Law Commons^™

Labor Law - When A "Labor Dispute" Exists Within Meaning Of The Norris-Laguardia Act, Erwin B. Ellmann

Michigan Law Review

Two recent Supreme Court decisions, interpreting the Norris-LaGuardia Act at its most troublesome area, confirm the Congressional revision of the rules governing scrimmages between capital and labor in the federal courts. In holding in Lauf v. Shinner that the struggle by an outside union for unionization of a shop, none of whose employees were affiliated with the organizing union, and in New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co. that agitation by members of a negro racial protective organization to compel employment of negro workers were "labor disputes" within the meaning of section 13, the Supreme Court has substantially put to …

Constitutional Law - Race Segregation Ordinance - Effect Of Military Order Of Governor Issued For Same Purpose

Michigan Law Review

A "segregation ordinance" of Oklahoma City, prospective in nature, made it unlawful for any negro to occupy as a residence any house or building located in a block wherein a majority of the buildings used were occupied by white persons. The initial step in the segregation of races in the city occurred when the Governor issued a military order for the separation of the races, because it appeared that riot and bloodshed were imminent; such order to remain in effect until an ordinance was passed in lieu of the order. Held, the ordinance was an invalid exercise of the …

Constitutional Law-Exclusion From Juries On Grounds Of Race And Color-Scottsboro Case

Michigan Law Review

A negro convicted of rape in one of the so-called "Scottsboro" cases moved to quash the indictment and the trial venire, alleging systematic exclusion of negroes from the grand and petit juries on the grounds of race and color. The trial court overruled the motions, and the Alabama Supreme Court sustained this decision, holding that the evidence failed to establish such exclusion. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, that the refusal to quash the indictment and trial venire was a denial of equal protection of the laws contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment, since the evidence on …

Constitutional Law - Discrimination Against Negroes - Control Of Party Membership, Everett S. Brown

Michigan Law Review

The petitioner, R. R. Grovey, allegedly a citizen of the United States and of Texas, and possessing all the qualifications of a voter, was refused a ballot for a Democratic party primary because he was of the Negro race. Grovey demanded ten dollars damages from the respondent, Albert Townsend, the county clerk, a state officer. The Revised Civil Statutes of Texas provide for primary elections and regulate absentee voting. When Grovey demanded of Townsend an absentee ballot it was refused in virtue of a resolution of the state Democratic convention of Texas, adopted May 24, 1932, as follows:

"Be it …

Segregation Of Residences Of Negroes, Arthur T. Martin

Michigan Law Review

Most white people do not want Negroes for neighbors. For many years this race prejudice alone seemed adequate to secure the type of domiciliary segregation which the majority desired. In recent years, however, Negro incursions into so-called white territory have become more numerous, and white landowners have resorted to legal devices to secure race exclusiveness in residential sections. In considering the validity of these segregation devices the courts have not ordinarily purported to take into account the social desirability of the end sought. No examination has been made of the factors back of Negro migration into white territory. No thought …

Primary Elections And The Constitution, Luther Harris Evans

Michigan Law Review

Recent attempts in Texas and elsewhere to exclude Negro voters from primary elections reveal the unsettled state of constitutional law in this field. Two struggles of principle, individualism versus police power and States' rights versus nationalism, are outlined in the judicial opinions reviewed below under the following headings: (I) Basis of state power over primaries; (II) Limitations on state power over primaries imposed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments; (III) Basis of state power over primaries for nominating United States Senators and Representatives; and (IV) Basis of national power over primaries for nominating United States Senators and Representatives.

