Digital Commons Network^™

Constitutional Law -Validity Of Restrictions On House-To-House Selling

Michigan Law Review

Although data of an accurate nature are not available there seems no doubt that the use of house-to-house selling as a means of distribution has received a considerable impetus during the past few years. So extensive, in fact, has the practice become that many communities are seeking relief from whatever undesirable features may be felt. The problem has already been the subject of litigation in Fuller Brush Co. v. Town of Green River. That other controversies will inevitably follow justifies consideration of the legal aspects involved.

International Law Problems In The Extradition Of Samuel Insull

Michigan Law Review

Considerable interest was aroused by the press announcement of October 4, 1932, that Samuel Insull, former utilities magnate, had been indicted by an Illinois grand jury on charges of embezzlement and larceny and that his extradition from France, where he was then sojourning, would be requested. The seventy-four year old fugitive displayed unusual vigor in surreptitiously leaving Paris by train for Italy, where he boarded an airplane for Greece. He arrived in Athens on October 9, 1932, just one day after the request for his extradition reached Paris. On the following day he was arrested by the Greek authorities on …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Indictment And Information - Sufficiency Of Allegation

Michigan Law Review

An indictment under section 215 of the Criminal Code of the United States charged the appellant with devising a scheme to defraud and to obtain money under false pretences from certain named persons ( the scheme is fully set out and certain representations alleged) and with causing, for the purpose of executing said scheme, "a certain letter" to a named individual to be delivered by United States mail. The defendant promptly filed a motion to quash the indictment on the ground that it was not sufficiently informative of the offense. Held, without discussion, that the indictment was sufficient. Johnson …

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 …

Insurance - Murder Of Insured By Beneficiary - Liability Of Insurer To Estate Of Deceased Where Both Beneficiary And Insured Are Covered By One Joint Policy

Michigan Law Review

The deceased and her husband took out with the defendant company a joint policy payable to the survivor of diem. After the murder of the deceased by her husband, her administratrix brought an action to recover the proceeds of the insurance. The court held that since the parties had contracted for the survivor to take all, there could be no recovery in favor of the deceased's estate. Merrity v. Prudential Insurance Company, (N. J. 1932) 161 Atl. 681.

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. …

Book Notes And Notices

Michigan Law Review

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

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

Housing Legislation And Housing Policy In The United States, Ernest M. Fisher

Michigan Law Review

Passage by Congress of the "Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932" just prior to adjournment in July has served to arouse widespread hope for a revival of the construction industry as a whole, and especially those activities of the industry that are bent upon producing new housing facilities. One of the provisions of the Act authorized the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to "make loans to corporations, formed wholly for the purpose of providing housing for families of low incomes, or for reconstruction of slum areas, which are regulated by state or municipal law as to rents, charges, capital structure, rate …

Book Notes And Notices

Michigan Law Review

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

Torts -Trespassers - Statutory Non-Liability Of Railroads

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, five years of age, was leaning over the edge of defendant's bridge, looking into a canal, when a train was backed into standing cars without warning, and plaintiff was injured. Children were accustomed to play on the bridge, despite the presence of "Danger - No Trespassing" signs. Plaintiff recovered judgment in the trial court, and the judgment was affirmed by the circuit court of appeals, but the Supreme Court of the United States held that the New Jersey statute section 55 of the Railroad Act, "negatived the attractive nuisance and implied invitation doctrines," and reiterated the so-called "Massachusetts Rule" …

Torts -Attractive Nuisance

Michigan Law Review

Dynamite caps were left on the banks of a slush pit near defendant's gas well. Cultivated fields immediately around the pit were under lease to a Mr. Bradshaw whose small boy, trespassing upon defendant's pit, found the dynamite caps and showed them to his father who permitted the boy to play with them, thinking that the caps had been exploded. Later the Bradshaw boy gave them to plaintiff, aged five, who drove a nail into a cap which exploded and injured him. Evidence showed that there was a path near the slush pit, and that children frequently crossed the field …

Effect Of A Restriction On Assignment In A Contract, Grover C. Grismore

Michigan Law Review

The early common law took a strictly logical view in regard to the assignability of contract rights and duties. Since a contract is essentially a personal relationship voluntarily entered into by the parties to it, it follows as a logical deduction that one of the parties should not be allowed to destroy that relationship by introducing a third person into it in his place without the consent of the other party. This was the view of the early common law. However, in the course of time, as we know, the commercial spirit gradually made inroads into this doctrine until we …

The Meaning Of "Heirs" In Willsa Suggestion In Legal Method, Lewis M. Simes, Lorentz B. Knouff, George E. Leonard Jr.:

Michigan Law Review

A major task of the lawyer is the prediction of judicial action. No less than a quarter of a century ago Justice Holmes referred to the law as a body of "systematized prediction." Today legal scholars are not content to base their predictions solely upon the body of rules announced in judicial opinions. By means of elaborate fact studies they have sought to ascertain how rules of law actually function in society. Not only have these studies dealt with problems of procedure and the administration of courts, they have also invaded the fields of commercial and property law. Among such …

The New Spanish Constitution And International Obligations, Jesse S. Reeves

Michigan Law Review

The promulgation of a Constitution for the Republic of Spain, of date of December 9, 1931, invites attention to certain provisions therein relating to international law, treaties, and related topics.

