Law Commons^™

Special Problems In Drafting And Interpreting Procedural Codes And Rules, Charles E. Clark

Vanderbilt Law Review

My contribution to this symposium will consist of the advancement of one main thesis and four subordinate and supporting ones. My main thesis is simple indeed. Procedural rules must be viewed as grants or creations of judicial power. My subordinate theses then indicate certain complications showing that in practice the matter cannot be thus wholly disposed of. Though too much reform has so assumed, it turns out that telling a court it has power does not guarantee exercise of that power. Judicial inertia, precedent-mindedness, love of technical niceties--all play their part in halting procedural improvement. So does, even more, a …

The Interpretation Of Statutes In Modern British Law, W. Friedmann

Vanderbilt Law Review

Mr. Justice Frankfurter recently said that the number of cases coming before the Supreme Court of the United States which were not based on statutes was "reduced almost to zero." This growth of statutory as against pure case law is, of course, not confined to the United States. It inevitably accompanies the social welfare state and the increase in government which every modern industrial society has experienced and which two world wars, with their need for the total mobilization of resources, have further stimulated. Apart from these sociological factors which affect states with the most different legal systems, it is …

Legal Writing On Statutory Construction, Paul H. Sanders, John W. Wade

Vanderbilt Law Review

This review does not purport to provide a complete critique of the various works in the field of Statutory Construction. It is not directed primarily to the specialist. Instead, it is intended to bring together for the benefit of the general practitioner the various books and other writings on the subject and thus amounts essentially to a bibliography. But an effort has been made to suggest the approach of the longer works and to estimate in some measure their value. Thus this symposium on the subject of Statutory Construction can be rounded out by providing convenient reference to other writings …

The Tennessee Law Of Adoption, William Merlin

Vanderbilt Law Review

On April 6, 1949, the Tennessee Legislature passed the most comprehensive adoption act in the state's history.' The purpose of this Note is to evaluate that statute, bringing up to date the status of the adoption law in the state. Primarily, it is hoped that this Note will be of help to the practicing lawyer; and for this reason, the text has been divided to show separately the procedural and substantive aspects of the law. Of course, the distinctions made are sometimes arbitrary and unnatural. At times natural sequence has been altered for the sake of clarity. But it is …

Book Reviews, Paul H. Douglas (Reviewer), Cecil Sims (Reviewer), Ray Forrester (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Book Reviews

Congress on Trial By James M. Burns New York: Harper & Brothers,1949. Pp. vii, 224. $3.00

reviewer: Paul H. Douglas

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Language and the Law By Frederick A. Philbrick New York: MacMillanCo., 1949. Pp. v, 254. $3.75

reviewer: Cecil Sims

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Commentary on the U.S. Judicial Code By James William Moore Albany: Matthew Bender and Company, 1949. Pp. viii, 684. $10.00

reviewer: Ray Forrester

Interpretation Of Statutes In Derogation Of The Common Law, Jefferson B. Fordham, J. Russell Leach

Vanderbilt Law Review

The tendency of the lex scripta to supplant the lex von scripta has carried far since Roscoe Pound published his provocative paper on "Common Law and Legislation" in 1908. One can note at the same time indications that statute law is being received with much less hostility. The surprising thing, however, is that legislation in general is not at this day getting a far more sympathetic reception by lawyers and judges. Clearly they make up the professional group which has the largest share in the drafting and enactment of statutes. In actual practice, moreover, lawyers are given to committing private …

Factors Influencing Judges In Interpreting Statutes, Arthur W. Phelps

Vanderbilt Law Review

There has been recent discussion of abandoning the literal meaning rule and most of the other rules of statutory construction. A broader principle is favored which will allow the full play of the rational processes of the court. This view has great appeal, and, in terms of freeing judges who apply rules as rules without regard to their object, serves a need. But if it means a sudden release of the judiciary from always starting with a statute as it reads--as it is written--as it has meaning for most of us--it is a harmful suggestion. Law is something more than …

A Study Of Interpretation In The Civil Law, Mitchell Franklin

Vanderbilt Law Review

Pound has indicated that comprehensively law connotes legal precepts, received legal ideals or ideological aims, and professional legal method or process.' Historically the interpretation of law in the main has been professional, such power being exercised by means of juristic ideas pertaining to legal method.

