Digital Commons Network^™

Evidence-Police Regulation By Rules Of Evidence-Results Of The Mcnabb Case, John B. Waite

Michigan Law Review

In McNabb v. United States the Supreme Court promulgated novel judicial legislation, the gist of which is that confessions or admissions of crime made while the accused is in custody without having been brought before a magistrate as required by law are inadmissible in evidence. That judicial pronouncement assumed that the utterances were made without compulsion, and prohibited their use solely because at the time they were made the officers of justice were themselves disregarding the law-the procedural requirement that persons arrested be taken immediately before a magistrate. In Justice Frankfurter's phrase, "a conviction resting on evidence secured through such …

Mr. Justice William Johnson And The Unenviable Dilemma, A. J. Levin

Michigan Law Review

A policy of judicial avoidance, otherwise referred to as "judicial restraint," has clearly been the dominant trend in the United States Supreme Court since Mr. Justice Holmes began to sit upon that bench at the beginning of this century. There has been an inclination to explain this change as revealing a tendency of the Court to follow a policy of laissez-faire toward the legislative and executive departments, and to stop at this formalistic explanation of this important aspect of the judicial function. The Court's increasing awareness of its own lack of technical competence in dealing with the many complex governmental …

The Assignment Of A Life Insurance Policy, Grover C. Grismore

Michigan Law Review

There is a great deal of uncertainty and confusion in the decided cases in regard to the effect to be given to the assignment of a life insurance policy. This is unfortunate, since to a large extent life insurance has come to be regarded as an investment medium, and as an asset which can be hypothecated by the insured in times of financial emergency.

Taxation-Assessment Of Government-Owned Property Leased To Private Enterprise, Allen C. Holmes

Michigan Law Review

The Board of Property Assessment, Appeals, and Review of Allegheny County for ad valorem taxes in the state of Pennsylvania increased the assessed value of the realty of the Mesta Machine Company by the sum of $618,000 to include the value of certain additional machinery which had been installed on the premises. The machinery was leased by the United States Government to the company and was placed in the factory in order that the company might manufacture heavy field guns for the Government, under a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The legal title and the beneficial ownership of the machinery remained in the …

Civil Justice In Germany, Burke Shartel, Hans Julius Wolff

Michigan Law Review

Our aim in preparing this paper is to develop for American lawyers a picture of the functioning of German civil justice. This aim, as well as the paper itself, is an outgrowth of a series of lectures on the German legal system delivered by the authors as background in the law of military occupation for the Judge Advocate General's School of the United States Army in Ann Arbor. That part of these lectures which concerns the operation of German civil justice seems to us of sufficient intrinsic interest to warrant publication.

Jury Selection Analyzed: Proposed Revision Of Federal System, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

It is proposed, and bills to carry out the proposal are now pending in Congress, that the federal system of jury selection be substantially revised, chiefly by establishing "uniform qualifications" for jurors who serve in the federal courts. An examination of these bills reveals that the proposed revision not only contemplates the elimination of conformity with state statutes insofar as they prescribe qualifications for, and exemptions from, jury service, but also contemplates a startling increase in the discretionary powers of the federal judges with respect to the whole process of jury selection. As an aid to a consideration of the …

Proposed Rules Of Federal Criminal Procedure: Final Draft, Albert J. Harno

Michigan Law Review

In February 1941, the Supreme Court appointed an advisory committee to prepare a draft of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. That committee has made its report to the Court and has presented a final draft of the rules. The adoption of these rules would be a landmark in criminal law administration. The importance of the draft does not lie in the fact that it projects matters that are novel or new, but rather in that it presents in successive provisions, stated in simple language, the best practices in criminal law procedure that have been evolved through experience. Of equal, or …

Exclusive And Nonexclusive Powers And The Illusory Appointment, John E. Howe

Michigan Law Review

Powers of appointment may be classified as either general or special. Under this classification a power is said to be a special power when the donee has the right to exercise it only in favor of a limited group of persons of which he himself is not a member.

