hundreds of dignitaries, a veritable who's who of the state's top legal minds, including Utah Supreme Court Justice Christine Durham, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ted Stewart and U.S. District Judge Dee Benson.

It was all part of Snow, Christensen and Martineau's 125th anniversary celebration, an observance which was a year in the making.

Central to the observation was a look back at George Sutherland's illustrious career, a largely forgotten figure who nonetheless loomed large in his day. Not only was he elected to both the U.S. House and Senate, he's also the only Utahn to ascend to the nation's high court, a position he held from 1922 to 1938.

"Justice Sutherland would probably not make the top 10 list of the most famous U.S. Supreme Court justices," said Snow, Christensen and Martineau president Andrew Morse, "but he clearly made his mark, serving with deep wisdom and the intimate command of the constitutional principles that the office deserves."

Sutherland's career on the high bench was a prolific one. He wrote nearly three hundred majority opinions and ultimately became known as the leader of the Four Horsemen, a group of conservative justices who clashed repeatedly with FDR over sweeping legislation proposed in The New Deal.

Despite his reputation as a hardcore conservative, Sutherland was also a champion of American civil liberties. While in the U.S. Senate he was a driving force behind the Federal Employer Liability Act, helping create a system of compensation that afforded monetary relief for injuries suffered in the workplace. He was also an ardent supporter of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. As a member of the high court, Sutherland wrote the majority opinion in Powell v Alabama, in which nine young African American men known as the Scottsboro Boys were convicted of raping two white women and sentenced to death by an all white Alabama jury. Sutherland wrote that the conviction violated the defendants' right to due process, therein establishing a right to competent counsel involving all capital cases.

Two presentations at Saturday's event underscored Sutherland's prominence as an influential jurist. The first was an 18 minute documentary highlighting Sutherland's career, written by SALT TV contributor, Susan Wood from the Utah League Of Cities and Towns,. The work chronicles his years as a student at the Brigham Young Academy to the founding of the Provo based law firm of Thurman and Sutherland now known as Snow, Christensen and Martineau. The second presentation was a theatrical production, in which actor Michael Bennett, portraying Justice Sutherland, was interviewed by SALT TV anchorman Terry Wood.

The culmination of the event was the presentation of a bust commissioned by Snow, Christensen and Martineau to Chief Judge Ted Stewart. The piece will be displayed at the new federal courthouse currently under construction in downtown Salt Lake City.

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