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Full-Text Articles in Law
Gerrymandering And The Constitutional Norm Against Government Partisanship, Michael S. Kang
Gerrymandering And The Constitutional Norm Against Government Partisanship, Michael S. Kang
Michigan Law Review
This Article challenges the basic premise in the law of gerrymandering that partisanship is a constitutional government purpose at all. The central problem, Justice Scalia once explained in Vieth v. Jubilerer, is that partisan gerrymandering becomes unconstitutional only when it “has gone too far,” giving rise to the intractable inquiry into “how much is too much.” But the premise that partisanship is an ordinary and lawful purpose, articulated confidently as settled law and widely understood as such, is largely wrong as constitutional doctrine. The Article surveys constitutional law to demonstrate the vitality of an important, if implicit norm against …
Reforming Sec Alj Proceedings, Joanna Howard
Reforming Sec Alj Proceedings, Joanna Howard
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Note considers the current constitutional challenges to SEC administrative proceedings and suggests process reforms to enhance fairness for respondents. Challenges have developed since the Dodd-Frank Act expanded the SEC’s ability to use administrative proceedings. Arguments that there is a pre-existing flaw in the method of appointing administrative law judges provide the most potential for success. The Tenth Circuit’s December 2016 decision against the SEC in Bandimere has created a split, diverging from the D.C. Circuit’s analysis of that question in Lucia. Resolution by the Supreme Court may be inevitable. Even if the challengers do ultimately succeed, this will …
Black-Box Immigration Federalism, David S. Rubenstein
Black-Box Immigration Federalism, David S. Rubenstein
Michigan Law Review
In Immigration Outside the Law, Hiroshi Motomura confronts the three hardest questions in immigration today: what to do about our undocumented population, who should decide, and by what legal process. Motomura’s treatment is characteristically visionary, analytically rich, and eminently fair to competing views. The book’s intellectual arc begins with its title: “Immigration Outside the Law.” As the narrative unfolds, however, Motomura explains that undocumented immigrants are “Americans in waiting,” with moral and legal claims to societal integration.
Contingent Equal Protection: Reaching For Equality After Ricci And Pics, Jennifer S. Hendricks
Contingent Equal Protection: Reaching For Equality After Ricci And Pics, Jennifer S. Hendricks
Michigan Journal of Gender & Law
This Article uses the term contingent equal protection to describe the constitutional analysis that applies to a range of governmental efforts to ameliorate race and sex hierarchies. "Contingent" refers to the fact that the equal protection analysis is contingent upon the existence of structural, de facto inequality. Contingent equal protection cases include those that involve explicit race and sex classifications, facially neutral efforts to reduce inequality, and accommodation of sex differences to promote equality. Uniting all three kinds of cases under a single conceptual umbrella reveals the implications that developments in one area can have for the other two.
Locked In Inequality: The Persistence Of Discrimination, Daria Roithmayr
Locked In Inequality: The Persistence Of Discrimination, Daria Roithmayr
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
In this Article, the author argues that the practice of charging school fees to attend public school is an example of locked-in discrimination that persists over time, even in the absence of intentional discrimination. Exploring the lock-in model of discrimination in the unique context of South Africa, Roithmayr makes two central points. First, discriminatory practices often become locked into institutional structures because high switching costs-the costs of moving from a discriminatory practice to an inclusive one—make it too difficult for an institution to discontinue discriminating. Even when institutional actors are fully committed to eradicating racial disparity, they may be constrained …
What's Wrong With Our Talk About Race? On History, Particularity, And Affirmative Action, James Boyd White
What's Wrong With Our Talk About Race? On History, Particularity, And Affirmative Action, James Boyd White
Michigan Law Review
One of the striking and original achievements of the Michigan Law Review in its first century was the publication in 1989 of a Symposium entitled Legal Storytelling. Organized by the remarkable editor-in-chief, Kevin Kennedy - who tragically died not long after his graduation - the Symposium not only brought an important topic to the forefront of legal thinking, it did so in an extraordinarily interesting way. For this was not a mere collection of papers; the authors met in small editorial groups to discuss their work in detail, and as a result the whole project has a remarkable coherence and …
Dissecting The State: The Use Of Federal Law To Free State And Local Officials From State Legislatures' Control, Roderick M. Hills Jr.
Dissecting The State: The Use Of Federal Law To Free State And Local Officials From State Legislatures' Control, Roderick M. Hills Jr.