In considering special powers it is helpful to subdivide them into two separate groups, one being termed exclusive and the other nonexclusive powers. In a factual situation where the intent of the donor is such that the donee of the power has the right to exclude any of the objects, it …

Trusts-Participation By Banks In Diversion Of Trust Funds

Michigan Law Review

That fiduciaries who misappropriate or divert trust funds from their proper purpose are bound to make good is familiar doctrine. It is equally clear that those who guiltily participate in such. diversions by faithless fiduciaries are also liable. The point of chief difficulty is the determination of what participations are properly classified as guilty, for innocent participators clearly are not bound to make good. For example, a fiduciary with power to sell things held in trust may wish to turn the subject matter into cash preliminary to a misappropriation. A bona fide purchaser who provides the cash no doubt stands …

Banks And Banking-Bank Deposits And The N.I.L.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued H and W and a writ of garnishment was issued against B who filed a disclosure of an indebtedness owing to H and W as joint creditors. W was later dropped from the case by a voluntary non-suit. Shortly after such dismissal, W applied to B for payment of the debt, but payment was refused because of the outstanding garnishment. B, however, expressed to W an intention, perhaps even an assurance, to honor such application when freed of the garnishment. That garnishment was dismissed several days later, but in the meantime another writ of garnishment in the …

Evidence-Police Regulation By Rules Of Evidence, John Barker Waite

Michigan Law Review

The judicial rules of Evidence, said their great expounder, "were never meant to be an indirect process of punishment." Yet twice the Supreme Court has promulgated new rules of evidence for precisely that purpose. The rule that evidence is inadmissible, regardless of its relevance and materiality, if it was obtained by unreasonable search was first suggested by Justice Bradley, who wrote the majority opinion in Boyd v. United States in 1886. The other rule was voiced in 1943 by Justice Frankfurter, writing the majority opinion in McNabb v. United States. And each rule demonstrates the inherent evil of judicial …

Legal Aspects Of Renegotiation, Charles W. Steadman

Michigan Law Review

The Renegotiation Act which became effective April 28, 1942, was designed to eliminate and remove exorbitant profits from war contracts. No other recent statute has been the subject of so much controversy and misunderstanding. Since the beginning of renegotiation of contracts in the late summer and early fall of 1942, policies have been crystalizing and many interpretations of the act have been made, but many more questions as to its meaning must still be answered.

The Proposed Federal Rules Of Criminal Procedure, Wendell Berge

Michigan Law Review

The recently published Preliminary Draft of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is now before the bench and bar for discussion. The rules proposed are, of course, tentative. Following a procedure similar to that adopted in the case of the civil rules a few years ago, they have been printed and distributed by the Advisory Committee at this stage for the purpose of obtaining criticisms and suggestions. Some of the rules merely restate existing law as provided by statute or adopted by general agreement in judicial decisions. Others work substantial procedural changes. How is the product to be judged?

Is The Business Of Insurance Commerce? A Re-Examination In The Light Of Modern Times, Nathan R. Berke

Michigan Law Review

A question of considerable import which has arisen time and again in recent years, particularly since the enactment of the various federal regulatory acts within the past decade, is whether the business of insurance is commerce. Although not a new question, and by no means unanswered by the courts, it has been a subject of recent reconsideration and in all probability will be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court.

The Development Of The Massachusetts Probate System, Thomas E. Atkinson

Michigan Law Review

American lawyers and laymen alike take for granted a system of probate of wills and administration of decedents' estates under the supervision of a single tribunal usually called a probate court. We are familiar with the setting up of the will, appointment of the personal representative, filing of bond and inventory by the latter, granting of allowances for support of the family, notice to creditors to present their claims, and settlement of accounts of the administration, all accomplished by this court's orders or under its scrutiny. While real property is deemed to pass directly to the heirs or devisees, it …

Secured Obligations, Benjamin M. Quigg, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The scope of this discussion probably is best defined in the words of the act itself as appear in section 302 (1): "obligations secured by mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage · upon real or personal property, owned by a person in military service at the commencement of the period of military service"; and the problems herein discussed are those which arise under the act in connection with the sale, foreclosure, seizure, or repossession of property which is security for such obligations.

