Rule of Law Commons^™

The Democracy Principle In State Constitutions, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter

Michigan Law Review

In recent years, antidemocratic behavior has rippled across the nation. Lame-duck state legislatures have stripped popularly elected governors of their powers; extreme partisan gerrymanders have warped representative institutions; state officials have nullified popularly adopted initiatives. The federal Constitution offers few resources to address these problems, and ballot-box solutions cannot work when antidemocratic actions undermine elections themselves. Commentators increasingly decry the rule of the many by the few.

This Article argues that a vital response has been neglected. State constitutions embody a deep commitment to democracy. Unlike the federal Constitution, they were drafted—and have been repeatedly rewritten and amended— to empower …

Civil Rights Ecosystems, Joanna C. Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

The Philadelphia and Houston Police Departments are similarly sized, but over a recent two-year period, ten times more civil rights suits were filed against Philadelphia and its officers than were filed against Houston and its officers. Plaintiffs in cases brought against Philadelphia and its officers were awarded one hundred times more in settlements and judgments. What accounts for these differences? Although the frequency and severity of misconduct and injury may play some role, I contend that the volume and outcome of civil rights litigation against any given jurisdiction should be understood as a product of what I call its civil …

Fighting Conflicts Of Interest In Officialdom: Constitutional And Practical Guidelines For State Financial Disclosure Laws, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This note will examine the individual interests in running for office and in personal financial privacy in order to determine what level of scrutiny should be applied to disclosure statutes. After concluding that only minimal scrutiny should apply--a standard certainly met by the state's strong interests--it will be argued that nonconstitutional considerations bearing on the practicality of disclosure statutes nevertheless require a careful balancing of the state interest in disclosure against the individual interests of each class of persons affected by the statutes. The discussion of the strength of the state's interest in disclosure with respect to each class will …

The Newsman's Privilege: An Empirical Study, Vince Blasi

Michigan Law Review

Today, the statutory, common-law, and constitutional aspects of the long-dormant problem are being re-examined by many legislators, judges, and academicians. The Supreme Court is scheduled to address the constitutional question some time this term. I propose to enter this fray. In this article, I will report the results of an empirical survey that I have undertaken. In subsequent articles, I will analyze the eighteen state statutes that grant newsmen a privilege, consider whether protection for the reporter-news source relationship is compelled by existing common-law principles, and address the question whether a newsman's privilege is properly to be inferred from the …

Territorial Courts And The Law: Unifying Factors In The Development Of American Legal Institutions-Pt.Ii-Influences Tending To Unify Territorial Law, William Wirt Blume, Elizabeth Gaspar Brown

Michigan Law Review

With the exception of Kentucky, Vermont, Texas, California, and West Virginia, all parts of continental United States south and west of the present boundaries of the original states came under colonial rule, and were governed from the national capital through territorial governments for varying periods of time. All territories in this area were "incorporated" in the sense that they were destined to become states of the United States. All became states by 1912, leaving only Alaska and Hawaii for future statehood. Now that these territories have become states, it seems desirable to review legal developments in all of these "incorporated" …

Territorial Courts And Law: Unifying Factors In The Development Of American Legal Institutions-Pt.1-Establishment Of A Standardized Judicial System, William Wirt Blume, Elizabeth Gaspar Brown

Michigan Law Review

The United States first became a sovereign nation when individual states of the Confederation ceded to the states collectively their several interests in the lands west of the Appalachians which lay east of the Mississippi, north of Spanish Florida, and south of the Great Lakes. This area had been relinquished by Great Britain by the Treaty of 1783 and, with the exception of Kentucky, now became the property of the United States. It was the first area over which the states as a group had complete sovereignty, subject only to the claims of the various Indian tribes. Colonies fresh from …

Chancery Practice On The American Frontier: A Study Of The Records Of The Supreme Court Of Michigan Territory, 1805-1836, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

The act of Congress of January 11, 1805, which created Michigan Territory out of Indiana Territory, provided that the new territory should have a government "in all respects similar" to that provided for the Northwest Territory by the Ordinance of 1787. The Ordinance had provided for the appointment of a court to consist of three judges who should have "a common law jurisdiction. "

Freeman: Responsibility Of States For Unlawful Acts Of Their Armed Forces, Brunson Macchesney

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Responsibility of States for Unlawful Acts of Their Armed Forces. By Alwyn V. Freeman.

Constitutional Law - Executive Powers - Use Of Troops To Enforce Federal Laws, Robert H. Elliott Jr., S.Ed., Richard I. Singer S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The recent use of federal troops in Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce the order of a federal district court requiring school integration has occasioned widespread controversy throughout the nation. It is the purpose of this comment to examine the constitutionality of such action and to consider its broader implications with respect to federal-state and congressional-executive relationships.