Hence Coke referred to the "artificial reason" of the English common law; and Windscheid said that the legal method of the Roman law was not a science, but an "art" (Kunst), which had to be learned through experience as well as through theory.

Past attempts to defeat such esoteric control of law have not been …

Trends In The Use Of Extrinsic Aids In Statutory Interpretation, Glendon M. Fisher Jr., William J. Harbison

Vanderbilt Law Review

As evidenced by the increasing numbers of court decisions which involve statutes,' and by the large and continually growing literature in the field, the subject of statutory interpretation is one of the most important in modern law. Although it is a field in which exact rules of automatic application can very seldom be formulated, only recently a member of the Supreme Court pointed out the great need for a set of "consistently accepted principles of interpretation." Since the primary purpose of all statutory interpretation is to ascertain the meaning and to effectuate the purposes of the legislature, and since words …

Tort Liability Of Oil Companies For Acts Of Service Station Operators, William T. Gamble

Vanderbilt Law Review

Since the advent of the automobile, travel by motor vehicle has been ever-increasingly prevalent, and consumption of gasoline in the large amounts so required' has necessitated the existence of a great number of retail service stations. For various reasons the major producers of petroleum products have thought it desirable to retain some connection with the distribution of their products until those products pass to the hands of consumers, and consequently nearly all such major producers have established extensive systems of retail outlets which sell only that producer's products and under its exclusive trade names. Because of the great number of …

Some Statutory Construction Problems And Approaches In Criminal Law, James C. Quarles

Vanderbilt Law Review

Statutory construction and interpretation, important in every field of law, is vital in a field containing a large number of legislative acts and a considerable body of appellate court decisions construing them. For this reason alone, statutory construction problems are particularly significant in criminal law. Many American jurisdictions punish no activity other than that expressly declared criminal by statute.' The Federal Government, which of course punishes no crimes except those defined by Congress, has contributed to this growth of the criminal law through the imposition of many duties and the proscription of various activities relating to the collection of revenue, …

Cooperative Action For Improved Statutory Interpretation, Frank E. Horack Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

During the past quarter century there has been a constant acceleration in legal periodical comment concerning statutory construction. Judges, practicing attorneys and law professors all have echoed basic dissatisfaction with the operation and application of the rules of statutory interpretation. Some would return to the "safe old ground" of literal interpretation; others would find relief in an expanded use of extrinsic aids; all find the process in a state of confusion and disintegration.

Remarks On The Theory Of Appellate Decision And The Rules Or Canons About How Statutes Are To Be Construed, Karl N. Llwellyn

Vanderbilt Law Review

One does not progress far into legal life without learning that there is no single right and accurate way of reading one case, or of reading a bunch of cases. For

(1) Impeccable and correct doctrine makes clear that a case "holds"with authority only so much of what the opinion says as is absolutely necessary to sustain the judgment. Anything else is unnecessary and "distinguishable" and noncontrolling for the future. Indeed, if the judgment rests on two, three or four rulings, any of them can be rightly and righteously knocked out, for the future, as being thus "unnecessary." Moreover, any …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Automobiles--Family Purpose Doctrine--Automobile Owned by other than Head of Family

Contracts--Effect of Illegality--Recover Where No Moral Turpitude involved and Purpose of Statute Not Violated

Corporations--Liability of Officer to Creditors for Excessive Salary--Burden of Proof on Defendant to Show Reasonableness

Criminal Law--Proximate Cause--Responsibility for Death Due to Acts of Persons Opposing a Felony

Criminal Law--Violation of the Mann Act--Actual Transportation Entirely within a Single State

Evidence--Confidential Communications between Spouses--Admissibility of Testimony as to Conduct of Party Spouse

Insurance--Commercial--Radius Endorsement in Automobile Insurance--Effect of Breach after Return to Designated Area

Personal Property--Finding Lost Goods--Chambermaid's Right to Goods Found by Her …

Statutory Construction In Resolving Conflicts Between State And Local Legislation, Charles S. Rhyme

Vanderbilt Law Review

As creatures of the states, our municipalities occupy a unique position in our governmental scheme. Not endowed with sovereignty, the municipality possesses no inherent powers, and can only do that which is authorized by the state.' The exercise of local powers, therefore, becomes the exercise of those powers which have been conferred upon it by state legislative action. Possible exceptions to this are those states in which "home rule" has been constitutionally conferred upon municipalities, by which authority to form local governments and to administer municipal affairs in the manner desired by the local electorate prevails. In view of the …