Michigan Law Review
In discussions about American federalism, it is common to speak of a "state government" as if it were a black box, an individual speaking with a single voice. State governments are, of course, no such thing. Rather, a "state" actually incorporates a bundle of different subdivisions, branches, and agencies controlled by politicians who often compete with each other for electoral success and governmental power. In particular, these institutions compete with each other for the power to control federal funds and implement federal programs. This article explores one aspect of this intrastate competition - the extent to which federal law can …
Inequality In Marital Liabilities: The Need For Equal Protection When Modifying The Necessaries Doctrine, Debra S. Betteridge
Inequality In Marital Liabilities: The Need For Equal Protection When Modifying The Necessaries Doctrine, Debra S. Betteridge
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Note contends that the "primary/secondary" modification is unconstitutional because it ignores the husband's equal protection rights while unlawfully stigmatizing women as dependent. Part I discusses how the growing independence of women has led courts to modify the common law doctrine. Part II develops the test that the Supreme Court would apply in judging the constitutionality of any modification of the doctrine. Part III applies this test to the "primary/secondary" modification and concludes that the modification is unconstitutional and, therefore, not a legitimate reformation of the common law necessaries doctrine.
The Conclusive Presumption Doctrine: Equal Process Or Due Protection?, Michigan Law Review
The Conclusive Presumption Doctrine: Equal Process Or Due Protection?, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
In Vlandis v. Kline and United States Department of Agriculture v. Murry, decided during its past term, the Supreme Court invoked the conclusive presumption doctrine to invalidate statutory provisions, that restricted access to certain state and federal government benefits. This term, in Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, the Court used the same rationale to strike down school board rules requiring teachers to take maternity leaves without pay. The essence of the doctrine is as follows: When a statutory provision imposes a burden upon a class of individuals for a particular purpose and certain individuals within the burdened class …
Boraas V. Village Of Belle Terre: The New, New Equal Protection, Michigan Law Review
Boraas V. Village Of Belle Terre: The New, New Equal Protection, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
In Boraas v. Village of Belle Terre a group of unrelated college students who rented a home in Belle Terre challenged a zoning ordinance that limited home occupancy to persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, finding for the students, decided the case using a novel equal protection theory, and the Supreme Court reversed. This Note deals with the theory adopted by the Second Circuit, its sources, and its future in light of the subsequent Supreme Court opinion in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez and the Supreme Court's analysis of …
The Powers Of The Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Roger C. Cramton
The Powers Of The Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Roger C. Cramton
Michigan Law Review
The thesis of this article is that the Attorney General has misread the language and actions of the constitution-makers. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission is an important and powerful agency of government which has substantial tasks to perform. But it does not possess the exclusive powers envisioned by the Attorney General. Other governmental units-the legislature, the executive, the courts, and the local governments-may continue to play a creative and positive role in fashioning a legal order that accords to every human being in society a reasonable opportunity to realize his potentialities.
The Constitution And Preclusion/Res Judicata, Allan D. Vestal
The Constitution And Preclusion/Res Judicata, Allan D. Vestal
Michigan Law Review
The interrelation of lawsuits is one of the most troublesome, yet least commented upon, areas of the law. The ramifications are great; related lawsuits may be pending concurrently, either brought by the same individual-repetitive litigation--or brought by different parties-reactive litigation. Such lawsuits may occur serially over a period of time. The courts are then faced with problems which have traditionally been discussed in terms of res judicata, bar, merger, or estoppel. It is impossible to cover the whole area or even a sizable part of it in a single article, but it is feasible to examine one facet which certainly …
The Administraton's Anti-Literacy Test Bill: Wholly Constitutional But Wholly Inadequate, William W. Van Alstyne
The Administraton's Anti-Literacy Test Bill: Wholly Constitutional But Wholly Inadequate, William W. Van Alstyne
Michigan Law Review
The nature of American national government has undergone a profound metamorphosis, moving from the near oligarchy which characterized the system as established in 1789 to the imperfectly representative government which it is today. At the time the Constitution was ratified, all restrictions then imposed by the several states on the right to vote for state and federal electors were preserved. These various limitations on the franchise restricted the active body politic to approximately four percent of the total population. Disfranchisement applied then, as now, to those under twenty-one, to those lacking sufficient residence in a given community, to the insane, …
Color Blindess But Not Myopia: A New Look At State Action, Equal Protection, And "Private" Racial Discrimination, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Color Blindess But Not Myopia: A New Look At State Action, Equal Protection, And "Private" Racial Discrimination, Theodore J. St. Antoine
Michigan Law Review
Mr. Justice Frankfurter has remarked: "In law also the right answer usually depends on putting the right question." For nearly one hundred years now the courts have been putting certain key questions whenever confronted by the claim that a person was being deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment of the federal constitution. From the time the "separate-but-equal" doctrine was enunciated in Plessy v. Ferguson until it was repudiated in the School Segregation Cases two principal questions were likely to be asked about any classification based on racial grounds: (I) Did the classification result, …
The Constitutions Of West Germany And The United States: A Comparative Study, Paul G. Kauper
The Constitutions Of West Germany And The United States: A Comparative Study, Paul G. Kauper
Michigan Law Review
The purpose of this article is to present a descriptive overall picture of the fundamental features of the system established by the Basic Law and at the same time point up significant comparisons and contrasts by reference to the Constitution. Eleven years have now elapsed since the Basic Law went into effect, and significant decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht ) noted at the appropriate points, serve to illuminate the working of the system established by it.
