Law Commons^™

Ely At The Altar: Political Process Theory Through The Lens Of The Marriage Debate, Jane S. Schacter

Michigan Law Review

Political process theory, closely associated with the work of John Hart Ely and footnote four in United States v. Carolene Products, has long been a staple of constitutional law and theory. It is best known for the idea that courts may legitimately reject the decisions of a majority when the democratic process that produced the decision was unfair to a disadvantaged social group. This Article analyzes political process theory through the lens of the contemporary debate over same-sex marriage. Its analysis is grounded in state supreme court decisions on the constitutionality of barring same-sex marriage, as well as the high-profile, …

In The Stationhouse After Dickerson, Charles D. Weisselberg

Michigan Law Review

Miranda v. Arizona established the high water mark of the protections afforded an accused during a custodial interrogation. During the decades that followed, the United States Supreme Court allowed Miranda's foundation to erode, inviting a direct challenge to the landmark ruling. In Dickerson v. United States, the Court turned back such a challenge and placed Miranda upon a more secure, constitutional footing. This Article explores the impact of Dickerson in the place where Miranda was meant to matter most: the stationhouse. As I have described elsewhere, Supreme Court decisions have influenced a number of California law enforcement agencies to instruct …

Constitutional Law-State Action: Significant Involvement In Ostensibly Private Discriminations-Mulkey V. Reitman, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

From 1959 through 1963, the California legislature enacted a series of statutes which prohibited racial discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. Most important among these were the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which proscribed racial discrimination by "business establishments of every kind,'' and the Rumford Fair Housing Act, which prohibited such conduct by anyone in the sale or rental of residential housing containing more than four units. Adverse public reaction to these statutes resulted in an amendment to the California constitution15 by means of an initiative measure in the general election of 1964. This amendment, popularly known as Proposition …

Evidence - Search And Seizure - Standing To Suppress Evidence Obtained By Unconstitutional Search And Seizure, Robert C. Casad S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The most radical departure of the new California doctrine from federal precedents, however, lies in the rejection of the requirement of "standing" which the federal courts have always imposed. In People v. Martin the California court announced its willingness to permit any criminal defendant to move for the exclusion of evidence obtained by unreasonable search and seizure -regardless of whether it was his premises that were searched or his property that was seized.

Rejection of the requirement of standing by this outstanding court calls for a re-evaluation of the requirement as it is imposed in every other jurisdiction that observes …

Constitutional Law-Validity Of New York Statute Setting Out Motorists' Implied Consent To Chemical Tests For Intoxication, Richard A. Shupe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The State of New York has approved a statute, to go into effect July 1, 1953, which stipulates that any person who operates a motor vehicle or motorcycle in the state shall be deemed to have given his consent to chemical tests of his breath, blood, urine, or saliva for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of his blood. If such a person refuses to allow the tests, they will not be made, but the commissioner shall revoke his license or permit to drive, including the nonresident operating privilege. This is the first statute of its type and merits …

Constitutional Law-Review Of State Court Determination-Supreme Court's Vacation Of State Court Judgment Without Giving Grounds For Reversal, Marcus A. Rowden S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States granted plaintiff's petition for certiorari to review a decision of the Supreme Court of California summarily denying plaintiff's application for habeas corpus. Previously the cause had been continued to enable petitioner to secure a determination of the California Supreme Court as to whether its judgment was intended to rest on an adequate independent state ground. It was later held that a letter from the clerk of that court was not a sufficient determination of that question, and petitioner was still unable to obtain that determination. Held, judgment of the Supreme Court of …

Constitutional Law-Exports-Immunity From State Taxation, Paul E. Anderson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Article 1, section 10 of the Constitution provides, "No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports . . . . " This clause places a limitation on state taxing power. The basic problem is to determine at what point goods in the process of being manufactured and prepared for foreign shipment become exports. If the goods are found to be exports, they are immune to state taxation. Two recent Supreme Court decisions have dealt with this question in an attempt to lay down a general rule applicable to future situations. Because …

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-Due Process-Right Of Prisoner Condemned To Death To Hearing On His Sanity, E. Blythe Stason Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, sentenced to death in California for murder, obtained a judicial stay of execution on the ground that he had become insane since sentence had been passed. Eighteen days later he was certified as sane by the medical superintendent of the state hospital, who made this determination by an ex parte examination without giving petitioner notice or opportunity of hearing. A new date for execution was then set. The applicable statute provided a procedure, enforceable by mandamus, whereby a sentenced prisoner could obtain a hearing on his sanity. The petitioner, without seeking mandamus to compel the warden to act, applied …

Constitutional Law-Interstate Commerce-State Regulation Of Insurance, Eugene H. Lattin

Michigan Law Review

The California Insurance Code forbids a person to act as agent for an insurance company until a license is obtained from the commissioner, and forbids acting as agent for any non-admitted insurer in the transaction of insurance business in the state. Summarily stated, the provisions for the admission of insurance companies forbid either foreign or domestic companies to do a life insurance business in California other than on a legal reserve basis, thereby excluding the company represented by appellant as its agent. Appellant was convicted for violations of both provisions of the law. He contended that these sections, as applied …