The Tidewater Case And Limited Jurisdiction Of Federal "Constitutional" Courts, Joe H. Foy

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the recent case of National Mutual Insurance Ca. v. Tidewater Transfer Co.,' the Act of April 20, 1940, allowing citizens of the District of Columbia and of the territories to sue and be sued in the district courts on the basis of diverse citizenship, was held constitutional insofar as it applies to citizens of the District of Columbia. The practical effect of the decision, in allowing Congress to remove a basic inequality among citizens of the United States, is perhaps commendable. However, there are broad theoretical implications in this holding, emphasized by sharp debate among the justices, which could …

Basic Coverage Of The Amended Federal Wage And Hour Law, Paul H. Sanders

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1949 became effective on January 25, 1950, as a major revision of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. New "white-collar" regulations of the Wage-Hour Administrator, governing the exemption from this statute of executive, administrative and professional employees, likewise became operative on the same date. Together, these changes bring about a most substantial alteration in pre-existing federal controls over minimum wages, overtime pay requirements and child labor.

Admissibility In Tennessee Of Spouses' Testimony Concerning Their Private Affairs, Barrett B. Sutton

Vanderbilt Law Review

In Tennessee neither husband nor wife may testify to matters occurring between them by reason of the marital relation.' The purpose of this rule is to insure "a free exchange of confidences" between husband and wife upon the theory that mutual confidence is a necessary element of successful marriage. The other states agree in principle; every state places some restriction upon the testimony of husband and wife. Although this Note is primarily concerned with Tennessee law, there are differences in the restrictions imposed by various states which make some comparison desirable. The common law is the starting point.

Book Notes And Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Book Notes

Labor Relations and Federal Law

By Donald H. Wollett

Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1949. Pp. xxv, 148, 30. $3.00

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Tennessee Personal Injury Fact Digest

Compiled by Eugene McSweeney

Nashville: The Fact Digest Co., 1949. Pp. 124. $5.50

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BOOKS RECEIVED

Cases on Federal Taxation

By Roswell Magill

Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1950. Pp. i, 546. $7.00

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Cases on Trusts

By George Gleason Bogert

Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1950. Pp. i, 1041. $7.50

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Differences in Income for Accounting and Federal Income Tax

By Clarence F. Reimer

Chicago: Commerce Clearing House, 1949. Pp. iii,184. …

Tort Actions For Injuries To Unborn Infants, William T. Gamble

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recently two American courts have recognized a right of infants to recover for prenatal injuries. In so meeting the challenge of the common law that "for every wrong there is a remedy" they have taken a step which no other court of final jurisdiction has taken on the strength of the common law alone...

That an infant "en ventre sa mere" is a distinct entity is a scientific, common sense, legally recognized fact. That this entity may suffer prenatal injuries and carry those injuries into postnatal life is well known. That in many cases adequate proof of causal relation could …

The Constitutionality Of The New Federal Estate Tax Definition Of A Transfer Taking Effect At Death, Charles L.B. Lowndes

Vanderbilt Law Review

The manifest reluctance in recent years on the part of the Supreme Court to declare any provision of the Federal Estate Tax unconstitutional may have given rise to the assumption that there are no constitutional limitations on the transfers which Congress can tax under the estate tax. One of the 1949 amendments to the tax should test the validity of this assumption. In an effort to bring some order out of the chaos stemming immediately from Helvering v. Hallock, and immediately from Spiegel's Estate v. Commissioner, Congress provided recently that a transfer after October 7, 1949, shall be deemed to …

Protection Of The Content Of Radio And Television Programs By Common Law Copyright, Harry P. Warner

Vanderbilt Law Review

Common law copyright has reference to an individual's "right in his original, unpublished, intellectual productions," which are protected via the common law. Common law copyright antedates the copyright statutes and can furnish the creative artist adequate and complete protection within limits. The common law rights are protected independently of the statute until the creative artist has permitted the contents of his work to be communicated generally to the public. As a matter of fact, section 2 of the Copyright Code expressly provides that statutory copyright will not annul or limit the enforcement of common law rights at law or in …

The Effect Of Renunciations And Compromises On Death And Gift Taxes, Walter E. Black Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

When a man dies, it must be decided how his property shall be distributed. Ordinarily, the distribution will follow his express intention as evidenced in a will or the presumed intention of the state laws of intestacy. In these ordinary situations, the state death tax is applied to the various legacies and devises and to the property passing by descent in the manner provided by the state tax statutes. Thus, the majority of testamentary distributions are carried out without any state death tax problems.

