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Full-Text Articles in Law

Constitutional Torts, Christina B. Whitman Nov 1980

Constitutional Torts, Christina B. Whitman

Articles

In this Article, I analyze the significance of the overlap between state tort law remedies and remedies under section 1983. I conclude that the dissatisfaction with section 1983 cannot fairly be attributed to the fact that it has been read to provide a remedy that "supplements" state law. I argue that most of the anxiety over constitutional damage actions under section 1983 can be understood - and resolved - only by focusing on two other questions. The first of these concerns the appropriate reach of the Constitution. Ambivalence about section 1983 reflects, in part, a fear that the federal Constitution …


The Three Faces Of Double Jeopardy: Reflections On Government Appeals Of Criminal Sentences, Peter K. Westen Jun 1980

The Three Faces Of Double Jeopardy: Reflections On Government Appeals Of Criminal Sentences, Peter K. Westen

Michigan Law Review

Every now and then a case ·comes along that tests the fundamental premises of a body of law. United States v. DiFrancesco presents such a test to the law of double jeopardy, raising the question whether the government may unilaterally appeal a defendant's criminal sentence for the purpose of increasing the sentence. The question cannot be answered by facile reference to the text of the fifth amendment, because the terms of the double jeopardy clause are not self-defining. Nor can it be settled by reference to history, because the issue has not arisen with any frequency until now.


The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Legislating A Judicial Role In National Security Surveillance, Michigan Law Review Jun 1980

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Legislating A Judicial Role In National Security Surveillance, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note evaluates the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Section I summarizes the legal history of national security surveillance from 1940 until the passage of the FISA, and briefly discusses the three major circuit court rulings on warrantless foreign intelligence surveillance. Section II describes the provisions of the Act. Section III examines the Act's constitutionality, first considering the scope of congressional authority to regulate the conduct of foreign affairs, then considering whether the political question doctrine prevents judicial scrutiny of executive decisions to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance. The Note concludes that the FISA is an appropriate and constitutional …


After "Life For Erie--A Reply, Peter Westen May 1980

After "Life For Erie--A Reply, Peter Westen

Michigan Law Review

Erie, having "preoccupied the intellectually dominant group of academic lawyers rising to maturity during the 1940's and 1950's," is reported to be losing its "symbolic centrality" for the newest generation of legal scholars. Professor Redish's prompt and excited response to our essay proves one thing: there is at least one scholar in the country who, having come to legal maturity during the last decade, still remains capable of becoming impassioned about Erie RR v. Tompkins.


The Fifth Amendment And The Inference Of Guilt From Silence: Griffin V. California After Fifteen Years, Donald B. Ayer May 1980

The Fifth Amendment And The Inference Of Guilt From Silence: Griffin V. California After Fifteen Years, Donald B. Ayer

Michigan Law Review

This Article will begin with an examination of the historic (and present) purposes underlying the fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination, upon which any justification of the no-comment rule must ultimately rest. It will explore the danger that these purposes may be thwarted not only when defendants are actually compelled to be witnesses against themselves, but also when significant burdens are placed on defendants who choose not to testify. In Griffin, the Court reasoned that comment on the defendant's silence amounted to such an impermissible burden. But the Court failed to examine the weight of this burden. This failure makes …


Continuing The Erie Debate: A Response To Westen And Lehman, Martin H. Redish May 1980

Continuing The Erie Debate: A Response To Westen And Lehman, Martin H. Redish

Michigan Law Review

Although the Supreme Court has not spoken in detail on the Erie doctrine since its much-discussed decision in Hanna v. Plumer in 1965, commentary on the doctrine in the literature has undergone something of a "boomlet" in the last several years. Much of it has been stimulated by the groundbreaking article by Professor John Hart Ely in 1974. The latest contribution to the area is the recent article by Professor Peter Westen and Mr. Jeffrey Lehman appearing earlier this year in this journal. Unfortunately, their article does little to advance analysis of the Erie question, and contains numerous fundamental misstatements …


Dia-Tribe, Mark V. Tushnet Mar 1980

Dia-Tribe, Mark V. Tushnet

Michigan Law Review

A review of American Constitutional Law by Laurence H. Tribe


The Role Of Ideas In Legal History, Jay M. Feinman Mar 1980

The Role Of Ideas In Legal History, Jay M. Feinman

Michigan Law Review

A review of Patterns of American Legal Thought by G. Edward White


Reforming The Federal Grand Jury And The State Preliminary Hearing To Prevent Conviction Without Adjudication, Peter Arenella Feb 1980

Reforming The Federal Grand Jury And The State Preliminary Hearing To Prevent Conviction Without Adjudication, Peter Arenella

Michigan Law Review

It is this Article's thesis that the substitution of plea-bargaining for the criminal trial as our primary method for determining legal guilt requires a fundamental reassessment of our pretrial screening processes. In a system where the prosecutor's decision to file charges is usually followed by a negotiated guilty plea, we can no longer pretend that the pretrial process does not adjudicate the defendant's guilt. Accordingly, this Article argues that it no longer makes sense to rely primarily on the trial to safeguard essential accusatorial principles when pretrial screening devices like the preliminary hearing and the grand jury perform the only …


A Peek In Pandora's Box: Folding Carton And The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination In Civil Antitrust Actions, David D. Gregg Jan 1980

A Peek In Pandora's Box: Folding Carton And The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination In Civil Antitrust Actions, David D. Gregg

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The purpose of this article is to examine the dimensions of an individual's Fifth Amendment privilege in a civil antitrust action where the person has not yet been guaranteed that criminal prosecution is no longer possible. Two issues are apparent: first, under what conditions may a civil antitrust defendant properly invoke the privilege; second, if a civil antitrust plaintiff seeks to discover information privileged under the Fifth Amendment, what is the proper response to the problem? Folding Carton provides an excellent example of the process of antitrust litigation and demonstrates the tensions involved. Using that case as an example, the …


Is There Life For Erie After The Death Of Diversity?, Peter Westen, Jeffrey S. Lehman Jan 1980

Is There Life For Erie After The Death Of Diversity?, Peter Westen, Jeffrey S. Lehman

Michigan Law Review

This Article is essentially an elaboration of these three themes. Section I sets forth the fundamental principles, or "axioms," that determine whether a particular federal rule is pertinent and valid. Once these axioms are understood, it should become apparent that Erie problems, if not easy, are not uniquely difficult either; instead, they are the kinds of "ordinary" problems that are commonplace in other areas of law. Section II applies these axioms to cases in diversity to determine the validity of various kinds of federal rules of decision. Section III examines the validity of federal rules of decision in federal question …


Federalism And Social Change, Terrance Sandalow Jan 1980

Federalism And Social Change, Terrance Sandalow

Articles

A familiar passage in Professors Hart and Wechsler's casebook likens the relationship between federal and state law to that which exists between statutes and the common law. The underlying idea is that federal law rests upon a substructure of state law. "It builds upon legal relationships established by the states, altering or supplanting them only so far as necessary for [its] special purpose."' A similar relationship exists between state and federal judicial systems. State courts are courts of general jurisdiction, assumed to have authority to adjudicate controversies unless Congress has displaced them by conferring exclusive jurisdiction on federal courts. Federal …