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Evidence-Privilege-Right Of Third Person To Assert Privilege As To Accident Report Made Confidential By Statute, Richard W. Young S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought a negligence action for injuries sustained when the automobile in which she was a passenger collided with that operated by the defendant. Defendant questioned a police officer, who had filed the accident report, concerning statements made to him by the driver of the vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding. The trial court permitted this testimony over the plaintiff's objection that these statements were privileged under an Iowa statute purporting to make written accident reports confidential and inadmissible in evidence. On appeal after a verdict was returned in favor of the defendant, held, reversed. The statute can …

Federal Procedure-Mandamus-Review Of Federal District Court Order Of Severance And Transfer Pursuant To 28 U.S.C. §1406 (A), Judson M. Werbelow S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner instituted a treble damage suit alleging violation of the antitrust laws in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, naming the insurance commissioner of Georgia, the insurance commissioner of Florida, and four insurance companies residing and doing business in the Southern District of Florida as defendants. The Georgia insurance commissioner, who was personally served in the Northern District of Florida, entered a special appearance to dismiss the action for improper venue. Petitioner contended that the Georgia commissioner was "found or has an agent" in the Southern District of Florida on the theory that co-conspirators are each …

Front Matter, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Front Matter for Volume 52, Issue 7 of Michigan Law Review

Federal Taxation: Perspective During The Fifth Decade, J. W. Riehm

Michigan Law Review

Since the enactment of the income tax provisions of the Tariff Act of October 3, 1913 forty years have elapsed within which we have seen a profound change in the revenue system of our federal government, the growth of a great new branch of public law, the development of a highly specialized field of legal practice and the publication in legal periodicals of innumerable articles on the subject of taxation. Tax men can, with great pride, point out that technical proficiency has done an amazing job of keeping pace with the rapid expansion of the system from the utilization of …

Corporations-Indemnification Of Management For Litigation Expenses, Chester F. Relyea S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Two recent decisions concerning the right of a successful director-defendant to seek corporate indemnification for litigation expenses are significant because they interpret not only the relevant statutes of New York and Delaware, but also language which exists in the statutes of several other states and which as yet has not been construed by the courts of those states. These cases indicate the desirability of a general survey of such indemnification practice at common law and under statutes.

Constitutional Law-Church And State-Distribution Of Gideon Bible In Public Schools, Raymond R. Trombadore S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Gideons International, a non-profit religious corporation, applied by letter to the Board of Education of the Borough of Rutherford, New Jersey, for permission to distribute free copies of the Gideon Bible to pupils of the public schools of that community. By resolution passed at a regular meeting of the board, permission was granted for distribution to pupils whose parents requested copies of the Bible. Prior to distribution, suit for injunction was commenced by parents of Jewish and Catholic pupils to determine the validity of the distribution under the federal and New Jersey constitutions. The trial court found for defendants. …

Corporations--Capital And Stock-Right Of Employee To Receive Stock Dividend Under Stock Purchase Agreement, John E. Riecker S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant's decedent, X, was executive vice-president and treasurer of plaintiff corporation. Intending to increase X's compensation, plaintiff drew up a plan calling for the sale of 100 shares of plaintiff's stock to X, plaintiff to have a lien on the stock certificate made out in X's name and the right to credit all dividends declared on the stock against its purchase price until fully paid. X was granted the right to vote the stock and to receive the dividends declared after full payment. The agreement specifically provided that X was not entitled to possession of the …

Evidence-Privilege-Use Of Privileged Accident Report To Refresh Officer's Recollection, David D. Dowd, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a passenger in an automobile, recovered a judgment for injuries received in a collision. Defendants' motion to exclude testimony of the police officer investigating the accident as to admissions of the driver was overruled by the trial court. Defendants contended that the required accident report filed by the defendant driver was privileged by statute, and therefore the testimony of the officer was inadmissible. On appeal, held, reversed on other grounds. It was proper for the officer to testify as to the defendant driver's admissions even if it was necessary for him to refresh his recollection of these admissions …

Creation Of Joint Rights Between Husband And Wife In Personal Property: Ii, R. Bruce Townsend

Michigan Law Review

The net effect of the general legislation pertaining to the creation of joint tenancy has been to make lawyers sensitive to language expressing an intent to create joint tenancy, tenancy by the entireties and other types of survivorship rights which may or may not fall within the foregoing concepts. And so the law has busied itself with the task of giving technical meanings to words used by members of the public in their efforts to create joint rights in property-a task that has not been fully appreciated by people who acquire personal property from bankers, brokers, clerks and the like …

Labor And The Schuman Plan, Gerhard Behr

Michigan Law Review

The European Coal and Steel Community of France, Germany, Italy and the Low Countries in full operation since May 1953, is an unprecedented type of a supranational organization, unique in its institutions as well as in its means for creating a single competitive market for coal, iron and steel within the European territories of those participating states.