Civil Rights - Due Process - Action For Civil Conspiracy Based On Section 1983, James B. Blanchard
Civil Rights - Due Process - Action For Civil Conspiracy Based On Section 1983, James B. Blanchard
Michigan Law Review
In an action for damages based on sections 1983 and 1985 of the Civil Rights Act, plaintiff alleged that a county health officer and his deputy, pursuant to a conspiracy, forcibly took plaintiff to a mental hospital and confined him there for a period of two months in willful violation of a state court order requiring plaintiff to be brought before the court for a sanity hearing. Plaintiff also alleged a false return of citation to the court by the officers and an intentional suppression of facts by the officers and the examining physician regarding plaintiff's illegal detention. Plaintiff contended …
Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Sundy Closing Ordinances, David A. Nelson
Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Sundy Closing Ordinances, David A. Nelson
Michigan Law Review
The City of Chattanooga passed an ordinance making in unlawful "for any person, firm, corporation, or association operating a general merchandise store, department store, hardware, jewelry, furniture, grocery store, super market, meat market, or other similar establishments in the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee, to open such place of business on Sunday; or to sell or offer for sale, give away, or deliver any merchandise, groceries, hardware, jewelry, furniture, meat, produce, or other similar commodities or articles, on Sunday." Plaintiffs brought this action for a declaratory judgment that the ordinance was unconstitutional and for other relief. In the lower court the …
Civil Rights - Legislation - The Civil Rights Act Of 1957, Thomas R. Winquist S.Ed.
Civil Rights - Legislation - The Civil Rights Act Of 1957, Thomas R. Winquist S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
It is the purpose of this comment to note the nature of the prior legislation in the civil rights area, the provisions of the new act and the effect of the new act upon civil rights protection.
Constitutional Law - State Action - Effect Of State Court Interpretation Of A Contract, Dudley H. Chapman
Constitutional Law - State Action - Effect Of State Court Interpretation Of A Contract, Dudley H. Chapman
Michigan Law Review
Mrs. Doris Walker, president of her local union, was discharged by Cutter Laboratories in 1949 because of membership in the Communist Party and falsification of her employment application. The employer acquired knowledge of these facts in 1947, but did not act at that time to avoid charges of persecuting a union officer. The union, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement, which authorized discharge for "just cause" only, sought and obtained reinstatement from the arbitration board, which action was affirmed by the district court of appeal, but reversed by the California Supreme Court. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, …
Constitutional Law - Post-Conviction Due Process - Right Of Indigent To Review Of Non-Constitutional Trial Errors, Robert C. Casad S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - Post-Conviction Due Process - Right Of Indigent To Review Of Non-Constitutional Trial Errors, Robert C. Casad S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
The purpose of this comment is to examine a new development. in post-conviction due process: Griffin v. Illinois. This case announces a new principle of constitutional right under the Fourteenth Amendment based on an almost indistinguishable combination of due process and equal protection elements.
The Fourteenth Amendment Reconsidered, The Segregation Question, Alfred H. Kelly
The Fourteenth Amendment Reconsidered, The Segregation Question, Alfred H. Kelly
Michigan Law Review
Some sixty years ago in Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court of the United States adopted the now celebrated "separate but equal" doctrine as a constitutional guidepost for state segregation statutes. Justice Brown's opinion declared that state statutes imposing racial segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, provided only that the statute in question guaranteed equal facilities for the two races. Brown's argument rested on a historical theory of the intent, although he offered no evidence to support it. "The object of the amendment," he said, "was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, …
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Legality Of Plans For Maintaining School Segregation, John B. Huck
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Legality Of Plans For Maintaining School Segregation, John B. Huck
Michigan Law Review
On May 19, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that segregation in public schools was a denial of equal protection of the law. Since that date many and varied plans have been proposed to maintain segregated education by avoiding the impact of the decision. The legality of three of these proposed avoidance devices will be analyzed in this comment.
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Determinable Fee As Devise To Impose Racial Restrictions On Use Of Land, Charles B. Renfrew S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Determinable Fee As Devise To Impose Racial Restrictions On Use Of Land, Charles B. Renfrew S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Land was conveyed by deed to the Park and Recreation Commission, a municipal corporation. The grant was in the nature of a determinable fee, with the land to revert to the grantor if it was ever used by members of any race other than the white race. Members of the colored race petitioned the Park and Recreation Commission for permission to use the recreational facilities erected on the land conveyed and the commission then sought a declaratory judgment as to the legal effect of the possibility of reverter contained in the deed, joining the petitioners and the grantors of the …
Constitutional Law- Zoning - Private High Schools Excluded From Zone In Which Public High Schools Permitted, William D. Keeler S.Ed.