The Constitution of Esthonia, dated June 15, 1920, Article 4, contains apparently the earliest constitutional provision as to the relation of international to the municipal law: "The universally recognized general rules of international law are an integral part of the laws of Esthonia." The German Constitution of August II, 1920, Article 4, provides that "the generally recognized rules of international law are valid as binding constituent parts of the law …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Regulation Of The Business Of The Contract Motor Carrier

Michigan Law Review

Much of the doubt and uncertainty concerning the power of the States to regulate the contract motor carrier has been dispelled by the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Stephenson et al. v. Binford et al. A Texas statute specifically defined the two categories of common and contract carriers for hire and undertook to regulate the business of each through the agency of the State Railroad Commission; the statute required contract carriers to secure "permits" which were to be granted by the commission only after a hearing and not if the …

Intoxicating Liquors -The New Michigan Amendment

Michigan Law Review

The people of the State of Michigan at the last general election ratified an amendment to section 11, Article 16 of the state constitution, the so-called prohibition section, to authorize the legislature to establish a liquor control commission and to impose an excise tax on liquor sales. In accordance with constitutional provisions this amendment went into effect on December eighth last. As the new amendment is drafted it leaves unsettled at least three important matters: (1) The present law in Michigan on the subject of intoxicating liquors; (2) The powers vested by it in the legislature and the liquor control …

Constitutional Law-Res Judicata In Federal Courts

Michigan Law Review

In American Surety Company v. Baldwin the Surety Company had chosen the state courts of Idaho as its forum for determining the issue of liability upon the supersedeas bond and had pursued its remedy to the Supreme Court. Then it sought to re-open the issue and inject a federal question by bringing an action to enjoin the enforcement of the judgment in the federal courts in Idaho. It was held that the doctrine of res judicata prevented a resort to an independent hearing in the federal courts in that State. American Surety Company v. Baldwin, (U.S. 1932) 53 Sup. …

Congressional Redistricting And The Constitution, Harold M. Bowman

Michigan Law Review

Is congressional redistricting by state legislatures an exercise of the lawmaking function, subject to the governor's veto power? Is fairness in such redistricting secured today either by federal statute or by the federal Constitution? Of these two questions, posed by recent events, the first has been completely answered; the second has been answered in part only -- breeding in its answer new and troublesome problems.

Book Notes And Notices

Michigan Law Review

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

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 …

Assignment Of Money Claims (Particularly Wage Claims) - Restraint On Alienation

Michigan Law Review

If a contract has been performed on one side so that all that remains is an obligation to pay and a right to receive money, can the parties by agreement effectively prevent the assignment of the claim? The Illinois Supreme Court had this question before it for consideration in the case of State Street Furniture Co. v. Armour & Co., where the plaintiff was the assignee of wages due to an employee of the defendant, the employee having agreed not to assign his wages without the written consent of his employer. The court decided that the restrictive agreement had …

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 …

Libel - Defamatory Statements In Appellate Brief - Publication Of Excerpts By Legal Scholar As Privileged

Michigan Law Review

The right to reputation, at least as far as written defamation is concerned, is recognized as an absolute right, to be invaded at peril. Yet it often becomes necessary in the course of judicial proceedings to consider the character and acts of individuals and to make them the subject of inquiry or comment. On such an occasion the demands of society compel a surrender of the interests of the citizen and require an immunity from prosecution for what would otherwise constitute an actionable wrong.

Torts - Liability Of Manufacturer To Remote Vendee

Michigan Law Review

In the now famous case of MacPherson v. Buick Motor Company the New York Court of Appeals was faced with the question of the liability of a motor manufacturer to a plaintiff who had purchased a car from a retailer and who had been injured at the time of the coIIapse of a defective wheel. In deciding that such a manufacturer owed a duty to use reasonable care in inspection of the wheels which were to be placed under the assembled car, Justice Cardozo said: "We hold, then, that the principle of Thomas v. Winchester is not limited to poisons, …

Torts - Negligence -The Duty Element

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was the driver of a large motor coach which had skidded on an icy road and knocked down a telephone post, causing a wire, strung thereon, to sag across the road. Perceiving that defendant's approaching truck would run into the wire, plaintiff signalled defendant to stop, but defendant did not stop until his truck had struck the wire, pulling the pole over so that it hit the plaintiff. Held, one judge dissenting, that the question of defendant's negligence was for the jury. Kennedy v. Scott Transportation Co., (C. C. A. 2d, 1932) 60 F. (2d) 717.

Trade-Marks - Unfair Competition - Right To Prohibit The Use Of One's Personal Name As A Trade-Mark

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff, De Nobili Cigar Co., had, over a period of years, added a secondary significance to its name when the defendant corporation organized, taking its name, F. G. Nobile Cigar Co., from one of its members who was not a manufacturer of cigars, and who received stock for such use of his name and his managerial ability. The lower court decreed that the labels of the defendant should be so changed as to be distinguishable from those of the plaintiff and that the phrase, "of Providence, R. I.," be added to its name to distinguish it from the plaintiff …

Injunctions Of State Courts Restraining Parties From Proceeding In The Tribunals Of Other States

Michigan Law Review

It has long been accepted that a court of equity, acting in personam, can enjoin one over whom it has jurisdiction from bringing an action in a foreign tribunal. A nice question is presented when an effort is made to determine on what occasions the court will exercise that power. It is frequently said that it will be exercised but sparingly, and then only where a clear equitable right is established by the petitioner. This, in spite of the strong language commonly accompanying such statements, is no more than that which the court requires for the issuance of any …