Constitutional Law - State Proration Acts - Regulation Of Production When Sales Are Largely Interstate, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff, a raisin packer in the state of California, was prevented from purchasing in open market to fill his out-of-state orders because of the California Agricultural Proration Act. By its provisions the producers of raisin grapes are required to turn over seventy per cent of their produce to state "pools." The remaining thirty per cent may be sold without restriction, providing the producer holds certificates issued by a commission. Packers are permitted to purchase only from such certificate holders. These packers operate within California, buying from producers and selling to jobbers, wholesalers, brokers, etc., for resale to the public. …

Constitutional Law - State Control Of Interstate Migration Of Indigents, Edward W. Adams

Michigan Law Review

The interstate migration of persons presents the United States with one of its most acute economic and social problems and carries in its wake a series of significant legal questions. Of paramount importance is the constitutional question whether the migration of indigents is subject to state control. To lend understanding to this problem, attention will be called first to the basic economic and social urges underlying interstate migration and second to the position of the indigent as defined by traditional legal concepts. To complete the discussion, suggestions will be offered for corrective federal legislation.

Constitutional Law - Federal Power To Dispose Of Property - Use Of Imposed Conditions To Induce State Conformity To Congressional Policy, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A federal grant of public land to the city of San Francisco, on condition that the land be used for municipal production and distribution- of water and electricity, contained an express prohibition against the sale of electric energy to any private company for resale. The United States sought to enjoin the city from carrying out a contract with a private corporation whereby the latter distributed the electricity to consumers at rates set by the state railroad commission. The federal circuit court of appeals declared the relationship between the city and corporation was that of agency, rather than vendor and vendee. …

Constitutional Law - Special Assessments - Property Owner's Right To Hearing Under Due Process Clause - Legislative Determination Of Benefits, Richard S. Brawerman

Michigan Law Review

The California legislature created the Los Angeles Flood Control District, empowered a board of supervisors to construct improvements and acquire property necessary or useful for carrying out the purposes of the act, and provided for the organization of drainage districts within the flood control district. An amendatory act provided that the board of supervisors might accept a transfer of "all, but not less than all," improvements of defined classes lying within the flood control district, whereupon the district should become liable for principal and interest of bonds afterward maturing which had been issued by any drainage district to cover the …

Constitutional Law - Intoxicating Liquors - Power Of A State To Regulate And Tax The Sale And Import Of Liquor In A National Park, Stanton J. Schuman

Michigan Law Review

California ceded to the United States the territory within the state borders known as Yosemite Park, reserving to the state the right to "tax persons and corporations, their franchises and property on the lands included in said parks." California then laid excise and license taxes on the sale and importation of intoxicating liquors. The tax act contained some regulatory measures and the license was granted only after certain regulations were satisfied. T was an operator of stores and tourists' camps in the park who protested payment of these taxes. Held, the tax provisions were enforceable; but the regulatory provisions …

Constitutional Law - Interstate Commerce Validity Of State Statute Regulating Automobiles Driven Into The State For Purpose Of Sale, Walter Probst Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A statute of California forbade the transportation of automobiles from without the state for the purpose of sale within or without the state unless there be attached to each vehicle a special permit issued by the State Motor Vehicle Department, for which a fifteen dollar fee was exacted. A suit was brought to restrain state officers from enforcing this statute. Held, the statute imposed an unconstitutional burden upon interstate commerce. Ingels v. Morf, (U.S. 1937) 57 S. Ct. 439, affirming (D. C. Cal. 1936) 14 F. Supp. 922.

Constitutional Law-Resale Price Maintenance -Fair Trade Acts, Joseph H. Mueller

Michigan Law Review

Four cases upholding the validity of the California and Illinois Fair Trade Acts were recently sustained by the United States Supreme Court. All four cases involved a similar set of facts. Plaintiffs, the owners or authorized distributors of certain well known trade-marked articles, entered into a series of contracts with wholesalers and retailers fixing the resale prices of their branded products. When defendants, certain retailers who had refused to enter into such agreements, persisted in reselling the articles below the prices stipulated in the contracts with other retailers, plaintiffs sued to enjoin them under the provisions of the state Fair …

Constitutional Law - Reinstatement Of Attorney - Constitutionality Of Pardon Statute - Legislative Encroachment On Judicial Power

Michigan Law Review

In proceedings based on the record of his conviction for attempted extortion, the petitioner was disbarred. Having received a full pardon from the governor, he sought reinstatement, relying on a statute which purported to make reinstatement mandatory on the court upon proof of the pardon. Held, the statute is unconstitutional in so far as it directs the court to reinstate a disbarred attorney without a showing of moral rehabilitation. It is an encroachment by the legislature upon the inherent power of the court to admit attorneys to practice and in effect vacates a judicial order by legislative mandate. In …

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Revocationof Driver's License

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner's license was suspended under a statute which provided that if a judgment for personal injuries or property damage resulting from the ownership or operation of an automobile remained unpaid fifteen days after it became final, the driver's license should be revoked or suspended until payment and until proof offered of ability to pay future claims. Arrested and jailed for driving without a license, petitioner sought release by writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the statute was unconstitutional. Held, that the operation of the statute was discriminatory and based on an unnatural classification; petitioner discharged. Ex parte …