Constitutional Law- Zoning - Private High Schools Excluded From Zone In Which Public High Schools Permitted, William D. Keeler S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Among the uses permitted in the "A" residence zone by the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin zoning ordinance were "(e) Public Schools and Private Elementary Schools." The city building inspector denied to plaintiff, a private, non-profit religious corporation, a permit for the construction of a private high school in that zone. Plaintiff brought an action in mandamus to compel the issuance of such a permit, alleging that the ordinance deprived plaintiff of property without due process of law, and denied to it the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The lower court granted the writ. On appeal, held, …
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Discrimination Against Negroes In State Recreation Facilities, Sanford B. Hertz S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Discrimination Against Negroes In State Recreation Facilities, Sanford B. Hertz S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Three suits were brought to obtain injunctions to prevent racial segregation at public bathing beaches, bathhouses, and swimming pools. Because the cases raised the same legal issue they were consolidated for trial. The plaintiffs moved for judgment on the pleadings. Held, motion denied. The segregation of Negroes and whites at bathing beaches, bathhouses and swimming pools does not per se deny to Negroes any rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Lonesome v. Maxwell, (D.C. Md. 1954) 123 F. Supp. 193.
Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Miscegenation Statute Declared Unconstitutional, Donald D. Davis
Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Miscegenation Statute Declared Unconstitutional, Donald D. Davis
Michigan Law Review
Petitioners, a female white and a male Negro, applied to respondent, county clerk of Los Angeles County, for a marriage license. Respondent refused to issue the license, relying on sections 60 and 69 of the California Code. Petitioners brought a mandamus proceeding to compel respondent to issue the license, contending that the statutes relied on by respondent were unconstitutional in that they prohibited the free exercise of their religion. Held, in a four to three decision, the statute is unconstitutional. Three justices of the majority found that the statute violated the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution …
Constitutional Law--Anti-Lynching Legislation, William B. Harvey S.Ed.
Constitutional Law--Anti-Lynching Legislation, William B. Harvey S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Despite progress in recent years toward the elimination of lynching, the demand for adequate federal legislation to cope with the problem is unabated. For almost three decades Congress has considered a succession of anti-lynching bills, most of which have been favorably reported by committees. None has become law. Legislators and others opposing the enactment of a federal anti-lynching act have placed primary reliance on an asserted lack of constitutionality. It is argued that lynching is merely local crime within the scope of the power and responsibility of the states to enforce their own criminal law. The purpose of this comment …
Constitutional Law - Twenty-First Amendment - Validity Of State Statute Discriminating Against Liquor Imports, Benjamin Guille Cox
Constitutional Law - Twenty-First Amendment - Validity Of State Statute Discriminating Against Liquor Imports, Benjamin Guille Cox
Michigan Law Review
A Michigan statute prohibited local dealers from selling beer manufactured in a state designated by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, acting pursuant to statutory standards, as one which by its laws discriminated against Michigan-made beer. Because Indiana was one of ten states so designated, an Indiana brewing company filed a bill in the federal court to enjoin enforcement of the Michigan statute as unconstitutional under the interstate commerce, equal protection and due process clauses of the Federal Constitution. Held, that the bill should be dismissed, since the statute, even though discriminating among importers, was a valid enactment under the …
Taxation - Constitutionality Of Graduated Sales Taxes
Taxation - Constitutionality Of Graduated Sales Taxes
Michigan Law Review
A Kentucky statute of 1930 levied a tax on gross retail sales at rates varying from 1/20 of one per cent on gross sales up to $400,000 per year, to one per cent on all gross sales over $1,000,000 annually. For the purpose of this tax all retail stores under the same ownership, operation or control, directly or indirectly, were treated as a unit; hence, the heavier rates of the tax fell upon the chain stores and large department stores. A group of chain and department stores sought to enjoin the collection of the tax, as contrary to the state …
Constitutional Law-Service Of Process-Jurisdiction Over Non-Resident Acquired By Service Upon Resident Agent, Maurice S. Culp
Constitutional Law-Service Of Process-Jurisdiction Over Non-Resident Acquired By Service Upon Resident Agent, Maurice S. Culp
Michigan Law Review
Henry L. Doherty, a non-resident of the State of Iowa, did business within the state under the name of Henry L. Doherty & Co., with a district manager in charge of the office at Des Moines. Under the manager were clerks and salesmen engaged in the business of selling securities. One of these salesmen made an illegal sale to Goodman, and for damages resulting from the transaction Goodman brought suit in 1931, serving in the regular manner in accordance with the provisions of section 11079 of the Iowa Code the district agent at the Des Moines office. Doherty appeared specially …