Digital Commons Network^™

Trust Receipts

Michigan Law Review

That the conflict between the convenience of business and the rigidity of the law continually brings about modifications and expansions of legal doctrine is nowhere better illustrated than in the field of commercial financing. A merchant wishes to purchase goods; he has no funds or available unencumbered property for security; his general credit is too poor to warrant either the manufacturer or a bank in making advances without security. How can the manufacturer give the merchant possession and power of sale of the goods and yet retain a legal hold on them or their proceeds as security for the payment …

Carriers - Misdelivery

Michigan Law Review

An impostor represented himself to P, a dealer in live stock, as Will Buntrock, a substantial South Dakota farmer. P, after being satisfied as to the identity of the person with whom he was dealing face to face, took from him a property statement which proved to be correct according to the South Dakota records. A contract for the sale of certain cattle was made between P and the impostor. The impostor gave P a promissory note for the contract price plus the freight charges, and a chattel mortgage on the stock purchased. P delivered the cattle to …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Searches And Seizures - Sufficiency Of Description In Warrant

Michigan Law Review

Prosecuted for unlawful possession of liquor, defendant moved to suppress the evidence on the ground that the following description in the warrant, under authority of which the liquor was seized, fails sufficiently to describe the premises searched: " . . . on the northwest cor. in Block 'A,' Robinson Addition in the City or Town of Elk City (Cor. 9th and Oliver Sts. Beckham County, State of Oklahoma)." Block A was originally not subdivided and was without streets. It was later subdivided and 9th and Oliver Streets crossed near the center of the block. The house searched was on Lot …

Parties- Joinder Of Master And Servant As Defendants

Michigan Law Review

This was an action against the owner of a taxicab and his driver for damages caused by the negligence of the driver in the course of his employment. A motion for a directed verdict on the ground of misjoinder was overruled. Held, error. Knox v. Redwine, (App. D. C. 1932) 59 F. (2d) 304.

Public Utilities - Certificate Of Convenience And Necessity - Court Review Of Orders Of Commission

Michigan Law Review

A telephone company petitioned the railroad commission for a certificate of convenience and necessity and for authority to extend its lines into territory already served by another company. The application was denied by the commission, but upon appeal the circuit court set aside the order. The supreme court held that the orders or determinations of the commission in such matters will not be disturbed by the courts unless unreasonable in the sense that reasonable men might not well differ with respect to their correctness. Union Co-operative Telephone Company v. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, 206 Wis. 160, 239 N. …

Reports For The Law School For The Academic Year, 1932-37, University Of Michigan Law School

Miscellaneous Law School History & Publications

Reports to the President of the University from the Dean of the Law School.

Years included are 1932-33, 1934-35, 1935-36, and 1936-37.

Directory Of The University Of Michigan Law Class Of 1933

Yearbooks & Class Year Publications

Directory of the Law Class of 1933. Published 1938.

Directory Of The 1933 University Of Michigan Law Class

Yearbooks & Class Year Publications

Directory of the Law Class of 1933.

The Contribution Of Thomas M. Cooley To Bryce's "American Commonwealth", Everett S. Brown

Michigan Law Review

In the preface to The American Commonwealth, James Bryce acknowledged his indebtedness to numerous friends who, in one way or other, aided him in the writing of his book. First on this list is the name of Thomas M. Cooley. An examination of the text and footnotes of The American Commonwealth shows that Bryce was well acquainted with Cooley's published works, especially his Constitutional Limitations and his General Principles of Constitutional Law, which he quoted frequently with approval and respect. Also one finds six references to letters from Judge Cooley or to observations made directly by him to Bryce. But …

The Fifteen Mill Tax Amendment And Its Effect, E. Blythe Stason

Michigan Law Review

This article, dealing with problems arising under the Michigan Tax Limitation Amendment, should be of general interest. The movement to reduce taxes on property is nation-wide, as Mr. Stason says. One form which the movement has taken has been to limit, by constitutional provision, the amount of tax which may be levied on property. Seventeen States already have such limitations and others may be expected to give consideration to like measures

Practice And Procedure - Declaratory Judgment

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action under the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act to be adjudged the lawful child of J. C., deceased. A demurrer upon the grounds that no cause of action was stated and that the court lacked jurisdiction of the subject matter was sustained. On appeal, held, error. The question of status can be determined under the Act independent of any controversy relating to other rights. Miller v. Currie, (Wis. 1932) 242 N. W. 570.