Aside from the long term political objective of Franco-German rapprochement as the foundation stone for a future Western European political consolidation or even federation, the Schuman Plan encompasses economic as well as social aims. By establishing such a supranational market the Community seeks …

Real Property-Easements By Prescription-Use Of Presumption, Robert B. Olsen

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs sought to enjoin defendants from using a driveway located on plaintiffs' property. Defendants counterclaimed to have an easement by prescription declared. The parties occupied adjacent city lots. Defendants' predecessor began using the driveway in 1920 without seeking permission from plaintiffs' predecessor. The respective predecessors were on friendly terms at the inception of the user. Defendants and their predecessors made minor repairs to the driveway and claimed at the trial that they had constantly used it as their own. In 1936, two years after plaintiffs acquired full title to their lot, their predecessor executed an abortive quit-claim deed to the …

Taxation-Federal Estate Tax-Relevance Of Marital Deduction To Computation Of Widow's Distributive Share Of Husband's Estate Where She Elects To Take Against Will, Alice Austin

Michigan Law Review

A widow electing to take against her husband's will claimed to be entitled to have her one-third share of decedent's net personal estate computed without deduction of federal estate taxes, on the theory that Congress in allowing the marital deduction intended that a widow's share qualifying for such deduction should be free of the impact of the federal estate tax. The state had no statute providing for apportionment of federal estate taxes. Held: Congress did not intend, by allowing the marital deduction, to change the rule that state law is determinative of the impact of the federal estate tax. …

Wills-Construction-Effect Of Precatory Words Relating -To Disposition Of Property On Donee's Death, Donald M. Wilkinson, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

After two bequests, each of an absolute interest in one-third of her property, to a niece and a nephew, testatrix bequeathed the remaining one-third of her estate to her husband " ... to have and to hold subject to the request hereinafter stated. It, however, is my wish and desire and I charge my said husband ... to make disposition ... so that it will not pass to his heirs upon his death, but shall revert, after his death, to my heirs and be distributed to the legatees named in subparagraphs A. and B. of this clause Eighth ... subject, …

Mortgages-Assignment Of Rents And Profits-New Michigan Statutory Treatment, J. David Voss S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Michigan legislature recently approved an act which affects the validity of assignments of rents in or in connection with mortgages on industrial or commercial property. To understand the impact of the new legislation, it is necessary to refer to the general mortgage law of Michigan. In particular, a similar act passed in 1925 relating to trust mortgages is an aid in construing the new act.

Taxation-Federal Income Tax-Limited Deductibility Of Entertainment Expenses, David W. Belin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In the sophisticated commercial world of today there are many expenses that might be termed of a "mixed complexion," having elements of both a business and non-business character. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the area of entertainment expenses. Though one may assume that it should be the policy of the courts to allow full and fair deduction of business expenses in general, many difficulties arise regarding expenditures for entertainment purposes. In virtually all entertainment there is personal enjoyment of a social nature by the taxpayer as well as potential business value. Furthermore, what business value there is will …

Labor Law--Labor-Management Relations Act--"Captive Audience" Doctrine, George B. Berridge S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The day before a representation election was to be held at respondents plant the employees were assembled on the premises during working hours to hear an anti-union address by respondent's president. The union requested but was refused a similar opportunity to address the employees, and it appeared that respondent had in force a rule prohibiting union solicitation on company property. The National Labor Relations Board decided that although the contents of the president's speech were within the privilege of section 8(c) of the amended National Labor Relations Act, in refusing the union's request respondent had applied its no-solicitation rule in …

Labor Law--Labor-Management Relations Act--Disparagement Of Employer's Product As Protected Concerted Activity, George B. Berridge S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