Evidence-The Unchastity Of A Female Witness As A Ground For Impeaching Her Veracity

Michigan Law Review

The underlying question which we propose to consider is this: Has the trait of chastity any such definite correlation with that of veracity that courts are justified in using the former as a criterion of the latter? It must be apparent from even a brief survey of the decisions in this field, and the reasons given therefor, that on this question the courts are swayed far more than ordinarily by their emotional reactions. Buttressed with sentiments that cannot fail to stir the heart of the male in any monogamous community and riveted with references to religion as well as the …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Evidence - Presumptions

Michigan Law Review

The Alien Land Law of California forbids the acquisition of real property for agricultural purposes by aliens ineligible to citizenship; amendment 9b provides that proof of the acquisition of land by the defendant and of his being a member of a race ineligible to United States citizenship raises the presumption of ineligibility to citizenship against the defendant, and the burden is on him to show citizenship or eligibility thereto. Defendants, an American and a Japanese, were indicted for conspiracy to violate the act. No evidence as to the birthplace of the Japanese was adduced by either side, and both were …

Constitutional Law - Due Process And Equal Protection - Right Of Counsel

Michigan Law Review

The Scottsboro cases decided by the Supreme Court at the present term raise several interesting constitutional questions. The judgments were assailed on the ground that they were violative of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment in three respects: (1) that the negroes were tried by juries from which members of their race were systematically excluded; (2) that they were not accorded a fair, impartial and deliberate trial; (3) that due process was denied because the right of counsel, with the usual incidents of consultation and adequate preparation for trial, was lacking. While the Supreme Court …

Report On Crime And The Foreign Born, Joseph Cohen

Michigan Law Review

That the foreign born, more than the native born, tend to run afoul of the law, especially with respect to the more serious offenses, is a popular doctrine which critical opinion in the field of criminology has long been inclined either to qualify as to essential details or to contradict in toto. Twenty years back the Federal Immigration Commission reported that all the evidence then available indicated a lesser criminality on the part of the immigrant group as a whole. Succeeding studies have supported this conclusion. That an adverse view of the foreign born should persist in the face of …

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Disparity Of Privilege And Discrimination

Michigan Law Review

The equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment provides that no person or class of persons shall be denied the same protection of the laws that others in the same place and under like circumstances enjoy. But it has been said that "equality and not identity of privileges and rights is what is guaranteed to the citizen" by the fourteenth amendment. People v. Gallagher, 93 N. Y. 438, 45 Am. Rep. 232. Any law which in terms provides for identity of privileges and rights, but which operates in such a manner as to produce political or economic inequality. because of …

Does The Constitution Protect Free Speech, Herbert F. Goodrich

Michigan Law Review

Many thoughtful men and women, witnessing the suppression of speech, by means both judicial and extra-judicial, in the period through which we have just passed, have reluctantly concluded that our hard won ight of freedom of speech has been lost, swept away in the flood tide of war enthusiasm. They point to the example of the recent candidate for the presidency, Eugene Debs, who is still confined in a federal prison for words he uttered during the war. They call attention to the fact that the fate of Mr. Debs is no worse than that of scores of other persons, …

Alien Rights In The United States In Wartime, W C. Hunter

Michigan Law Review

The large number of aliens in the United States presents one of the many problems with which the Government has had to deal in the present war. Technically every immigrant from Germany and Austria-Hungary who has not taken out papers of naturalization and who therefor still owes allegiance to the Fatherland is an enemy alien. But while the great majority of these aliens are naturally sympathetic with German war aims, or at least are not ready to give their wholehearted support to the Allies, they are not a source of danger to the United States. Only a small section have …

Note And Comment, Albert V. Baumann Jr, Stannley E. Gifford, Donald F. Melhorn, Ralph W. Aigler

Michigan Law Review

Interstate Commerce and State Control Over Foreign Corporations - Since Bank of Augusta v. Earle, 13 Pet. 519, there seems to have been no real occasion to doubt the power of a state totally to exclude foreign corporations seeking to engage in intrastate business only. The power to exclude being absolute, there has been no question as to the right of the state to allow the entrance of the foreign corporation for such business upon terms, and the terms may be of any sort, reasonable or unreasonable, except that the corporation seeking to enter cannot as a condition precedent to …

