Law Commons^™

Obscenity In The Supreme Court: A Note On Jacobellis V. Ohio, Joseph O'Meara, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

According to the opinion of Mr. Justice Brennan in Jacobellis v. Ohio, the Supreme Court itself must weigh and decide the issues in obscenity cases; it must decide whether the disputed material is obscene; and it must decide this according to the standards of the community, that is, the whole country—all 50 States. In other words, the Court must apply a national standard. This note is addressed primarily to that opinion.

Obscenity In The Supreme Court: A Note On Jacobellis V. Ohio, Thomas L. Shaffer, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

This article suggests that the determination of "obscenity" in cases should be sent to the jury to determine under proper instructions rather than judges because the jury reflects the community's morals and mores more truly than even the wisest of judges. The jury is the mechanism provided by the common law for determination of questions involving the presence or absence of due care, reasonableness, prudence, decency and other concepts reflecting the common sense and/or conscience of a community. Specifically, this article argues that the obscenity determination should be determined with reference to the time and place of the community of …

Report Of The Dean 1963–1964, Joseph O'Meara

1952–1968: Joseph O'Meara

Dean Joseph O'Meara summarizes and comments upon the 1963–1964 academic year at Notre Dame Law School. Topics include: the student body, student activities—including bar examination results—program of instruction, faculty, special events, law building, the Natural Law Institute, the Notre Dame Law Association, the Advisory Council, and faculty publications.

Recent Decisions (Trusts-Conflict Of Laws), Fernand N. Dutile

Journal Articles

Examining the Texas case Wilson v. Smith, 373 S.W. 2d 514 (Tex. Civ. App. 1963), which invalidated a testamentary trust. The trust provided for the establishment of a clinic-hospital which would apply the methods of nutrition, blood chemistry, radionics and other types of non-medical healing. The court addressed a conflict of laws issue and ultimately invalidated the trust on public policy grounds.

119th University Of Notre Dame Commencement And Mass Program, University Of Notre Dame

Commencement Programs

119th University of Notre Dame Commencement and Mass Program

The Right To Vote And Its Implementation, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

The quest for political equality has been a major theme of American history. Indeed, since 1789, the American political system has undergone steady progress toward increasing democratization.' Slavery was abolished in 1865. The right to vote is no longer limited by restrictions based on property, race, color, or sex. Since 1913 United States senators have been elected by the people. Political equality is afforded to the citizens of each state through the equal protection and due process clauses of the fourteenth amendment. And the operation of the electoral college, originally intended to house a political elite, has been so modified …

Bulletin Of The University Of Notre Dame The Law School 1964–65, Volume 61, Number 3, University Of Notre Dame

Bulletins of Information

The Notre Dame Law School, established in 1869, is the oldest Catholic law school in the United States. In keeping with its character as a national law school, the program of instruction is designed to equip a student to practice law in any jurisdiction; and the School numbers among its graduates members of the bar in every state of the Union. It is approved by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools.

PURPOSE

Drawing inspiration, as it does, from the Christian tradition, The Law School, while aiming first of all at technical …

Recent Decisions (Criminal Law-Confessions-Reaffirmation Of Inadmissible Confession Also Held Inadmissible), Fernand N. Dutile

Journal Articles

Examining Killough v. United States, 315 F. 2d 241 (D.C. Cir. 1962) which held that the oral reaffirmation of a day-old confession obtained from the defendant without representation by counsel was inadmissible in a federal trial. Professor Dutile notes that this case marked a "further extension" of the exclusionary principle.

Sit-Ins: Proceed With Caution, Charles E. Rice

Journal Articles

In the current racial contentions, the sit-in demonstration has proved to be an effective and disturbing weapon against segregation by privately-owned business establishments. It is effective because the imposition of economic loss, through monopolizing the seats in a restaurant to the exclusion of potential customers, can break down a proprietor's pattern of segregation more relentlessly than persuasion. It is disturbing because the sit-in poses a direct challenge to accustomed understanding of private property rights.

