Law Commons^™

Legislation - Requirement Of Definiteness In Statutory Standards, Robert B. Krueger S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

While it is universally recognized that definiteness in statutory standards is a condition prerequisite to the application of a statute, there is no agreement among either the courts or the writers as to the theory behind this requirement. However, common elements in each of the two prevalent theories indicate certain factors which may well be decisive on the question of definiteness in any given case. The purpose of this comment is to explore the practical implications of the interplay of these various factors and theories.

Constitutional Law - Federal Occupation Of Field Of Control Of Subversives, John C. Hall S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was chairman of the Communist Party for the western district of Pennsylvania. He was charged with willfully advocating the violent overthrow of the United States Government, and his conviction under state statute was sustained by the superior court. On appeal, held, reversed. The federal Smith Act pre-empted the field of control of subversive activities and the state law is therefore void. Commonwealth v. Nelson, 377 Pa. 58, 104 A. (2d) 133 (1954).

Impact Of The Commercial Code On Liability Of Parties To Negotiable Instruments In Michigan, Roy L. Steinheimer Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Since the Uniform Commercial Code is now effective in Pennsylvania and is under active consideration by official bodies in other states, it seems appropriate to investigate in some detail the impacts which this proposed legislation would have upon the accumulated business, legislative and judicial understanding and experience in the commercial law area in a specific jurisdiction. As an illustration of the problems which will be faced by judges, lawyers and businessmen in any jurisdiction which adopts the code, the writer has chosen to analyze some impacts which the code would have on commercial law in Michigan. Space limitations make it …

Corporations - De Facto Existence - Necessity Of Good Faith Attempt To Incorporate Under And Of Colorable Compliance With Incorporation Statute, Richard R. Dailey

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a purported holding corporation, was organized in 1922 before the enactment of a state statute authorizing such corporations. The articles of incorporation stated that the purpose of the corporation was "to acquire, own and hold" shares of stock in a realty company. There was actual user of corporate power by the defendant under this attempted incorporation until the time of this suit in 1954. The legislature in 1941 amended the incorporation statute to authorize incorporation of a holding company, but no action was taken by the defendant pursuant to this amended statute. In an action for a declaratory judgment, …

Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Interrogation Concerning Union Membership As An Unfair Labor Practice, John H. Leddy S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Concerned about possible loss of Allied Trades Council approval if a union not a member of the council should be elected by Syracuse Color Press employees in a forthcoming representation election, the plant superintendent called five employees into his private office. He and the general manager questioned them concerning membership and meetings of the nonmember union, and about employee sympathy regarding that union. The nonmember union filed a complaint and the trial examiner of the National Labor Relations Board found a violation of section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act, although he found no actual coercion of the employees. …

Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Right Of Union To Sue On Collective Agreement Under Section 301, Robert C. Fox S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff union brought suit in a federal district court under section 301 of the LMRA alleging that defendant employer had breached the collective agreement between them by failing to· pay some four thousand employees covered by the agreement for a day on which they did not work. Section 301(a) permits suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a union without respect to the amount in controversy or the citizenship of the parties. Plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment as to the rights of the parties under the agreement, an accounting to determine the amounts of the wages withheld, and …

Admiralty- Conflict Of Laws - Application Of The Jones Act, Robert B. Fiske, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Admiralty traditionally did not give a seaman a right of action for negligence unless it could be attributed to the unseaworthiness of the vessel. An injured seaman was limited to two remedies: an action for maintenance and cure, or an action based on -unseaworthiness. To remedy this situation, Congress in 1920 passed the Jones Act. This act was framed in terms of "any seaman who shall suffer personal injury in the course of his employment," and gave to such seamen all the rights granted by statutes modifying or extending the common law right or remedy in cases of personal injury …

Venue-The Need For A Change In The Venue Provisions Of The Federal Employers' Liability Act, S. I. Shuman S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In response to the need created by a highly dangerous era of railroad employment, and subsequent to the passage of similar legislation in Europe, there was enacted in 1906 a Federal Employers' Liability Act. The attempted coverage of the first FELA was too broad to withstand the constitutional scrutiny of a five-to-four Supreme Court, and it consequently remained for the Congress of 1908 to enact valid legislation for the protection of the railroad employee. Whether or not: the FELA is the most efficacious solution to the problem of the injured railroad employee continues to be warmly debated, but for the …

Regulation Of Business-Discriminatory Practices In The Form Of Advertising Allowances, Services, And Facilities Under The Robinson-Patman Act, Rinaldo L. Bianchi

Michigan Law Review

This comment will deal solely with the last two forms of discrimination prohibited by sections 2(d) and (e) of the Robinson-Patman Act, and will attempt to illustrate the present state of the law and offer a possible alternative construction and method of implementation of these sections. A recent ruling of the FTC in a group of cases appears to be significant with respect to controversial aspects of sections 2(d) and (e), and indicative of the present attitude of the Commission in the search for an adequate standard by which honest businessmen may keep within the confines of the law. These …

Legal Control Of Thermonuclear Energy: The Atomic Energy Act And The Hydrogen Program, John S. Walker

Michigan Law Review

Criticisms which can be focused on our thermonuclear program arise primarily from human factors and not from past or present legislative silence. Nevertheless, our atomic energy legislation can suitably attempt to maximize the opportunities for achieving thermonuclear objectives and to minimize the chances of misjudgment in administration of the law. It is the special responsibility of lawyers that the law adequately recognize and implement so important a field as thermonuclear energy, or that it fail in these respects. The following discussion approaches atomic energy legislation from the new but necessary perspective of the thermonuclear program.