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

Attachment - Property in Custodia Legis; Bankruptcy - Promise After Adjudication to Pay Dischargeable Debt; Bills and Notes - Provision for Extension of Time of Payment; Bills and Notes - Transfer as Collateral for Pre-Existing Debt; Carriers - Ticket Not Conclusive Evidence of Contract of Carriage; Constitutional Law - Race Discrimination in Selection of Jury; Corporations - Rights of Pledgor of Stock; Courts - English the Official Language of the Phillippines; Evidence - Declarations as to Pedigree; Evidence - Expert Testimony; Husband and Wife - Power of Husband to Dispose of his Personalty by Gift Causa Mortis; Insurance - Liability …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Appearance--appeal from Action in Rem as General Appearance; Bankruptcy--Suit by Trustee--Right to Trial by Jury; Bills and Notes--Draft by Agent on Principal--Necessity of Acceptance; Carriers--Merchandise as Baggage--Notice; Constitutional Law--Impairing Obligation of Contract--Clause of Insurance Contract Limiting the Time in Which to Bring Action; Constitutional Law--Invalidating Existing Contracts for Free Transportation; Contracts--Mutual Promises--Independent or Conditional; Courts--Supreme Court--Jurisdiction--Mandamus to Compel Entry of Judgment by Lower Court; Eminent Domain--Damages; Evidence--Confession of an Alleged Accomplice; Evidence--Statutes--Enrolled bill as Evidence; Homestead--Does Joinder of Wife to Release Dower Bar Her Homestead Right?; Insurance--Increase of Hazard; Libel and slander--Absolute Privilege--Judicial Proceedings; Parent and Child--May Parent Authorize Agent …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Bankruptcy--Surety's Rights to Subrogation--Preferred Claim; Bills and Notes--Negotiability--Effect of Words "Not Transferable" Added to Negotiable Note; Bills and Notes--Transfer of Note by Indorsement--What Law Governs the Indorser's Contract; Boundaries--Private Way--Title to Fee--Presumption; Civil Rights--Equal Privileges--Place of Amusement--Advertising Material; Constitutional Law--Inequality--classification--Child Labor; Constitutional Law--Limitations on the Taxing Power--Convict-Made Goods--Equal Protection of Laws; Contracts--Real Estate Brokers--Oral Authorization for Sale of Land--Commissions; Criminal Law--Post Office--Fraudulent Use of Mails; Damages--Measure of, in Case of Wrongful Death; Damages--Mitigation of, in Action for Personal Injuries--Duty to Submit to Medical Operation; Deed of Standing Timber--Time of Removal; Divorce--Extent of Relief--Absolute Divorce; Divorce--Vacation of Decree--Perjured Testimony; Evidence--Offer to …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Bills and Notes--Fictitious or Non-Existing Payee--Knowledge of Maker--English and American Views; Bills and Notes--Holder in Due Course; Carriers--Exemption from Liability for Negligence Under Special Contract; Colleges--Entrance Discriminations--Mandamus Not Remedy for Refusing Admission; Constitutional law--Aliens--Keeping for Immoral Purposes; Constitutional Law--Class Legislation--Licensing Itinerant Vendors; Constitutional Law--Legislative Power--Intoxicating Liquors--License System; Constitutional Law--Police Power--Intoxicating Liquors; Constitutional Law--Police Power--Ordinance Absolutely Prohibiting Billboards; Corporations--Ultra Vires--Organizing Another Corporation--Dissenting Stockholder; Deeds--Cancellation for Fraud--False Representations as to Intention; Deeds--Description--Parol Evidence to Explain Ambiguity; Deeds--Effect of Statute Abolishing the Use of Private Seals; Divorce--Adultery--Consent of Plaintiff; Elections--Qualification of Voters--Payment of Taxes--Payment by Unauthorized Person; Evidence--Privileged Communications--Professional Nurse and Patient; Health--Offering …