The Legality Of De Facto Segregation, Charles E. Rice

Journal Articles

There are three basic fields with which a discussion of racial segregation must deal: education, employment and housing. Opinions will vary as to which, if any, is paramount, but none will deny that they are interrelated. In all three areas, the engines of legal proscription have been brought to bear to eliminate affirmative, legally-sanctioned segregation. But there remains the stubborn fact that the removal of legal discrimination has not been attended by either a resultant improvement in the living conditions of minority groups or a substantial integration of the races. The lack of causal connection between the elimination of legal …

The Supreme Court, Politics, And Modern Society, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

Donald P. Kommers reviews Charles S. Hyneman's The Supreme Court on Trial (New York: Atherton Press, 1963).

Introduction, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

A symposium was held on February 29, 1964, devoted to the constitutional amendments proposed by the Council of State Governments. Very briefly these amendments would (1) vest power to amend the Constitution in State legislatures; (2) set up a "Court of the Union," composed of the chief justice of the supreme court of each of the 50 states, which would have authority to review "any judgment of the Supreme Court relating to the rights reserved to the states or to the people by this Constitution"; (3) take from the federal courts all jurisdiction over the apportionment of representation in State …

The Meaning Of "Religion" In The School Prayer Cases, Charles E. Rice

Journal Articles

It is not my purpose here to discuss the possible extensions of the school prayer decisions. Rather, I am concerned only with the thought that the unqualified incorporation of the broad definition of religion into the establishment clause is perhaps the root fallacy in the Court's reasoning. In order to avoid an institutionalization of agnosticism as the official public religion of this country, the Court ought to acknowledge that nontheistic religions are not entitled to such unqualified recognition under the establishment clause as to bar even a simple governmental affirmation that in fact the Declaration of Independence is true when …

The Emergence Of Law And Justice In Pre-Territorial Wisconsin, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

The article discusses the history of law and courts in Wisconsin from the period of French exploration in the 17th century to the 1820s. It focuses on the emergence of a structure of law and justice based on the common law tradition in Wisconsin, and argues this system played a significant role in disciplining its society. Law and courts, according to the article, fostered civility between frontiersmen, making them accustomed to the principles of fair play and equity and the practice of litigation when their interests were threatened. This development brought order to the area and shaped the future course …

Let Us Pray - An Amendment To The Constitution, Charles E. Rice

Journal Articles

The catholic, and especially the Catholic lawyer, ought to consider the school prayer matter in several aspects. One aspect is the problem of constitutionality. Another is the question of the practical benefit to be derived from the institutionalization of governmentally-sponsored religious observances. And a third is the problem of whether the long-term interest of the Church will be served by an amendment to overrule the United States Supreme Court's decisions. It will be profitable here to discuss the problems of constitutionality and practical benefit before proceeding to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic opponents of an amendment are, perhaps …

Appellate Courts And Prejudiced Verdicts, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

Professor Shaffer maintains that the preservation of fair trial in civil cases requires an increased Bench and Bar effort to control prejudicial trial conduct. To support this assertion, he investigates sources of jury prejudice, available and proposed court devices for remedying inadvertent and intentional misconduct by trial attorneys, and appellate court avoidance of corrective sanctions.

The Rule Of Announcement And Unlawful Entry: Miller V. United States And Ker V. California, G. Robert Blakey Professor

Journal Articles

Mr. Justice Frankfurter, in his classic dissent in United States v. Rabinowitz, pointed out that "the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people." Few cases decided by the Supreme Court since Rabinowitz have better illustrated that observation than Miller v. United States and Ker v. California. This Article will consider the problems posed in the administration of federal criminal justice by the "liberty forged" in these two decisions.

Until the Miller decision in 1958, the Supreme Court had never squarely considered and decided a question of announcement and unlawful entry. It is therefore …