Digital Commons Network^™

The New Supreme Court Rules, Curtis G. Shake

Indiana Law Journal

An address delivered by Judge Curtis G. Shake of the Indiana Supreme Court at the Fort Wayne Law Institute, August 22, 1940.

Constitutional Law - Psychopathic Proceeding - Due Process And Jury Trial, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Proceedings were brought against appellant under a Minnesota statute providing for commitment of psychopathic persons who showed habitual sexual misconduct. Appellant appealed to the state supreme court for a writ of prohibition, claiming denial of due process. Appellant's contentions were overruled and he appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Held, the statute did not deny due process. Minnesota ex rel. Pearson v. Probate Court, (U.S. 1940) 60 S. Ct. 523.

Trial - Directed Verdict Where Testimony Is Conflicting, Edward S. Biggar

Michigan Law Review

Defendants engaged the plaintiff to repair a barn roof. In his suit to recover damages for injuries sustained while on the defendants' premises, the plaintiff testified that he had been struck by a truck which one of the defendants had been driving. The defendants testified that they had discovered the plaintiff lying injured at the side of the barn, near a ladder which had been placed against it. Defendants moved for a directed verdict, which was denied, and after a verdict for the plaintiff, defendants appealed from the denial of their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Held, that …

Constitution Making By The Supreme Court, Hugh Evander Willis

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Judges And Other Court Officers In Indiana

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Oil And Gas In The Federal Court--Hutchinson V. Mccue, C. C. Williams Jr., Robert B. Goodwin

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Courts - Appeal And Error - Does A Statute Which Authorizes An Interlocutory Appeal Require Such Appeal?, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A bill seeking an injunction and an accounting was filed in a United States district court for alleged infringement by defendant of plaintiff's rights in the words of a song. Defendant's appeal from a decree enjoining further use of the song and directing an accounting for profits was denied, because the appeal had been taken more than thirty days after its entry and so the circuit court of appeals was without jurisdiction. The case proceeded to an accounting in the district court, and a final decree was entered from which defendant appealed again to the circuit court. Held, the …

Gibbons V. Ogden, Then And Now, Hugh Evander Willis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Appeal To The Conscience Of The Practicing Bar, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

The impact of the war will inevitably produce vast and profound, if not revolutionary changes in our economic and political arrangements, putting in jeopardy our democratic way of life. The ominous shadow of these changes that press upon us, due to the ascendancy of Force in so large a part of the world, gives rise to the question: What can we do about it? More particularly: What can the lawyer, as a lawyer, do about it? That leads to the deeper question of the role of Law in the successful functioning of the democratic process. In every state and city, …

Circuit Courts And The Nisi Prius System: The Making Of An Appellate Court, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

Judicial systems organized under the influence of the English tradition have exhibited a tendency to pass through four stages of development. (1) In the first stage the highest court (not taking into consideration legislative bodies) has final appellate jurisdiction and a superior original jurisdiction, civil and criminal. The court is composed of three or more judges who sit in bank for the trial of cases. The judges may sit at a central place or go on circuit throughout the territory. (2) In the second stage the highest court has both original and appellate jurisdiction but does not undertake to try …

Parties - Representative Suits - Is Represented Person A Party?, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The petitioner was a member of the class against whom a decree was rendered in a class suit. The petitioner was not named as a party and had no actual notice of the proceedings although notice was published according to court rules. After the time for appeal had expired, petitioner filed a petition to reopen the decree, under the terms of a statute which gave this right to any defendant against whom a court had rendered a decree without personal service. The petition was dismissed and the petitioner appealed. Held, order affirmed because the petitioner was not a party …

Appeal And Error - Harmless And Prejudicial Error, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In the trial of defendant for embezzlement, the prosecutor's opening address to the jury included a hearsay statement, regarding a tacit admission by defendant, tending to establish his guilt. Subsequently in the trial such hearsay statement was not allowed in evidence and the defendant now claims on appeal from conviction that the opening statement was prejudicial and thus he is entitled to a new trial. Held, that the statute governing reversals by an appellate court for prejudicial errors did not apply; and that a new trial follows as a matter of course because of a deprivation of the constitutional …