The Supreme Court And The Fourteenth Amendment, Edward S. Corwin

Michigan Law Review

It was formerly the wont of legal writers to regard court decisions in much the same way as the mathematician regards the x of an algebraic equation: given the facts of the case and the existing law, the outcome was inevitable. This unhistorical standpoint has now been largely abandoned. Not only is it admitted that judges in finding the law act not as automata, as mere adding machines, but creatively, but also that the considerations which determine their decisions, far from resting exclusively upon a narrowly syllogistic basis, often repose very immediately upon concrete and vital notions of what is …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Bankruptcy--Jurisdiction--Appointment of Referee; Carriers--Liability for Baggage--Proximate Cause; Constitutional Law--Impairing Obligation of Contract; Constitutional Law--Police Power--Regulation of Liquor Traffic; Contract of Sale--Written Contract--Alteration by Parol; Corporations--Existence Apart from Stockholders--Corporation Composed of Negroes Not a "Colored" Person; Corporations--Transfer of Shares--Bona Fide Purchasers--Estoppel; Damages--Measure for Wrongful Levy and Detention; Deeds--Distinguished from Wills--Power of Disposition Reserved; Deeds--Reservation of Right of Action for Damages--Liability of Subsequent Vendee; Descent and Distribution--Murderer's Right to Take His Statutory Share of His Victim's Estate; Divorce--Abandonment--Insanity of Deserting Spouse; Easements--Construction--Automobiles as Carriages; Elections--Irregularities in Ballots; Evidence--Admissions of a Trustee Against the Cestui Que Trust; Evidence--Judicial Notice of Foreign Law; Homestead--Mortgage …

Japanese School Incident At San Francisco From The Point Of View Of International And Constitutional Law, Theodore P. Ion.

Michigan Law Review

The act of the Board of Education of San Francisco in assigning to Japanese pupils separate school buildings, has been the occasion of a diplomatic incident which, although insignificant in itself, may lead to far reaching consequences both in regard to the internal affairs and the external relations of the country. It is neither the first, nor will it probably be the last sign, of the struggle for equality of the yellow with the white man, which may subsequently be emphasized in a more tangible, if not abrupt manner, resulting in a clash between the two races: the one, trying …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Attorney and Client--Unnecessary Services--Compensation; Bankruptcy--Title to Bankrupt's Property; Banks and Banking--Checks--Appropriation of Deposit--Garnishment; Chattel Mortgages--Retention of Possession and Power of Sale by Mortgagor--Fraud; Civil Rights--Power of Congress to Protect Against Individual Interference; Common Carriers--Limitation of Liability--Agreed Valuation; Constitutional Law--Delegation of Legislative Power--Regulations of Executive Departments; Constitutional Law--Regulation of Child Labor; Contracts--Mutuality--Consideration; Contracts--Restraint of Trade; Corporations--Misuse of Funds--Right of Stockholder to Sue; Corporations--Preferred Stock--Priorities--Cumulative Dividends; Covenants--Knowledge by the Grantee of Incumbrance; Criminal Law--conviction of Lesser Offense as Acquittal of Graver Offense--Former Jeopardy--Remanding Cause for Sentence; Damages--Mental Anguish--Undelivered Telegram; Deeds--Exceptions--Reservations--Abandonment of Right of Way--Reversion--Effect; Eminent Domain--Cemeteries; Evidence--Privileged Communications--Attorney and Client; Evidence--Res Gestae--Spontaneous …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Banks, National--Stockholders' Liability--Statute of Limitations; Bills and Notes--Indorsements Procured by Fraud; Carriers--Drover's pass--Release from Liability; Carriers--Unreasonable Freight Rates--Interstate Commerce Act--Common Law Remedy; Chattel Mortgages--Failure to Record--Mortgagor in Possession--Estoppel; Connecting Carriers--Loss of Goods--Liability; Constitutional Law--Civil Rights--Discrimination in Licenses; Constitutional Law--Eight Hour Law--Police Power--Health Regulations; Corporations--Duplicate Stock Certificate--Indemnity; Corporations--Subscription to Stock--Liability of Subscriber; Equity--Specific Performance--Contract to Make Will; Evidence--Physicians of conflicting Schools--Competency as Witnesses; Evidence--Radiograph--X-ray; Garnishment--One Railroad as Debtor of Another; Husband and Wife--Application of Doctrine of Tenancy by Entireties to Personality; Husband and Wife--Indebtedness to Wife--Notes--Presumption of Payment; Judgment--Default--appearance; Libel--Publishing of a White Man that He is "Colored"; Master and Servant--Concurrent …