Rule of Law Commons^™

The Case Against Section 1983 Immunity For Witnesses Who Conspire With A State Official To Present Perjured Testimony, Jennifer S. Zbytowski

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that witnesses who conspire with a state official to present perjured testimony at a judicial proceeding should not have absolute immunity from a section 1983 suit for damages. Part I provides background information on section 1983 and explains why a witness-state conspiracy satisfies the requirements of a section 1983 cause of action. Part I also summarizes the Supreme Court's doctrinal approach to section 1983 immunity. Finally, Part I examines two Supreme Court cases which are relevant to the issue of immunity for witness conspirators: Briscoe v. LaHue, and Malley v. Briggs. Part II applies the …

The Courts' Inherent Power To Compel Legislative Funding Of Judicial Functions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Litigation results when the legislative branch contests the inherent power order. Because judicial compulsion of legislative action must derive from constitutional authority, and because of the practical and doctrinal challenges such litigation presents, many courts have struggled to resolve these cases in a principled fashion. This Note defends the inherent power doctrine, but argues that current judicial approaches to its application have failed to confront squarely the central issues raised by inherent power orders. The Note advocates an alternative procedure for defining the legitimate scope of judicial authority to compel appropriations on its own behalf. Part I examines the constitutional …

Bribery And Brokerage: An Analysis Of Bribery In Domestic And Foreign Commerce Under Section 2 ( C ) Of The Robinson-Patman Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note first analyzes the substantive and jurisdictional criteria of section 2(c) to evaluate the possible and the desirable scope of its applicability to commercial bribery. The Note next asks whether this statute reaches bribery of domestic and foreign government officials and concludes that where the requirements of section 2(c) are otherwise met and where the person accepting the bribe is acting administratively rather than politically, the statute could be applied to bribery of agents of domestic governments. However, a wholesale application of section 2( c) to bribery of foreign government agents would leave American competitors in foreign commerce defenseless …

Foreign Bribes And The Securities Acts' Disclosure Requirements, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 require most major corporations to disclose to investors all material information concerning company operations. Although they were not intended to regulate the conduct of business, these disclosure obligations can have a deterrent effect upon improper corporate activities. The recent revelation that a significant number of corporations have been making bribes and similar payments abroad has created interest in the feasibility of employing the disclosure requirements to curtail this practice. This Note will show that, despite recent pressures for change, the Securities and Exchange Commission has continued to view …

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 …

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 …

Murphy: Congress And The Court, Robert B. Mckay

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Congress and the Court. By Walter F. Murphy

Legislation On The American Frontier: Adoption Of Laws By Governor And Judges-Northwest Territory 1788-1798: Indiana Territory 1800-1804; Michigan Territory 1805-1823, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 made provisions for legislation by the territorial government in two stages: (1) adoption of laws by the governor and judges from the laws of the original states, and (2) enactment of statutes by a legislature made up of the governor, a council, and elected representatives. The first method was to be followed until the population should reach 5,000 and the second method thereafter. The present study is limited to the first stage.

The Legislative Process And The Rule Of Law: Attempts To Legislate Taste In Moral And Political Beliefs, Samuel D. Estep

Michigan Law Review

In a nutshell, the topic of this paper is "Comstockery and the Bowdlerizing of Ideas." The thesis here asserted is that the Rule of Law is violated when legislatures succumb to modern attempts by the often pathologically-motivated zealot legally to freeze current tastes in moral and political beliefs. The relationship between taste statutes and the seemingly esoteric topic, "The Legislative Process and the Rule of Law," is based on the premise that the maximum possible degree of intellectual freedom for each individual is an essential ingredient in the legal system of a civilized society.

The Constitutions Of West Germany And The United States: A Comparative Study, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this article is to present a descriptive overall picture of the fundamental features of the system established by the Basic Law and at the same time point up significant comparisons and contrasts by reference to the Constitution. Eleven years have now elapsed since the Basic Law went into effect, and significant decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht ) noted at the appropriate points, serve to illuminate the working of the system established by it.

"Congress Shall Make No Law…":Ii, O. John Rogge

Michigan Law Review

The framers of the federal bill of rights by the First and Tenth Amendments sought to deny Congress power over utterances unless they were connected with criminal conduct other than advocacy. Any power over such utterances was to reside in the states. However, the Supreme Court departed from the framers' intent.

One of the factors in this development was the emergence of an undefined federal police power. This occurred largely under the commerce and postal clauses. It began over a century ago. As early as 1838 Congress passed a law requiring the installation of safety devices upon steam vessels. Beginning …

Guided Tour In A Civil Law Library: Sources And Basic Legal Materials In French Civil And Commercial Law, G. M. Razi

Michigan Law Review

Lawyers everywhere rely upon their books with eagerness and confidence. The larger their libraries, the better equipped they feel to answer the questions of their clients. The composition of an average library differs somewhat in France and in the United States. In this country the law reports, in their familiar, substantial and elegant bindings, are displayed on the prominent shelves, while in Europe, the law reports-often merely paper bound-are relegated to some corner. The front place is reserved for the leather bindings and the gilt letters of the treatises bearing the names of outstanding authors in the various fields of …

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.

The Legislative Status Of An Unconstitutional Statute, Earl T. Crawford

Michigan Law Review

Once a statute has been found to violate some constitutional provision, a legislature is faced with a difficult problem of how to change the statute so as to effect the desired policy and still not violate constitutional principles. The general nature of this problem is suggested by such inquiries as these: Will the subsequent overruling of a previous judicial decision declaring a statute unconstitutional require any legislative action to put the statute into effect? Can a statute, which has been held violative of the constitution, be amended by corrective or curative legislation without complete re-enactment if the statute as amended …