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Full-Text Articles in State and Local Government Law

California Family Law Act, Meredith A. Nelson May 1970

California Family Law Act, Meredith A. Nelson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

California's Family Law Act has been heralded as the first major change in the State's divorce provisions in one hundred years. The Act is an attempt to remedy two major criticisms of current divorce practice both in California and throughout the United States. First, those advocating reform believe that laws controlling the granting of divorces are in conflict with modem concepts of marriage and divorce. Many divorce laws impose punitive sanctions in an attempt to deter those who would otherwise seek a divorce. Second, notwithstanding their intent, divorce laws have not, in fact, reduced the frequency of divorce. The inability …


Family Support From Fugitive Fathers: A Proposed Amendment To Michigan's Long Arm Statute, Robert L. Nelson May 1970

Family Support From Fugitive Fathers: A Proposed Amendment To Michigan's Long Arm Statute, Robert L. Nelson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

It is the purpose of this article to propose and discuss an amendment to Michigan's long arm statute which will allow the entry of extraterritorial alimony, separate maintenance, or child support decrees when Michigan is the state of the marital domicile and the defendant-spouse cannot be located for personal service of process. A plaintiff employing the proposed provision in a divorce action will be able to seek alimony, separate maintenance, or support payments as if the defendant were before the court, and the court will have the authority to grant her the necessary relief. If and when the wife later …


Michigan "Freedom Of Information Act", David T. Alexander May 1970

Michigan "Freedom Of Information Act", David T. Alexander

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A policy of public disclosure is as appropriate at the state level as it is at the federal level. There are comparable state agencies for almost all Federal departments concerned with commerce and the public health, safety and welfare. Through licensing and supervisory powers over businesses and individuals, state agencies exercise extensive quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial powers of immediate concern to the public. The resulting rules, records, regulations, orders and opinions serve as both the factual findings and the substantive law of the particular area administered by each agency. Recognizing this need for public disclosure at the state level, the Michigan …


Consumer Protection In Michigan: Current Methods And Some Proposals For Reform, Michigan Law Review Apr 1970

Consumer Protection In Michigan: Current Methods And Some Proposals For Reform, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

During the past decade, a great deal of effort has been expended at all levels of government in the United States to enhance the prosperity of the poor and underprivileged elements of society. Much legislation has been passed-especially at the federal level--but it has been incomplete in that its main thrust has been simply to increase the income levels of poor people without a corresponding effort to ensure that they receive their money's worth as consumers. As a result, the long-standing evil of fraud in the market place has not been significantly reduced, but has contributed to the serious economic …


Michigan Environmental Protection Act Of 1970, Susan Pearce Jan 1970

Michigan Environmental Protection Act Of 1970, Susan Pearce

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Widespread public preoccupation with environmental quality is a recent development, and one that has provided the impetus for a thorough examination of existing governmental structures in order to establish a functional system for the environment's protection and improvement. Commenting on this development, a leading environmental lawyer recently noted: "[T]he explosion of concern for the environment, at every private and governmental level, is the great political phenomenon of the last twelve months." As concern has grown about the quality of the environment, so too has skepticism increased about the ability of present institutions to cope with the problem. A constitutional amendment …


Michigan Air Pollution Control: A Case Study, William A. Irwin Jan 1970

Michigan Air Pollution Control: A Case Study, William A. Irwin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The State of Michigan began its fight against air pollution with the passage of two Acts in 1965: the Air Pollution Act and the Tax Exemption for Air Pollution Control Act. In adopting these acts the legislature hoped to solve the state's special needs for immediate air pollution control, created by the heavy concentration of automobile manufacturers and their suppliers in the state. The fight was to be waged through the efforts of a newly-created Air Pollution Control Commission and its staff. To present an evaluation of the success of these efforts, this comment concentrates upon two case studies of …


Water Pollution Control In Vermont: A System Of Effluent Charges, Hobart Birmingham Jan 1970

Water Pollution Control In Vermont: A System Of Effluent Charges, Hobart Birmingham

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In the final hours of a three month session, Vermont's legislature adopted a water pollution control law which imposes fees on polluters. Control of water pollution has been a popular issue in Vermont-its first comprehensive laws on the subject were passed in 1949 -and this new legislation is designed to be a major step toward upgrading much of that state's water resources. Increasing industrial and municipal water use has resulted in such widespread pollution that the traditional private law of riparian rights provides an inadequate remedy to the problem of unclean water. Consequently, state intervention has become essential to the …


New York City Consumer Protection Law Of 1969, Thomas G. Morgan Jan 1970

New York City Consumer Protection Law Of 1969, Thomas G. Morgan

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In recent years there has been growing concern over the lack of legal protection afforded the American consumer. Comprehensive consumer protection legislation has been introduced at all levels of government, and several significant proposals have been enacted into law. One such enactment at the municipal level is the New York City Consumer Protection Law of 1969, which establishes a framework for a broad ban against unfair trade practices and vests the city's Commissioner of Consumer Affairs with extensive powers of enforcement. In this note, the New York City ordinance will be analyzed and evaluated against the general background of existing …


Michigan Environmental Protection Act, Roger L. Conner Jan 1970

Michigan Environmental Protection Act, Roger L. Conner

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Each of the questions discussed in this note revolve around the same basic issue: the propriety of vesting broad power in the courts to prevent environmental destruction, and to develop an environmental common law. The need for the broad standard of the Act derives from the complexity of the problem. The clear authority of the courts to decide cases which have been, or should have been dealt with by an administrative agency is important both for the relationship it establishes between citizens and agencies, and to insure that the policies of the Act will be implemented. In responding to these …


The Proposed Michigan Business Corporation Act, Stanley Siegel Jan 1970

The Proposed Michigan Business Corporation Act, Stanley Siegel

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The author of this article was selected by the Commission as Reporter, to draft and revise the statute. It is the purpose of this article to describe the drafting process, to outline the general structure and to examine some unique aspects of the proposed Michigan Business Corporation Act. In this discussion, the author expresses his own views only, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Law Revision Commission or its members.