Bills And Notes-Liability Of An Acceptor On An Altered Instrument

Michigan Law Review

Section 62 of the N. I. L. (Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law) provides: "The acceptor by accepting the instrument engages that he will pay it according to the tenor of his acceptance; and admits,-- (1) The existence of the drawer, the genuineness of his signature, and his capacity and authority to draw the instrument, and (2) The existence of the payee and his then capacity to indorse." A recent California case decided that by force of this section, a bank certifying and paying a check on which the payee's name had been changed could not recover the money from the holder …

Insurance - Civil Death Of Insured As Effecting Acceleration Of Endowment Policy

Michigan Law Review

An endowment policy was made payable to insured if he should live to the policy anniversary date next preceding his sixtieth birthday, otherwise to his executors or administrators. Four years after the policy was taken out, insured was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his wife. A statute provided that the estate of a person incarcerated for life "shall be administered upon and distributed, and his contracts and relations to persons and things are affected, in all respects, as if he were dead." In an action on the policy by the administrator of insured, held, that imprisonment of insured …

Insurance - Civil Death Of Insured As Effecting Acceleration Of Endowment Policy

Michigan Law Review

An endowment policy was made payable to insured if he should live to the policy anniversary date next preceding his sixtieth birthday, otherwise to his executors or administrators. Four years after the policy was taken out, insured was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his wife. A statute provided that the estate of a person incarcerated for life "shall be administered upon and distributed, and his contracts and relations to persons and things are affected, in all respects, as if he were dead." In an action on the policy by the administrator of insured, held, that imprisonment of insured …

Practice And Procedure - Substituted Service Of Process

Michigan Law Review

A statute provided for substituted service of process on a defendant "by leaving a copy thereof at his usual place of residence with some member of his family over fourteen years of age." Held, a maid with no definite term of employment is not a member of the family upon whom substituted service may be made under the provisions of the statute. Thompson v. Butler, (Iowa 1932) 243 N. W. 164.

What Is A "Contract" Under The Contracts Clause Of The Federal Constitution?, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

The case of Coombes v. Getz, recently decided by the United States Supreme Court, raises in a crucial way the question of what is a contract within the meaning of Article I, section 10 of the Constitution, forbidding States to pass laws impairing the obligations of contracts. A provision of the California Constitution in force at the time the plaintiffs brought this action in the state court below made directors of corporations jointly and severally liable to the creditors and stockholders for all moneys embezzled or misappropriated by the officers of the corporation during the term of office of …

Constructive Trusts - Land Purchased By Agent In Violation Of Fiduciary Obligation To Principal - Statute Of Frauds

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs employed defendant to negotiate for the purchase of a certain tract of land, defendant to receive a 5% commission if the purchase was made. Defendant contracted with the owner for the purchase of the land in his own name and made the down payment with his own funds. Plaintiffs demanded an assignment of the contract and on defendant's refusal brought suit to compel a conveyance of the property by defendant as trustee. Held, that a constructive trust may be created where an agent purchases with his own money property which he is employed to purchase for his principal, …

Broadening Legal Education, Edgar Noble Durfee

Michigan Law Review

The adoption of the case-method was a wild venture into the unknown, and even now, after a half century of experience, its wisdom is not proved in any strict sense. I remind the reader of this in order that there may be between us a clear understanding that any discussion of legal education moves in the realm of opinion. And there are other difficulties. Legal education is an eminently practical business, a tangle of conflicting factors. Wisdom lies in compromise and patient shaping of details. I shall therefore concern myself not so much with formulation of principles as with details …

Constitutional Law - Due Process And Equal Protection - Right Of Counsel

Michigan Law Review

The Scottsboro cases decided by the Supreme Court at the present term raise several interesting constitutional questions. The judgments were assailed on the ground that they were violative of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment in three respects: (1) that the negroes were tried by juries from which members of their race were systematically excluded; (2) that they were not accorded a fair, impartial and deliberate trial; (3) that due process was denied because the right of counsel, with the usual incidents of consultation and adequate preparation for trial, was lacking. While the Supreme Court …

Constitutional Law-Stare Decisis

Michigan Law Review

The defendant corporation, a lessee of school lands from the state of Oklahoma, protested the right of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to tax its net income. Held, under the rule of Gillespie v. Oklahoma, the income cannot be taxed without interfering with a state instrumentality. Four dissenting justices-Stone, Brandeis, Roberts, and Cardozo--admitted the applicability but denied the wisdom of the Gillespie case and the inability of the court to overrule itself, in Burnet v. Coronado Oil and Gas Co.

