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The Law School - 1955-1956, E. Blythe Stason

Michigan Law Review

Another law school year has become a part of the record of history, and in the belief that some of the pertinent historical facts are of interest to readers of the Law Review, I take advantage of these pages to report some of the principal items of interest arising in connection with the work of the year. The facts and figures herein set forth are derived in large part from the annual report being submitted from the Law School to the President and Board of Regents of the University.

Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Legality Of Plans For Maintaining School Segregation, John B. Huck

Michigan Law Review

On May 19, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that segregation in public schools was a denial of equal protection of the law. Since that date many and varied plans have been proposed to maintain segregated education by avoiding the impact of the decision. The legality of three of these proposed avoidance devices will be analyzed in this comment.

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.

Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This index includes articles, comments and some of the longer notes which have appeared in leading law reviews since the publication of the last issue of this Review.

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Comparative Legal Research, Some Remarks On "Looking Out Of The Cave", Hessel E. Yntema

Michigan Law Review

Despite this risk and without limiting discussion of comparative legal research to a Platonic theory of knowledge-to which I for one would not accede-the text prompts first the inquiry, unavoidable in a constructive discussion of the matter, whether contemporary legal study in the United States is concerned with shadows in an intellectual cave-or in other words, whether it is true, as I was told years ago, partly perhaps in jest, by a late distinguished member of the Supreme Court, then Attorney General, when, encountering me on a visit to the Department of Justice, he kindly asked what I was looking …

The Installment Land Contract As A Junior Security, E. George Rudolph

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this paper to explore the problems of one group whose members are increasingly, and more or less as a matter of necessity, finding themselves in the role of mortgagees, or vendors under installment purchase contracts, although they do not fit the assumed pattern. This group consists of persons who own homes subject to existing mortgages and for one reason or another decide to sell. The existing mortgages may be insured by the Federal Housing Administration or by the Veterans Administration or they may be uninsured mortgages held by building and loan associations or other financial …

Corporations - Shareholders - Majority Liability For Improper Stock Redemption By Corporation And For Misrepresentations In Private Stock Purchases From Minority Holders, James M. Tobin

Michigan Law Review

In 1942 a seemingly innocuous suit was brought against the Axton-Fisher Tobacco Corporation to determine the propriety of the alteration of a stock redemption. In 1955 Judge Leahy of the Federal District Court for Delaware handed down an opinion on the damages and relief to be given in the case in what he hopefully termed was the final phase of this famous litigation. It is the purpose of this comment to appraise the basis of the recovery allowed by Judge Leahy. Two readily distinguishable problems will be treated: (1) the nature of relief from a stock redemption called by fiduciaries …

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 …

Constitutional Law - Interstate Commerce - Power Of States To Recalculate Aircraft Operating In Interstate Commerce, Robert W. Steele

Michigan Law Review

Defendant village, located one mile from Idlewild Airport, passed an ordinance prohibiting air flight over the town at less than 1,000 feet. Plaintiffs brought suit to enjoin enforcement of the ordinance, with Civil Aeronautics Board intervening as· plaintiff. The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 gives the CAB the authority to regulate aircraft in navigable air space, and the authority to define navigable airspace by setting minimum altitudes for flight. The CAB minimum altitude rules provide that aircraft flying over congested areas shall not be operated below 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet, except …

Constitutional Law - Right To Counsel In Juvenile Court, John A. Ziegler Jr.

Michigan Law Review

In April 1953 petitioner was found to have violated a law by the juvenile court. Being under the age of eighteen, he was committed to the National Training School for Boys of the District 0£ Columbia. He was paroled about a year later but was re-arrested in March 1955 for violation of his parole and brought before the United States Parole Board. Before the parole board could take action he petitioned the federal district court for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the action of the juvenile court in 1953 had been unconstitutional in that petitioner had …

Cml- Procedure - Jurisdiction - Recent Legislation Asserting Jurisdiction Over Nonresident Tort-Feasors, A. Duncan Whitaker

Michigan Law Review

A recent Illinois statute provides inter alia that a nonresident person who commits a tortious act within the state submits to the jurisdiction of the state as to any cause of action arising out of such act. The statute provides that process personally served on the defendant outside the state shall have the same force and effect as though the summons had been personally served within the state. Ill. Rev. Stat. (1955) c. no, § 17.

Lawson: A Common Lawyer Looks At The Civil Law, F. S. C. Northrop

Michigan Law Review

A Review of A Common Lawyer Looks at the Civil Law. By F. H. Lawson.

Mason: Security Through Freedom. American Political Thought And Practice., William R. Jentes S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Security Through Freedom. American Political Thought and Practice. By Alpheus Thomas Mason.

Corwin & Koenig: The Presidency Today, Robert A. Dahl

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Presidency Today. By Edward S. Corwin and Louis W. Koenig.

Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This index includes articles, comments and some of the longer notes which have appeared in leading law reviews since the publication of the last issue of this Review.

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.

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Use Of Habeas Corpus To Allow Federal Court To Review State Court Jury Determination Of Voluntariness Of Confession, Herbert R. Brown S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The prisoner had been convicted of murder in the state court. He brought a habeas corpus proceeding in federal district court to secure his release from custody on the ground that the conviction was based on a confession which was obtained by physical violence. The confession had been submitted to the jury, which was instructed to consider it only if it found that it was not obtained by duress or fear produced by threats. The district court granted the writ of habeas corpus. On appeal, held, affirmed. The district court could determine the facts of the case for itself. …

Criminal Procedure-Waiver Of Unanimous Jury Verdict In Federal Courts, Rinaldo L. Bianchi

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was tried for two counts of felony. After twenty-seven minutes of deliberation the jury was unable to agree on either count, and the court asked the parties whether they would accept a majority verdict. Counsel for the defendant, after consulting with his client, consented, as did the United States Attorney. The jury found defendant guilty on both counts by a majority of nine to three and ten to two respectively. The court ordered a verdict to be filed and imposed a sentence. On appeal, held, reversed. A unanimous verdict is "the inescapable element of due process" and cannot …

Insurance-Meaning Of 'War" In Insurance Policies, Richard W. Young S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In June 1950, United States military forces in Korea embarked upon an engagement that has been variously described as "war," "police action," "hostilities," and "defense against aggression." No declaration of war was made by Congress nor was a state of war proclaimed by the Chief Executive or our Communist adversaries. This unprecedented commitment of military forces in response to the recommendation of an international organization was consummated by unilateral Presidential action, with Congress only impliedly ratifying the step taken by enacting laws appropriating additional funds for the support of the armed forces in Korea. The ill-defined character of the conflict …

Constitutional Law - Bills Of Attainder - Legislative Denial Of Salary Appropriation, Kenneth H. Haynie

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a civil service employee of the Minnesota Department of Conservation, had held the position of Assistant Director of Game and Fish since its creation. In 1953 the legislature enacted an appropriations bill which included a provision that: "Of the amounts appropriated for salaries . . . no part shall be used to pay the salary of an Assistant Director of Game and Fish." Plaintiff brought an action for a declaratory judgment against his immediate superior, contending that the rider was void. He introduced evidence to show that he had incurred the enmity of certain members of the legislature and …

Constitutional Law - Deportation - Use Of Confidential Information In Denial Of Discretionary Relief, George F. Lynch

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, husband and wife, were deportable aliens. At deportation hearings the plaintiffs asked the attorney general to grant discretionary suspension of deportation under section 19 (c) of the Immigration Act of 1917, as amended, which provided in part: "In the case of any alien ... who is deportable ... and who has proved good moral character for the preceeding five years, the attorney general may ... (2) suspend deportation ... if he finds (a) that such deportation would result in serious economic detriment to a citizen .... " Plaintiffs had three children who were all American citizens. The hearing officer …

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.

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.

Constitutional Law - Delegation Of Legislative Power - Use Of State Agency Classification As Basis For Federal Law, James Tobin

Michigan Law Review

Under provisions of the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act a coal mine is classified as gassy within the meaning of the act, and certain precautionary measures are thereby required, when the U. S. Bureau of Mines finds that the mine atmosphere fails to meet tests set forth in the act or when the mine is found to be a "gassy or gaseous mine pursuant to and in accordance with the laws of the State in which it is located." One of appellant's coal mines was classified as gassy by the West Virginia Department of Mines. When appellant failed to comply …

Labor Law - Lmra - Validity Under Federal Act Of State Right To Work Statute Interpreted To Bar Exclusive Bargaining Rights Clause, Edward W. Powers S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff employer, operator of a retail food store, refused to sign a contract with a union representing the only two butchers then employed by him on the ground that acceptance of a clause in the contract making the union the exclusive bargaining representative of all butchers in his establishment would violate the state right to work statute. The two butchers went on strike and began picketing the employer's establishment. The employer thereupon hired a non-union butcher and sought to have the picketing enjoined. The state district court denied the injunction. On certiorari to the state supreme court, held, reversed, …

Future Interests - Possibilities Of Reverter - Constitutionality Of Retroactive Limitation, Paul A. Heinen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The township school trustees brought actions under the Reverter Act to have the possibilities of reverter contained in the deeds to two currently unused school tracts declared invalid. In each case the trial court held that the possibility of reverter was alienable and that the Reverter Act was unconstitutional, being an ex post facto law and in violation of the due process clauses of the state and federal Constitutions. On appeal, held, reversed. Since possibilities of reverter in Illinois are merely expectancies subject to change, modification, or abolition by legislative action, the act does not result in an unconstitutional …

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.

Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This index includes articles, comments and some of the longer notes which have appeared in leading law reviews since the publication of the last issue of this Review.