However, in some cases, events occur after the death of the decedent which change the testator's …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CONFLICT OF LAWS--DOMICIL FOR PURPOSES OF INCOME TAXATION--ABSENCE OF FIXED INTENT TO REMAIN IN RESIDENCE OR TO RETURN TO DOMICIL OF ORIGIN

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--INTERSTATE COMMERCE--VALIDITY OF STATE TAX UPON GROSS RECEIPTS OF SEGMENT OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--PEACEFUL PICKETING--POWER OF STATE COURT TO ENJOIN

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--POWER OF COURT TO PUNISH FOR DIRECT CONTEMPT--OPPORTUNITY TO OBTAIN COUNSEL

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EVIDENCE--ADMISSIBILITY OF SCIENTIFIC TESTS--HARGER DRUNKOMETER TEST TO DETERMINE INTOXICATION

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FEDERAL JURISDICTION--REQUIREMENT THAT FEDERAL QUESTION APPEAR ON FACE OF COMPLAINT--APPLICATION TO DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION

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INCOME TAXES--DEDUCTION OF BUSINESS EXPENSES--DEDUCTIBILITY OF PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF PRICE REGULATIONS

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INSURANCE--"COMPREHENSIVE" COVERAGE …

Book Reviews, Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr. (Reviewer), W. Raymond Denny (Reviewer), Robert G. Storey (Reviewer), W. W. Berry (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

BOOK REVIEWS

The Power in the People

By Felix Morley

New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 1949. Pp. xii, 293. $3.50

reviewer: Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr.

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Men and Measures in the Law

By Arthur T. Vanderbilt

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949. Pp. xxii, 156. $3.00

reviewer: W. Raymond Denny

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The Case of General Yamashita

By A. Frank Reel

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949. Pp. v, 324. $4.00

reviewer: Robert G. Storey

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Tax Planning for Estates

By William j. Bowe

Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1949. Pp. 93. $2.00

reviewer: W. W. Berry

Liability Of Employers For Misrepresentations Made By Independent Contractors, Merton Ferson

Vanderbilt Law Review

There are two ways of getting a job done. The person who wants it done can do it himself by his own efforts, management and hired help; or he can bargain with someone else for the desired result. When he hires per- sonal services and retains the management of the enterprise he is called a "master," the person hired is called a "servant," and the master is liable for what the servant does in the master's behalf. But when one bargains for a given result he does not then become a master, the person bargained with is called an independent …

Evidentiary Privileges Against The Production Of Data Within The Control Of Executive Departments, William V. Sanford

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the conduct of their affairs the various executive departments and administrative agencies acquire much information--reports, documents, records of all kinds, and other data--which may be useful to litigants in civil and criminal actions. The public interest in a full and fair hearing of all disputes between individuals and between individuals and the state calls for the production and disclosure of all evidence relevant to the issues in dispute.' This public interest calls for the production and disclosure of relevant evidence within the control of executive departments and administrative agencies. The evidence sought, however, may be of such a nature …

Book Review, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Liability Of Employers For Misrepresentations Made By "Independent Contractors", Merton Person

Vanderbilt Law Review

There are two ways of getting a job done. The person who wants it done can do it himself by his own efforts, management and hired help; or he can bargain with someone else for the desired result. When he hires personal services and retains the management of the enterprise he is called a "master," the person hired is called a "servant," and the master is liable for what the servant does in the master's behalf. But when one bargains for a given result he does not then become a master, the person bargained with is called an independent contractor, …

Cash And Accrual Methods Of Income Tax Accounting, William J. Bowe

Vanderbilt Law Review

It is the purpose of this article to introduce the two methods of income'tax accounting to the general practitioner who is not a specialist in the field and to the student who is attempting to learn the subject of income taxation. The article simply seeks to express in a clear and orderly fashion the developed law on the topic.