Digital Commons Network^™

Torts - Libel And Slander - Calling A Person A Communist As Slader Per Se, Ross Kipka S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In an action for slander, plaintiff alleged that on three separate occasions defendant had orally called or referred to plaintiff as a communist. The court rendered judgment against the defendant, holding that calling a person a communist is slander per se. On appeal, held, affirmed. Since membership in the Communist Party is a felony under Pennsylvania statute, falsely referring to a person as being a communist is slander per se. Solosko v. Paxton, (Pa. 1956) 119 A. (2d) 230.

The Fourteenth Amendment Reconsidered, The Segregation Question, Alfred H. Kelly

Michigan Law Review

Some sixty years ago in Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court of the United States adopted the now celebrated "separate but equal" doctrine as a constitutional guidepost for state segregation statutes. Justice Brown's opinion declared that state statutes imposing racial segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, provided only that the statute in question guaranteed equal facilities for the two races. Brown's argument rested on a historical theory of the intent, although he offered no evidence to support it. "The object of the amendment," he said, "was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, …

The Martial Deduction And Equalization Under The Federal Estate And Gift Taxes Between Common Law And Community Property States, Paul E. Anderson

Michigan Law Review

In 1948, as the culmination of much dissatisfaction with the treatment of community property under the federal estate and gift tax laws, Congress adopted a new formula for the treatment of gifts and bequests between spouses; this formula was known as the marital deduction. It has remained practically unchanged since its adoption and still stands as an integral part of our federal estate and gift tax structure.

The basic purpose of the deduction was to provide equalization in estate and gift tax treatment between spouses residing in community property states and those residing in common law property states. The plan …

Rodell: Nine Men: A Political History Of The Supreme Court Of The United States From 1790 To 1955, Robert L. Howard

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Rodell: Nine Men: A Political History of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1790 to 1955. By Fred Rodell.

Municipal Corporations - Tort Liability - Duty To Protect Police Informer, Cyril Moscow

Michigan Law Review

Decedent furnished information leading to the arrest of the notorious "Willie the Actor" Sutton. The police, after being notified of anonymous threats to decedent's person, furnished protection, which was later withdrawn. Soon afterwards, decedent was murdered by unknown assailants. Decedent's administrator brought this action to recover damages for his death, claiming that there was a failure to provide adequate police protection. The trial court dismissed the action. On appeal, held, affirmed per curiam, one justice dissenting. As a member of the general public, no duty of special protection was owed the decedent. Even assuming such a duty existed, it …

Social Scientists Take The Stand: A Review And Appraisal Of Their Testimony In Litigation, Jack Greenberg

Michigan Law Review

"How to inform the judicial mind, as you know, is one of the most complicated problems,'' said Justice Frankfurter during argument of the school segregation cases. And as law deals more and more with issues of great public consequence the judiciary's need for knowledge increases. Much of this knowledge is within the realm of what are called the social sciences.

Although jurisprudents and social scientists have long complained of a gulf between law and social science, little notice has been given to the recent, recurrent collaboration between the two at the trial level. In a variety of cases social scientists' …

Aliens - Denaturalization - Requirement That The Governmnet Be Deceived In Naturalization Proceeding As Basis For Denaturalization, Charles B. Renfrew S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant Umberto Anastasio, arrived in this country as a deserting seaman in 1917. A certificate of registry was granted in 1931 upon the fraudulent allegation in his application and testimony before an immigration inspector that he had never been arrested. After filing other papers necessary for naturalization, defendant was issued a certificate of arrival in 1933 based on the certificate of registry. Before obtaining citizenship, however, defendant executed an affidavit which revealed his criminal record and filed a consent of dismissal of his petition for naturalization in 1935. In 1942, while in the United States Army, defendant applied for naturalization …

Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Delegation Of Power To Patrol Highways To Private Corporation, George Kircos

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was stopped for speeding in Comstock Township, Michigan, and given a "violation ticket". by an employee of Charles Services, Inc., a private corporation which patrolled the highway under an arrangement with the township. At the trial defendant objected to the admission of evidence establishing him as the driver of the speeding vehicle on the ground that it was obtained by one not authorized by law to arrest him. On appeal from conviction, held, affirmed. Evidence obtained by the employee of Charles Services, Inc., is admissible because defendant did not sustain the burden of proving that the employee was …

Taxation - Liens -Priority Of A Subsequent Federal Tax Lien Over An Antecedent Inchoate Lien, John B. Huck S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to analyze the rationale, in terms of both statutory construction and policy, of the theory that only a choate garnishment lien is superior to a subsequent tax lien.

