Digital Commons Network^™

Sales - Implied Warranty - Explosive In Cigar, James W. Mehaffy

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff purchased cigars from a retail merchant. The cigars were sold under a trade name and when purchased from a wholesaler by the retailer were wrapped in cellophane, and were sold to the plaintiff while still in the original wrapper. One of the cigars contained a firecracker, which exploded when plaintiff lighted the cigar, causing substantial injury. Held, that the plaintiff can recover from the retailer. Dow Drug Co. v. Nieman, 57 Ohio App. 190, 13 N. E. (2d) 130 (1936).

Schools - Private Parochial Schools - Transportation Of Pupils - Use Of Public Funds, Fred C. Newman

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff taxpayers instituted proceedings to restrain defendant board of education from complying with a statute which required defendant board of education to expend public funds for the purpose of transporting pupils to and from a parochial school. Held, that the statute was invalid as violative of the provision of the state constitution which prohibited the use of any public money "directly or indirectly" in aid of any sectarian school, and plaintiffs were entitled to judgment upon the pleadings; three judges dissented. Judd v. Board of Education of Union Free School Dist. No. 2, 278 N. Y. 200, 15 …

Book Notes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department undertakes to list and, when possible, describe briefly current boob on law and matters closely related thereto.

Monthly Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department lists the articles and comments which appear in twenty-five leading law reviews.

The Doctrine Of Administrative Trespass In French Law: An Analogue Of Due Process, Armin Uhler

Michigan Law Review

The French droit administratif, since Dicey's critical and unsympathetic comments in his lectures and works on the English constitution, has continued to attract a great deal of interest in the English-speaking world. In this country the more recent references to the system known by that name are prompted by something more than academic curiosity. Unprecedented expansion of administrative activity, particularly on the part of the federal government, has focused attention on many problems which have become acute because of that fact. Unquestionably, one of the most vexing among them is the question of review of administrative action upon the …

Municipal Corporations - Official Misconduct As Ground For Removal Of Officer, Leonard D. Verdier Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a member of the council of the city of Highland Park, Michigan, was removed by the council, as provided in the charter because of membership in the Black Legion. The Black Legion was a secret society founded on principles of racial, religious, and political discrimination. Its members took an oath to further these purposes by any means ordered by the officers of the organization, including violence and terrorism. Members were forbidden to expose the organization under penalty of death, and membership was supposedly permanent. The council found that membership in such a society rendered Wilson incompetent to perform the …

Manufacturer's Liability For Injuries Caused By His Products: Defective Automobiles, Lester W. Feezer

Michigan Law Review

When a manufactured article fails to meet the reasonable expectations of the purchaser-user and in consequence he suffers personal injury or property damage, is the manufacturer responsible? When the user purchases from the manufacturer, so that there is privity of contract and the formulated concepts of sales and warranty law are available, we have a relatively simple situation which it is not the primary purpose of this paper to discuss. The common-law concepts for dealing with such problems seem to have been formulated in times when this privity element was usually present, and it is therefore not a matter of …

"Extra Time For Overtime" Now Law, Frank E. Cooper

Michigan Law Review

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 presents a great many legal and practical problems of importance commensurate with the comprehensiveness of the act itself, which is probably the most far-reaching of the New Deal statutes since the N. R. A. The act is conceived on the theory that any physical handling of goods destined to be subsequently shipped to another state is an act so closely and substantially related to the flow of interstate commerce as to be subject to Congressional regulation, and thus depends for its validity upon an extension of the theories approved in the Wagner Act …

Recent Developments In Actions Against Nonresident Motorists, Maurice S. Culp

Michigan Law Review

When this subject was discussed several years ago, statutes in thirty-five states authorized service of process upon some state official in actions filed against nonresident motorists. The passage of such legislation has continued. Today, out of the forty-eight states and the District of Columbia, apparently only Missouri, Nevada and Utah do not make some provision for such service.

It is proposed herein to discuss the new statutes which have been enacted since the previous article was written, to consider significant changes and developments in older legislation, and to survey the recent judicial decisions interpreting these process statutes.

Constitutional Law - Validity Of State Occupation Tax On Contractors With The Federal Government, James H. Kilbourne

Michigan Law Review

The increasing burden of both federal and state taxation during the past decade has multiplied the attempts by some of those affected to establish, in the courts, immunity from certain taxes. The limitations of the power of the governments to tax have, then, special significance for one who seeks, in that fashion, to challenge the imposition of a tax on himself. Two cases recently decided by the Supreme Court involved one of those limitations-that which denies to the states the power to enforce a tax which impedes the exercise of the powers of the federal government.