Federal Taxation: Perspective During The Fifth Decade, J. W. Riehm

Michigan Law Review

Since the enactment of the income tax provisions of the Tariff Act of October 3, 1913 forty years have elapsed within which we have seen a profound change in the revenue system of our federal government, the growth of a great new branch of public law, the development of a highly specialized field of legal practice and the publication in legal periodicals of innumerable articles on the subject of taxation. Tax men can, with great pride, point out that technical proficiency has done an amazing job of keeping pace with the rapid expansion of the system from the utilization of …

Mortgages-Assignment Of Rents And Profits-New Michigan Statutory Treatment, J. David Voss S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Michigan legislature recently approved an act which affects the validity of assignments of rents in or in connection with mortgages on industrial or commercial property. To understand the impact of the new legislation, it is necessary to refer to the general mortgage law of Michigan. In particular, a similar act passed in 1925 relating to trust mortgages is an aid in construing the new act.

Arbitration-Enforceability Of Arbitration Agreement In Action By Investor Under The Securities Act Of 1933, Rinaldo L. Bianchi

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sustained a severe loss in the resale of securities bought from the defendant. Alleging fraud he sued under section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, which provides for liability when prospectuses or oral communications sent through channels of interstate commerce falsely state or omit a material fact so as to render the statement misleading. Pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, defendant moved for an order staying proceedings until arbitration had been had in accordance with an agreement between the parties. The district court denied the order, saying that the non-waiver clause of the Securities Act voided a waiver …

Proposed Legislation Regarding State Supervision Of Charities, George Gleason Bogert

Michigan Law Review

In the case of private trusts the dangers of long continued neglect or other breaches are not great. Definite or ascertainable persons have a financial interest in enforcement and can bring suit against the trustee. The beneficiaries are almost inevitably informed of their status soon after the creation of the trust. It is the duty of the trustee to notify them of the trust creation, and court notices, the receipt of benefits, and other incidents of trust administration bring home to the beneficiaries knowledge of their situations. Court accountings or voluntary reports generally keep the cestuis informed as to the …

Legislation-Statutory Construction-Validity Of Canon That Statutes In Derogation Of The Common Law Should Be Strictly Construed, Alan Reeve Hunt S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs brought suit to recover damages for the death of their adopted son under the Mississippi wrongful death act, which provides that an action may be brought by "the parent for the death of the child." The defendants incorporated in their answer a special plea that the statute does not vest a cause of action in adoptive parents. On appeal from a judgment sustaining this plea, without prejudice to the rights of the deceased's natural parents to bring another action, held, affirmed. The Mississippi wrongful death statute gives a right of action to natural parents only. Boroughs v. Oliver …

The Seaman As Ward Of The Admiralty, Martin J. Norris

Michigan Law Review

The seaman has a peculiar status in American law. He is in most instances a mature individual, sui juris, and therefore capable of entering into his own contracts but nonetheless his contractual dealings with shipmasters and owners are as carefully watched by our admiralty courts as though he were a minor or a young heir. He is in contemplation of the maritime law a ward of the admiralty courts.

The seaman's position in a legal and economic sense is unique. Singled out by the Congress of the United States as one of a class of workers requiring special consideration …

The Treble Damage Bonanza: New Doctrines Of Damages In Private Antitrust Suits, Homer Clark

Michigan Law Review

Section 7 of the Sherman Act, as amended by section 4 of the Clayton Act, gives a private right of action for treble damages to persons injured "in . . .business or property by reason of anything forbidden in the antitrust laws. . . ." The lucrative possibilities of this section for plaintiffs and their attorneys have recently received sufficient notoriety to arouse curiosity concerning the legal doctrines involved.

The purposes of the section have been said to include compensation for those affected by violations, prevention of violations, and assistance for the government in discovering and bringing before the courts …

Federal Control Of Health And Safety Standards In Peacetime Private Atomic Energy Activities, Samuel D. Estep

Michigan Law Review

This article is directed to the question of the power of Congress to provide for such regulation of those who handle radioactive materials in private industry and not to the policy question of whether Congress ought to attempt such regulation.

Evidence - Wiretapping And The Congress, Richard W. Pogue S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The familiar cry that "there ought to be a law" is frequently raised concerning the practice which Justice Holmes long ago characterized as "dirty business" - the tapping of telephone wires. Although existing legislation on both federal and state levels deals with interception of telephone messages, the almost universal conclusion of commentators on the subject has been that many of the present day statutes are inadequate. It is particularly apparent that the famous section 605 of the Federal Communications Act of 1934 has long been in need of replacement or thorough revision. The purpose of this comment is to examine …

Civil Procedure - Power Of State To Enjoin Its Citizens From Suing In Another State Under The Federal Employers' Liability Act, John S. Slavens S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was injured in the course of employment with respondent, an interstate railroad, in Ben Hill County, Georgia, the residence of petitioner. Invoking the Federal Employers' Liability Act, petitioner filed suit in Jefferson County, Alabama, where respondent was doing business. Respondent, relying on section 1404(a) of the Judicial Code, initiated an equity action in Ben Hill County, Georgia, to restrain petitioner from continuing his action in Alabama. The trial court sustained a demurrer to respondent's petition. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed, holding that Georgia law gave its courts power to prevent its citizens from bringing vexatious suits. On certiorari from …

Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Availability Of Injunctive Relief Under Section 301, George B. Berridge S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff union brought suit in a federal district court under section 301 of the LMRA to enjoin defendant employer from violating a collective bargaining agreement by refusing to give effect to an arbitration award directing the reinstatement of certain employees. On appeal from an order of the district court dismissing the complaint on the ground that the Norris-LaGuardia Act prevented the court from issuing an injunction, held, reversed. Section 301(a) of the LMRA authorizes federal courts to enjoin violations of collective agreements, and the Norris-LaGuardia Act does not forbid the granting of such relief. Milk and Ice Cream Drivers …