Taxes And Assessments

Michigan Law Review

Provisions for tax relief for members of the military and naval forces of the United States are found not only in the Soldiers' and Sailors' Relief Act, but also in three other important federal statutes, namely, the Internal Revenue Code, the War Pay and Allotments Act of 1942, and the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943. Relief measures fall into three classes: (1) those granting postponement of taxes and tax proceedings, (2) those providing reduction of the tax burden, and (3) those providing abatement of taxes in the event of death in military service. Those provisions will be discussed in …

Evidence-Judicial Notice By Appellate Courts Of Facts And Foreign Laws, Not Brought To The Attention Of The Trial Court, Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The general problem to be discussed in this comment is the process and supporting reasons used by appellate courts in their determination of the propriety of taking official cognizance of facts not brought to the attention of the trial court. This necessarily removes that great and complex body of case and statutory law dealing with situations where a court is called upon to take judicial notice of local statutes, municipal ordinances, and other similar matters of law. Also specifically excluded from discussion are the cases where error is alleged because the trial court refused to take notice of a fact …

Public Utilities-Smythe V. Ames Again, Thomas G. Long

Michigan Law Review

The suit arose in 1893 over railroad freight rates prescribed by an act of the legislature of Nebraska approved April 12, 1893 which went into effect August 1, 1893. The claim was that the rates prescribed were so low that the plaintiff stockholders' railroads were deprived of property in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The state officials showed "that the railroads of Nebraska can be reproduced completely for about $20,000 per mile." Eleven railroads were concerned. The lowest funded debt was $12,324 per mile with four over $20,000 per mile. The par value …

Reinstatement Of Employees Under The Fair Labor Standards Act, George W. Crockett, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The Fair Labor Standards Act is one of several comprehensive federal enactments regulating the relationship between employers and their employees in interstate commerce. These enactments have not followed a common pattern, nor have the means provided for their effective administration and enforcement been the same in each instance. Taken together, however, they establish our national labor policy. The underlying theory of this policy is that employees do not stand upon an equal footing with organized management and are unable to exert, individually, sufficient bargaining power to prevent management from imposing upon them conditions of employment detrimental to their welfare and …

The Administrative Crime, Its Creation And Punishment By Administrative Agencies, Edmund H. Schwenk

Michigan Law Review

The application of the penal sanction in the field of administrative law involves mainly three problems: (1) the constitutionality of a statute which authorizes an administrative agency to issue rules and regulations enforceable by punishment and thus to create certain elements of crime; (2) the constitutionality of a statute which authorizes an administrative agency to create the penalty for the violation of its rules and regulations; and (3) the constitutionality of a statute which authorizes an administrative agency to impose a penalty upon the delinquent. Even if the first problem can be answered in the affirmative, two questions still remain: …

Constitutional Law - Highways - Billboard Regulations-Application Of Easement Principles, Ruth I. Wilson

Michigan Law Review

In Kelbro, Inc. v. Myrick, where the license and setback requirements of the Vermont outdoor advertising law were sustained together with provisions for summary removal of nonconforming advertisements, the Vermont Supreme Court declared that the commercial billboard companies have no common-law right to the privilege of visibility on which their business depends. Their exploitation of this privilege, it held, is a commercial use of the public thoroughfares which has been permitted only by sufferance and has always been subject to prohibition or regulation by the legislature.

Corporations-The Executive Committee In Corporate Organization-Scope Of Powers, Dickson M. Saunders

Michigan Law Review

From the very beginning of the use of the corporate structure as a device for carrying on the businesses and activities of man, it has been apparent that the nominal brain, the board of directors, could not feasibly run the affairs of the inanimate entity unless certain powers could be delegated to officers and agents. The early case of Hoyt v. Thompson's Executor illustrates the judicial recognition of delegated powers. The charter authorized all business of ordinary nature to be transacted by a board of directors of twenty-three.