Comment Upon Failure Of Accused To Testify, Robert P. Reeder

Michigan Law Review

Last year the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association adopted resolutions declaring that when the defendant in a criminal trial does not testify the prosecution should be permitted to comment upon that fact. They urged the overthrow of a rule of law which have prevailed in the federal courts ever since accused persons were first permitted to give testimony, over fifty years ago, and which has governed the courts of forty-two out of the forty-eight states. The discussions which preceded the adoption of the resolutions have been published. In them the advocates of the change do not show …

Limiting Jurisdiction Of Federal Courts-Pending Billscomment By Members Of Chicago University Law Faculty

Michigan Law Review

At the time the last session of Congress adjourned four important bills affecting the jurisdiction of federal district courts were being considered. The Norris-La Guardia bill would abolish the jurisdiction of federal district courts in suits of a civil nature "between citizens of different states." The Attorney General's bill would not eliminate any of the language of the first paragraph of section 24 of the Judicial Code but would add a provision that a foreign corporation carrying on business in a state other than the one wherein it was organized shall be treated as a citizen of the state wherein …

Constitutional Law-Conclusiveness Of Consent Of Senate To Presidential Appointment

Michigan Law Review

On December 3, 1930, President Hoover submitted to the Senate the name of George Otis Smith as chairman and member of the Federal Power Commission, which Congress had created by an act approved June 23, 1930. On December 20, 1930, the Senate in open executive session voted to advise and consent to Smith's nomination. The president pro tem. announced that the President would be notified, and there was no objection. On the same day it was ordered that all resolutions of confirmation that day passed be forwarded "forthwith" to the President. The secretary of the Senate formally notified the …

Contracts-Beneficiaries-Right Of Employee To Sue On A Contract Made Between Employer And Union

Michigan Law Review

Defendant agreed with an employees' union that its employees would not be discharged without cause or without a hearing. The plaintiff, who entered into an employment contract with the defendant for an indefinite term, was discharged by the latter without a hearing, and sued as a third party beneficiary for breach of the defendant's agreement with the union. Held, in Johnson v. Am. Ry Express Co., that this agreement was a valid third party beneficiary contract, and so enforcible by the plaintiff who was one of the parties intended to be benefited by it.

Intoxicating Liquors-Statutory Construction-Forfeiture Of Conveyance

Michigan Law Review

Cars in which liquor was imported were seized by the government. The operators were prosecuted for violation of the customs laws, and the government attempted to declare forfeiture of the cars under the customs laws. Lienors whose rights are not recognized under these laws intervened and claimed that forfeiture could be declared only under the National Prohibition Act which saves the rights of lienors. Held, in General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. United States, that forfeiture may be declared either under customs laws or the National Prohibition Act.

Controlling The Production Of Oil, Donald H. Ford

Michigan Law Review

The present pressing need for controlling the production of oil is due to a variety of causes. The principal factors that have contributed to the existing situation to "the flood of oil that takes on the proportions of a national disaster'' are: (1) A rapid improvement in exploratory technique, geological and geophysical, which has resulted in "bringing in" too many new oil fields. (2) Enormous advances in the art of drilling, especially as regards rapidity of drilling and the depths attained. (3) Improved methods of refining which furnish an ever-increasing percentage of gasoline from. the crude. (4) The development of …

Judicial Examination Of The Accused-A Remedy For The Third Degree, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

In its report on "Lawlessness in Law Enforcement" the Wickersham Commission concludes that in the police systems of a number of American municipalities the "third degree" is very generally practiced as a means of extorting from accused persons under arrest confessions, incriminating statements, and other information of value to the police. The conclusion of the Commission confirms the results of private investigation made in the same field. It is true that the. methods of inquiry pursued by the Commission leave doubt as to the accuracy of some of the facts reported. But the quality of the evidence submitted as the …

Arrest For Crime -The Law's "Crazy Business"

Michigan Law Review

In the Wilbur Day case, the facts as presented by Time indicate that Day was in truth guilty of the felony for which he was arrested. Under the statute, therefore, the arrest was lawful and the case should not have been dismissed. The defendant's attorney appears, unfortunately, to have misled the trial judge.

Evidence-Corroboration In Criminal Cases

Michigan Law Review

On the night of September 12, 1931, Mrs. Thalia Massie, while walking unescorted along a road near Honolulu, was forced into a car, taken to a lonely spot, and attacked by five young men. The five alleged attackers were placed on trial for rape. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared.

Constitutional Law-Criminal Procedure-Comment By Judge On Evidence

Michigan Law Review

In the recent case of People v. Kelly, the Illinois supreme court decided (two justices dissenting) that the common law right of a judge, in charging the jury, to comment on the evidence and advise as to the facts was not an essential attribute of trial by jury as it, existed at common law, and held that a statute limiting the charge strictly to matters of law was not an infringement of the right of trial by jury guaranteed by successive Illinois constitutions. The court also decided, in upholding the legislative enactment, that this restriction of the functions of …