Contempt - Constitutional Law - Pardons - Power Of A Governor To Pardon For Contempt, W. Wallace Kent

Michigan Law Review

Dolan and Quinn were indicted for crime, and while awaiting trial were cited for contempt because of alleged attempts to influence members of the jury panel who might be drawn to sit on the jury in the trials of Dolan and Quinn. They were convicted of contempt and committed to jail, from which they petitioned the governor for pardon. The governor and his council adopted an order requiring the opinion of the justices of the Supreme Judicial Court on the question whether the governor had power to pardon such a contempt. Held, these contempts were criminal in their nature …

Evidence - Admissibility Of Hospital Records As Business Entries, John S. Pennell

Michigan Law Review

Following the report of the Commonwealth Fund Committee, in which they advocated the adoption of a model act to govern the admission of business entries as evidence, a comparatively small number of states have enacted legislation of this kind, either the model act or an act of similar nature. The extent of this comment is to show: (1) in what states hospital records have been held not to be admissible as business entries, the states where there has been no decision on the subject, and the states where the status of the rule is in doubt; (2) the states where …

Appeal And Error - Reviewability Of An Order Granting A New Trial, Robert M. Warren

Michigan Law Review

When a trial court sets aside a verdict and grants a new trial, the order may or may not be reviewable depending on the jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions which permit a review, the aggrieved party must save an exception to the order and assign this ruling as error when an appeal is ultimately taken from a subsequent appealable decision. In other jurisdictions, he may take an appeal directly from the order.

This comment will discuss (1) the common-law practice which permitted no review of an order granting a new trial; (2) the practice allowing the aggrieved party to save an …

Evidence - Use Of Transcript Of Grand Jury Proceedings To Refresh Memory Of Witness - Right Of Opponent To Inspect Transcript, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In a criminal prosecution under the anti-trust laws, counsel for the United States, in the cross-examination of witnesses for the defense, based certain questions upon a transcript of the testimony of these same witnesses before the grand jury. The transcripts were used for the sole purpose of refreshing the memories of the hostile witnesses. The transcripts were not placed in the hands of the witnesses, but the witnesses were asked, "Did you testify thus-and-so before the grand jury?" The district court refused the demand of the defense counsel that they be allowed to inspect the transcript thus used for the …

Practice And Procedure - General Verdict On Several Counts - Is New Trial Necessary When One Of Two Counts Is Unsupported By Evidence?, Edmund R. Blaske

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued defendant to recover damages arising from personal injuries claimed to have been suffered by him while in the employ of defendant, who was not under the workmen's compensation statute. In the first count of his declaration plaintiff claimed that defendant did not furnish him a safe place in which to work, and in the second count that defendant set him at work on dangerous materials. The jury returned a verdict of "guilty on both counts" and assessed "total damages" at $998.71. The trial court, on a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, ruled that as a matter of …

Federal Courts - Substance And Procedure - Effect Of Erie Railroad V. Tompkins And Rule 8 (C) Of The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure Upon Burden Of Proof Of Contributory Negligence, John H. Uhl

Michigan Law Review

The case of Erie Railroad v. Tompkins has wrought a great change in the relationship between the state and federal courts. Prior to its decision, the federal courts under the rule of Swift v. Tyson did not have to apply the state non-statutory law. They could apply their own notions as to what the law was in matters of general law relating to substance. The Conformity Act compelled the federal courts to follow the practice, pleading, and forms and modes of proceeding in like causes in the courts of the state within which the federal district courts were held. In …

Constitutional Law - Power Of Legislative Investigating Committee To Supersede Grand Jury, D. M. Swope