Church, State, And Freedom: A Review, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court's opinion in the Everson case declaring that the separation-of-church-and-state limitation derived from the First Amendment was equally applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment opened up new vistas on the church-state problems in this country. Opponents of released time programs were quick to seize the opening thus afforded as evidenced by the litigation in the McCollum and Zorach cases. And even before the Everson case reached it, the Supreme Court, thanks almost entirely to the efforts of Jehovah's Witnesses, had been engaged at length with the task of defining the dimensions of religious freedom as secured …

Federal Procedure-Limitation Of Actions-Suspension Of Statute Of Limitations As To Citizen Of Enemy-Occupied Territory In War Time, Stephen J. Martin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a Filipino, loaned money to a recognized guerilla unit in the Philippine Islands in 1943, during the period of the Japanese occupation of the Islands. He filed suit in the United States Court of Claims on December 31, 1952, to recover the amount of the loan. Defendant United States moved to dismiss on the ground that the claim was barred by the six-year statute of limitations applicable to the Court of Claims. Held, petition dismissed. Plaintiff's cause of action first accrued at the earliest moment when suit might have been legally instituted upon it. No circumstance in the …

Vaughan: The United States Patent System. Legal And Economic Conflicts In American Patent History, Bernard F. Garvey

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The United States Patent System. Legal and Economic Conflicts in American Patent History. By Floyd L. Vaughan.

Conflict Of Laws - Torts - Proper Party Plaintiff In Wrongful Death Actions, John M. Webb

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to examine the differing solutions and determine the vitality of the common law rule in wrongful death actions.

Determination Of Heirship, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

Nearly a hundred years have elapsed since the Supreme Court emphatically voiced its conviction as to the necessity of having some method for making a final determination concerning the devolution of the ownership of property upon the death of its owner.

Legal History-Joseph Story's Anonymous Law Article, John C. Hogan

Michigan Law Review

The first edition of the Encyclopedia Americana (1829-1833) contains numerous articles on a wide variety of legal subjects, including such topics as Common Law, Jury, Equity, etc. The identity of the author of these articles is not disclosed. There is an occasional footnote, however, which declares: "this article prepared by an eminent American jurist." This suggested the possibility of a lively and interesting manhunt--a search for the "eminent American jurist" who agreed to submit articles on law for the Encyclopedia, but who preferred to remain anonymous.

Taxation-Federal Income Tax-Automobile Received As Prize In Sales Agency Drawing Not Income, Arthur M. Wisehart S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

An automobile agency, as a means of publicizing its new models, advertised that it would give a new car to one of the persons visiting its showroom on a certain day. When plaintiff visited the showroom on the day specified, an employee of the agency took her name, wrote it on a slip of paper, and deposited it in a barrel. Plaintiff's name was drawn from the barrel and she received the automobile. Plaintiff did not include the value of the prize in computing her gross income for tax purposes, and a deficiency was assessed against her. Unsuccessful in her …

Incidents Of The Government-Servant Relationship, Ivor L.M. Richardson

Michigan Law Review

The procedures developed in the past five years to meet the threat of communist infiltration into public employment have focused attention on the position of persons working for the federal government. However, the loyalty program and the general problem of dismissal are not the only aspects of federal employment which raise important issues. Other aspects of the government-servant relationship may be of even greater importance to the civil servant in practice. For instance, what are his legal rights to his salary or to his pension if the government refuses to pay? Can he secure redress if he is suspended from …

Corporations - Shareholders - Use Of Corporate Funds For Proxy Contest Expenses, Julius B. Poppinga S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Following a proxy contest in which the insurgent faction of stockholders was successful, the new board of directors paid out $28,000 to members of the old board to cover expenses incurred by them, and also used $127,000 to reimburse the prevailing group. The latter expenditure was approved by a sixteen-to-one majority vote of the stockholders. Plaintiff brought a derivative action seeking restoration of both amounts. The trial court dismissed the complaint, and the appellate division affirmed this judgment. On appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, held, affirmed, three judges dissenting. Corporate directors may make reasonable expenditures in …

Family Responsibilty Under The American Poor Laws: Ii, Daniel R. Mandelker

Michigan Law Review

No substantive statutory provision fulfills the purpose for which it was enacted unless fair and efficient procedures are provided for its enforcement. Under the Elizabethan family responsibility law, enforcement was confined to the parish justices of the peace, who at that time exercised both administrative and judicial functions. The blending of administrative and judicial functions no longer being the rule in American local government, practically all of the American family responsibility statutes provide for some judicial procedure by which the support duty may be enforced. The basic issue with which the courts have been concerned in applying these statutory remedies …

Corwin: The "Higher Law" Background Of American Constitutional Law, Charles M. Whelan S.J.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The "Higher Law" Background of American Constitutional Law. By Edward S. Corwin.