Unreported Michigan Supreme Court Opinions, 1836-1843, Clark F. Norton

Michigan Law Review

It is a commonly known fact that, although Michigan was admitted to the Union in 1837 (many of her citizens had claimed statehood for more than a year prior to her formal admission), few opinions of the state supreme court written before 1843 have ever been published. Why a period of almost ten years should have elapsed before the first volume of state reports was issued in 1846 ( with the exception of two volumes of chancery reports), or why the early reporters seem, from a casual examination, to have neglected decisions of the court before 1843, or what happened …

Taxation - Special Assessments - Due Process - Requirement Of Notice For Repair Of Existing Improvement, Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought this action against the Board of Commissioners of Wells County, Indiana, to quiet his title to 160 acres of land owned by him in the county and to enjoin enforcement of supplementary drainage assessments upon the property as permitted by Indiana law. Plaintiff contended that the statute creating drainage districts was violative of due process of law and unconstitutional in that it authorized supplementary assessments to be made by the Board of Commissioners without the same notice and hearing which was required before the original assessment could be made. On demurrer, the Wells Circuit Court held for plaintiff …

The Bones Of Haddock V. Haddock, Harold Wright Holt

Michigan Law Review

It would not be fitting to say in the language of the stage that Williams v. North Carolina has drawn the curtain on Haddock v. Haddock. Rather we will shift the metaphor to say that the recent case from North Carolina has largely stripped the flesh from the earlier decision. Yet the bones of Haddock v. Haddock remain unbleached and unpulverized. Just as persons with mechanical turn of mind may frame from blocks of wood puzzles of readjustment and resetting, so courts in states that do not favor free and easy termination of marriage may still find in the …

Foreign Exchange Restrictions And Public Policy In The Conflict Of Laws: Part Ii, Evsey S. Rashba

Michigan Law Review

Political Laws have been the subject of a much disputed doctrine. It has been stated by Dicey, and by other authoritative writers in various countries, that a court has no jurisdiction to entertain an action for the enforcement of a "political law" of a foreign state. The term "political law" is not limited to the field of public law. It is, of course, only exceptionally that rules governing the relations between a state and its citizens are given extraterritorial effect. The doctrine goes further. It holds that rules which are technically a part of private law, but which are designed …

Witnesses-Privilege Against Self-Incrimination-Effect Of Incorrect Decision By Trial Judge In Compelling Answer When Privilege Asserted

Michigan Law Review

ln a judicial proceeding, a question is asked of a witness, which question he declines to answer, claiming that the answer will tend to incriminate him. The judge orders him to answer. He does so and the answer does incriminate him. What happens?

Workmen's Compensation - Admiralty Jurisdiction, Arthur B. Lathrop

Michigan Law Review

The deceased, a structural steelworker, was employed to dismantle an abandoned drawbridge which spanned a navigable river. At the time of the accident, he was examining steel which had been cut from the bridge and lowered into a barge used to haul it to the storage point and from this barge "he either fell or was knocked into the river." The company which employed him was a contributor to the Washington Compensation Fund, a compulsory act for employers engaged in the type of work for which the deceased had been employed. In this proceeding the widow appealed on writ of …

Executors And Administrators-Right Of Creditors Of A Decedent To Recover From Distributees After The Estate Is Closed

Michigan Law Review

A recent California decision suggests a problem of some difficulty in the administration of decedents' estates. In Dabney V. Dabney, it appeared that a decedent had, in his lifetime, contracted to pay the plaintiff $100 and $350 respectively, monthly, as long as plaintiff should live, according to the terms of two contracts. In distributing the estate the court, as provided in the California Probate Code, had set aside a sum of money for the purpose of paying these monthly installments. The estate was then distributed, defendant herein being the principal distributee. On February 17, 1941, there remained only $216 …