Constitutional Law - Taxation - The Gerhardt Decision And Intergovernmental Tax Immunity, Allan A. Rubin

Michigan Law Review

Recent decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court this last term have to a large extent fulfilled the anticipations aroused by James v. Dravo Contracting Co. of an enlargement of the governmental powers to impose non-discriminatory taxes. Allen v. Regents of the University System of Georgia held valid the application of a general federal admissions tax to admissions to athletic contests conducted under the auspices of the regents of the University of Georgia, a state university. Helvering v. Mountain Producers Corp. decided that a lessee under an oil and gas lease of state school lands was not …

Corporations - Securities Exchange Act - Unlisted Trading Privileges, Marcus L. Plant

Michigan Law Review

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended in 1936, the Securities and Exchange Commission is empowered to extend unlisted trading privileges to any security upon application by an exchange and the fulfillment of the terms and conditions of the statute.

Criminal Law And Procedure - Evidence - Dismissal Of Prosecution For Reference To Other Crimes Of Defendant, John Barker Waite

Michigan Law Review

Any discussion of Judge Pecora's declaration of a mistrial in People v. Hines must adhere firmly to the fundamental proposition that every accused person, no matter how evident his guilt nor how great the hostility toward him, is entitled to a fair trial, conducted in accord with established rules, and to the verdict of a jury uninfluenced by improper factors. But did the judge's ruling perhaps exceed what was reasonably necessary to assure the defendant of these essentials?

Contracts - Illegality - Recovery By Party Not Licensed As Statute Requires, Seward R. Stroud

Michigan Law Review

P, an unlicensed milk dealer, sold milk to D, also a milk dealer. By statute it was made unlawful for a milk dealer "to buy milk or sell milk to a milk dealer who is unlicensed," and violations were made a misdemeanor punishable by .fine and/ or imprisonment. P sued to recover the contract price of milk delivered and D set up counterclaims for breach of contract and overpayment, and asserted that P was barred from recovery, since he had failed to obtain a license. Held, P was not barred from recovery by failure to obtain license. …

Insurance - When Is A Person Engaging In The Insurance Business, Thomas E. Wilson

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was secretary of a retail grocers association which maintained a so-called "Plate Glass Fund," for members only, administered by the defendant without compensation. The members paid into the fund a certain sum annually, depending on the amount of glass they wanted protected, and in the event of breakage it was replaced. Surplus funds were returned to the members. The certificates of membership expressly stipulated that the fund was not an insurance or indemnity company. Defendant was prosecuted and convicted for conducting an unauthorized insurance business. Held, the defendant was engaging in the insurance business, and conviction was sustained. …

Labor Law -Associations - Suability Of Unincorporated Labor Union In Action At Law For Damages, Thomas E. Wilson

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued defendant trade union, an unincorporated association, in its association name in a county court of North Carolina for damages arising out of its action in expelling him from the union, putting his name on a blacklist, and obtaining his discharge from employment. North Carolina had no enabling statute permitting suit against unincorporated associations in their association name. Service of process was obtained upon the local union's secretary-treasurer. Judgment for the plaintiff was taken by default, and plaintiff brought an action on the judgment in the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia. The District …

Negligence - Whether Compliance With Statutory Crossing Regulations Constitutes Due Care On Part Of Railroad, Anthony L. Dividio

Michigan Law Review

A series of Minnesota statutes, passed from time to time regulating the conduct of railroads, were united in the laws of 1925. Among other things, this act empowers the Railroad and Warehouse Commission to prescribe and order safety devices at crossings. The plaintiff was injured when the car in which he was riding hit defendant's train, which was already over the crossing. The evidence showed that the street sloped steeply toward the track, but the track was somewhat elevated from the street level at the crossing, so that the lights from the automobile could not shine on the train. Nor …

Torts - Unauthorized Publication Of Photograph - Invasion Of Right Of Privacy, James W. Mehaffy

Michigan Law Review

Defendant newspaper published an advertisement containing a picture of plaintiff, a radio artist, in a bathing suit, under the mistaken belief that it was a picture of a member of a vaudeville troupe whose name appeared in the advertisement, and who was described as an "exotic red-haired Venus" who endorsed a certain brand of whole-wheat bread as a means of "keeping that sylph-like figure." Plaintiff alleged that the vaudeville act was a "sensual performance or sex parade" and was composed of the "cheapest class of chorus girls." Held, that the advertisement was an invasion of plaintiff's right of privacy …

Wills - Conveyances Conditioned On Grantor's Death - Contracts For Posthumous Performance, Charles Haines Jr.

Michigan Law Review

By an instrument entitled a lease, the owner of a country estate agreed with the Y.M.C.A. that the latter should have a lease of the land for his life in consideration of the payment of taxes and the maintenance and improvement of a boys' camp on the premises. Further, if at his death the lease were in good standing (a right of entry for condition broken having been reserved), then the Y.M.C.A. was to receive full title to the land. Pursuant to the agreement the camp was operated, and at the lessor's death the Y.M.C.A. was in possession in good …

Monthly Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department lists the articles and comments which appear in twenty-five leading law reviews.

Book Notes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department undertakes to list and, when possible, describe briefly current books on law and matters closely related thereto.