University Of Michigan Law School Announcement 1956-1957 With List Of 1955 Graduates, University Of Michigan Law School

Law School Announcement and Bulletins

Calendar; Board of Regents; Administrative Officers and Members of the Faculty; Organization and Methods; Law Quadrangle; Library Facilities; Requirements for Admission; Graduate Degrees in Law; Requirements for Graduation; Admission to the Bar; The Law Curriculum; Civil Procedure III and Practice Court; ROTC Programs; Case Clubs; Michigan Law Review; Order of the Coif; Student Bar Association; Research Program; Legislative Research Center; William W. Cook Lectures on American Institutions; Thomas M. Cooley Lectureship; Living Accommodations; Fees and Expenses; Services to Veterans; Scholarships and Financial Aid; Placement; Students' Physical Welfare; International Center; Michigan Union; Michigan League; University Automobile Regulations; Summer Session; Graduates of …

Simes: Public Policy And The Dead Hand, W. Barton Leach, John H.C. Morris

Michigan Law Review

A Review of PPublic Policy and the Dead Hand. The Thomas M. Cooley Lectures, Sixth Series. By Lewis M. Simes.

Labor Law - Labor - Management Relations Act - Further Comments On Federalism, Robert B. Olsen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Until a decade ago, the nation's lawyers paid little attention to the status of federal-state relations in the regulation of labor disputes. Today there hardly appears a volume of a legal journal that does not contain the product of new efforts to bring order out of the chaos that prevails in this area. A number of writers have apparently given up the task of reconciling statutory provisions with case law and case law with sound federal policy, and have resorted to the simpler, yet challenging, method of proposing amendments to existing federal statutes. Worthy as these efforts may be in …

Class Of 1956 Fifteen Year Report Alumni Comments, University Of Michigan Law School

UMLS Alumni Survey Class Reports

This addendum is a compilation of alumni responses to the open-ended comments sections.

Rationale Of Valuation Of Foreign Money Obligations, Charles Evan

Michigan Law Review

What then should a creditor of a foreign money obligation collect where there was a delay in payment? When are damages for depreciation of foreign money recoverable? As of what time and in what currency are they to be computed? How is the value of a foreign money obligation to be measured where no damages may be had? The answers to these and other incidental questions require a thorough analysis of certain features peculiar to the law of money.

It is the purpose of this article to clarify these problems, to sum up the primary principles by which they are …

Torts - Master And Servant - Payment Of Social Security Tax As Evidence Of Relationship, Irving L. Halpern S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's decedent was killed when his tractor-truck collided with an automobile driven by defendant's salesman. In an action to recover damages for the death of decedent, the trial court submitted to the jury, as evidence bf a master-servant relationship, the payment of social security taxes by the defendant on behalf of the salesman. Judgment was rendered for the plaintiff. On appeal, held, the record of social security payments by defendant on behalf of its salesman was properly submitted to the jury as evidence of a master-servant relationship. Peetz v. Mazek Auto Supply Co., (Neb. 1955) 70 N.W. (2d) …

Jackson: The Supreme Court In The American System Of Government, Howard M. Downs S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Supreme Court in the American System of Government. By Robert H. Jackson

Municipal Corporations - Statutory Liability For Mob Violence - Definition Of Correctional Power, Nathan B. Driggers

Michigan Law Review

On August 12, 1947 eight Negro families moved into a Chicago public housing development which was occupied largely by white families. On the evening of August 14, several thousand people, protesting the Negro intrusion, congregated in the area, blocking traffic and brandishing bats, bricks, and stones. A large number of policemen were on duty at the scene. The automobile of the plaintiff, a Negro, was intercepted at an intersection by the crowd which began throwing bricks at the occupants of the car. The plaintiff was struck by one missile and suffered severe physical injury. He brought suit against the city …

Constitutional Law - Interstate Commerce - Validity Of Segregation In Interstate Railway Facilities, Robert W. Steele

Michigan Law Review

The defendant, St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company, maintained separate accommodations in railway coaches and terminal waiting-rooms for white and Negro passengers. Section 3 (1) of the Interstate Commerce Act makes it unlawful for a rail carrier to subject any person to any unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage. Plaintiff association joined with seventeen individual parties in filing a complaint with the Interstate Commerce Commission charging the carrier with violating the provisions of this act and in seeking an order requiring it to cease and desist from using these discriminatory practices. Held, assignment of accommodations on the basis of race …

Labor Law - Lmra - Substantive Application By A State Court Of Section 8(B), George E. Ewing S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The defendant unions peacefully picketed the Valley Lumber Company to force the adoption of a closed shop agreement. The employees had indicated that they did not desire union affiliation or representation and the employer had not recognized any union. The NLRB Regional Director refused to assert jurisdiction over the company for certification purposes because the employer's interstate business was below the Board's jurisdictional yardsticks. The trial court asserted jurisdiction to award damages and an injunction against the picketing. On appeal, held, affirmed, three justices dissenting. Not only was the trial court's jurisdiction proper but it could apply section 8 …