Michigan Law Review

The court of quarter sessions of Dauphin County ordered a grand jury investigation of alleged criminal misconduct by civil officers of the commonwealth. The governor then issued a call for a special session of the legislature. When this body had convened, seven members of the House of Representatives were appointed a committee to investigate the charges against those civil officers liable to impeachment. This committee sought a writ of prohibition to restrain the quarter sessions court from proceeding with the grand jury investigation, in pursuance of a statute enacted at the special session of the legislature giving the legislative investigating …

Administrative Law - Labor Law - Federal Courts - Equity - Propriety Of Interrogatories Directed To The Members Of The National Labor Relations Board, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The National Labor Relations Board brought a proceeding under section 10 of the National Labor Relations Act for the enforcement of an order to cease certain unfair labor practices, its petition stating that the board had considered the case before it and upon all the testimony and evidence made its findings of fact and issued its order. The answer alleged that the board did not consider the evidence but referred it to others for suggested findings of fact, and that with no opportunity to respondent to know of or criticize the suggestions they were adopted by the board without further …

Changes Suggested In Washington Practice And Procedure: Comparative Analysis Of State Rules And Statutes With New Federal Rules Points To Desirable Amendments, George Donworth, Laurence B. Hamblen, Elwood Hutcheson, John S. Robinson

Washington Law Review

In accordance with action taken at the July Convention of the Washington State Bar Association, the Board of Governors appointed a committee (Paul P. Ashley of Seattle, chairman) on Judicial Administration to concern itself with the matters considered and reported upon by the section on Judicial Administration of the American Bar Association. This committee divided itself into sections, and to each was assigned one of the subjects under consideration, including Pre-trial Procedure, Improvement in the Law of Evidence, Trial Practice and Administrative Agencies and Tribunals. Among other things the American Bar Association recommended that the State Bar Associations undertake to …

Courts-Conflicting Jurisdiction Between State And Federal Courts

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Prohibition - Is The Writ Of Prohibition A Prerogative Writ?, Russel T. Walker

Michigan Law Review

The writ of prohibition originally issued from the king's temporal courts to the ecclesiastical courts to prevent any usurpation of jurisdiction of the king's courts by the spiritual courts. Prohibition has been classed as one of the prerogative writs, that is, a writ issued by the extraordinary power of the sovereign to interfere with private rights in order to preserve the prerogatives and franchises of the state. The writ of prohibition differed historically from the other prerogative writs in that its issuance was not discretionary with the court, but rather it was held to issue as a matter of right …

Principal And Agent - Extent To Which An Agent May Testify As To The Existence Of The Agency, Arthur A. Greene Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The legal concept that opinions of lay witnesses are not admissible evidence is of comparatively recent origin, and a matter of historical accident. The theory underlying the exclusion of opinions of laymen is not one of qualification, but of policy. If the witness testifies as to the facts, his opinion or inference is superfluous, as it is the function of the jury to draw the inferences. The testimony of the agent to the existence of the agency relation is limited by this general rule. It is the purpose of this discussion to determine the line of demarcation between opinion and …

Administrative Law - Requirements Of "Full Hearing", Collins E. Brooks

Michigan Law Review

The late Professor Ernst Freund once wrote, "A judicial hearing involves two things: that the party be heard as to his own case and that he hear the case against him." Were the words "quasi-judicial" to be substituted for the word "judicial" in Dr. Freund's definition, it would be difficult more concisely to paraphrase the two decisions of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Morgan v. United States. Fifty suits, later consolidated for purposes of trial, were started by certain market agencies of the Kansas City Stockyards to enjoin the enforcement of an order of the …

Rules For Civil Procedure In The United States District Courts: Appellate Procedure, Burke G. Slaymaker

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Volume 15 (1937-1939)

Tennessee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Practice And Procedure In The Court Of Appeals, Richard C. Stoll, Henry E. Mcelwain, Harry B. Mackoy

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Work Of The Louisiana Supreme Court, 1937-38 Term: Criminal Law And Procedure, Jerome Hall

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Indiana Magistrates Court Act, James J. Robinson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.