Libel And Slander - Privilege - Broadcasting A Trial, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A microphone was installed in the courtroom, with consent of the judge and counsel, for the purpose of broadcasting a murder trial. Prisoner's attorney, in his closing argument to the jury, made remarks concerning the plaintiff, state's witness, which the latter claimed were defamatory. Joining as defendants the trial judge, counsel for the alleged felon, and the director of the radio station, plaintiff alleged the utterances were libelous per se. The trial judge's motion for non-suit was granted at the close of the plaintiff's case. As to the other defendants, on appeal, held, with one judge dissenting, that counsel …

Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Regulation Of Auctions, Keith P. Bondurant

Michigan Law Review

A municipal ordinance provided that only licensed auctioneers or owners of the goods, after furnishing bond, could conduct auction sales in the city. It further required the seller to accept the best of two or more bids, required labeling of all articles to be sold, advance published notice of the auction, a display and opportunity for examination before the sale, and the confining of the sale to certain hours of the day. Plaintiff, a corporation occasionally selling furniture by auction at its permanent business location, objected to these restrictions as an arbitrary interference with its conduct of a lawful trade. …

The Labor Relations Acts-Their Effect On Industrial Warfare, Lennart Larson

Michigan Law Review

This article is addressed to the query whether the labor relations acts have any effect on the ends and means of labor warfare. During the hey-day of the NIRA, decisions may be found which indicated that industrial warfare for the objects within the regulatory power of the code authorities was unlawful. Strikes and picketing were enjoined where carried on for higher wages and hours, objects which were thought properly to be for code authorities to adjust. Those decisions were of dubious soundness, but they suggest an argument which may be advanced under the labor relations acts. The NIRA was of …

Constitutional Law -Validity Of Registration Provisions Of Public Utility Holding Company Act Of 1935, Gerald L. Stoetzer

Michigan Law Review

In recognition of the abuses that arise from the monopolistic tendencies of holding companies in the public utility field and of the inability of the respective states to exert the necessary control thereof, Congress has attempted to draw certain of the public utility holding companies within the inquisitorial and regulatory control of the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, reciting in great detail facts showing the necessity for control of holding companies having as subsidiaries electric and gas operating utilities, indicates that Congress regarded the uncontrolled utility holding company as "an agency which, …

Corporations - Liability Of Stockholders Of Bank Stock Holding Company For Statutory Assessment On Bank Stock., Edward J. Wendrow

Michigan Law Review

The late depression with its attendant bank failures and the consequent assessment of shareholders has resulted in bringing before the courts a question that has never been litigated until comparatively recent times. That is, can the shareholders of a holding company, whose assets consist of stock of the closed bank, be subjected to the statutory assessment when the corporation itself is unable to meet the assessment? The case of Nettles v. Rhett is the latest of this series, and is fairly typical of the issues involved. This case concerned a suit by the receiver of the Peoples State Bank of …

Injunctions - Courts - Labor Law - Power Of A State Court To Enjoin National Labor Relations Board Officials, Amos J. Coffman

Michigan Law Review

The Circuit Court of Washtenaw County, Michigan, recently issued an injunction enjoining the regional officials of the National Labor Relations Board from holding a scheduled hearing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The injunction was issued on the theory that if any unfair labor practices were being practiced by the Ann Arbor Press (a local job printer charged with violating the act) they did not affect interstate commerce and hence were not within the jurisdiction of the board. The injunction was at least temporarily effective. The hearing was not held in Ann Arbor. The regional office of the board in Detroit withdrew …

Public Utility Holding Company Act - Corporate Simplification And Geographic Integration Under Section Ii, Brackley Shaw

Michigan Law Review

Section II of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, the so-called "death sentence" clause, carries the specifications for achieving two of the government's main objectives in passing the act: corporate simplification and geographical integration of the large utility holding company systems.

Constitutional Law - Validity Of Mortgage Moratorium Act - Effect Of Lapse Of Time On "Emergency'' Legislation, Ralph Winkler

Michigan Law Review

A mortgage moratorium law was enacted in Nebraska in 1933. It was re-enacted in 1935 and again in 1937. The act recited that an emergency existed and that the law was adopted to provide for this condition. The instant case involved the constitutionality of this law. A majority of the court held that the law violated the due process clause and the contracts clause of the state constitution. While the court admitted that "land values have not been restored to the prices they had attained prior to March 1, 1934," nevertheless, "It appears that there is no crisis now prevailing …

Coroners - Inquests - Right To Exhume Body After Burial, James W. Mehaffy

Michigan Law Review

Two weeks after burial of deceased, report was received of analysis of contents of the stomach, indicating death by poisoning. The coroner desired to hold an inquest for further investigation five weeks after burial, and sought to exhume the body for that purpose. The husband of the deceased sought to enjoin the exhumation. Held, the body may be exhumed. Sejrup v. Shepard, (Minn. 1937) 275 N. W. 687.