When contract negotiations between an employer, a Charlotte, North Carolina TV station, and a local union representing the station's technicians reached an impasse, the technicians remained on the job but circulated handbills attacking the inferior quality of the employer's programs. These handbills, which were distributed throughout Charlotte as well as on a picket line which the technicians maintained during their off-duty hours, were signed simply "WBT Technicians" and made no reference to the labor dispute. The company discharged the technicians, whereupon the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board charging a violation of sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) …

Municipal Corporations-Zoning-Right Of Municipality And Property Owners Therein To Object To Amendment Of Zoning Ordinance Of Adjacent Municipality, Howard N. Thiele, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The borough of Dumont in New Jersey amended its zoning ordinance to change one city block from a residential area to a district in which business user would be permissible. The amendment occasioned objections By certain boroughs which were adjacent to the reclassified block, property owners in the adjacent boroughs, property owners in Dumont, and property owners in the block itself. On suit in lieu of prerogative writ by these parties, held, ordinance set aside. Where several boroughs are adjacent to the block of the defendant borough, and in reliance on the residential character of the whole area single …

Regulation Of Business-Sherman Act-Conscious Parallelism Of Action, Arthur M. Wisehart

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff attempted to lease first-run films from defendants, major motion picture distributors, for his new theater located six miles from downtown Baltimore in a suburban shopping center. When the defendants, acting separately, refused to make first-run leases to plaintiff, he brought an action for treble damages and an injunction, alleging that he had been injured by a national conspiracy to restrict first-run features to downtown theaters. Plaintiff contended that his showing of conscious parallelism of action on the part of the defendants established an antitrust violation as a matter of law, and that the only question left for the jury …

Virtue: Basic Structure Of Children's Services In Michigan, Stephen H. Clink

Michigan Law Review

A Review of BASIC STRUCTURE OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES IN MICHIGAN. By Maxine Boord Virtue.

Monthly Periodical Index, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This department lists the articles and comments which appear in leading law reviews. The index embraces material published since the last issue of this REVIEW.

Notes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The information given in the notes is derived from inspection of the books, publishers' literature, and the ordinary library sources

Evidence-Presumtions-Alabama Statute Making Compliance With Federal Wagering Tax Law Prima Facie Evidence Of Violation Of State Gambling Law, John C. Hall S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1953 the Alabama legislature, taking advantage of the federal occupational tax on professional gamblers, enacted legislation making possession of the federal wagering tax stamp prima facie evidence of violation of the state gambling laws.

Corporations-Shareholders-Settlement Of Derivative Suits Under The Federal Rules, George S. Flint

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a minority stockholder in the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, objected to the approval by a federal district court of a settlement in a stockholder's derivative action against various directors of the company and several firms in which they were interested. The compromise covered a series of similar suits filed in state and federal courts, involving contracts negotiated by the directors with defendant companies and alleged manipulations through security purchases preceding a projected issue of stock in 1948. The court had approved the compromise under rule 23(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff contended that the settlement was collusive and …

Proposed Legislation Regarding State Supervision Of Charities, George Gleason Bogert

Michigan Law Review

In the case of private trusts the dangers of long continued neglect or other breaches are not great. Definite or ascertainable persons have a financial interest in enforcement and can bring suit against the trustee. The beneficiaries are almost inevitably informed of their status soon after the creation of the trust. It is the duty of the trustee to notify them of the trust creation, and court notices, the receipt of benefits, and other incidents of trust administration bring home to the beneficiaries knowledge of their situations. Court accountings or voluntary reports generally keep the cestuis informed as to the …

Constitutional Law - Judicial Powers - Legality Of The Grand Jury Report, Alan Reeve Hunt S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

On December 2, 1952, a federal grand jury for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in a "presentment" made to that court, took the State Department severely to task for what it considered to be a conspicuous failure in handling the problem of subversive employees, United States citizens, at the United Nations. It further charged the State Department with impeding the grand jury's progress in attempting to fix responsibility for the failure upon certain State Department officials. On October 11, 1951, the Camden County grand jury presented to the Superior Court of New Jersey …

Arbitration-Enforceability Of Arbitration Agreement In Action By Investor Under The Securities Act Of 1933, Rinaldo L. Bianchi

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sustained a severe loss in the resale of securities bought from the defendant. Alleging fraud he sued under section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, which provides for liability when prospectuses or oral communications sent through channels of interstate commerce falsely state or omit a material fact so as to render the statement misleading. Pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, defendant moved for an order staying proceedings until arbitration had been had in accordance with an agreement between the parties. The district court denied the order, saying that the non-waiver clause of the Securities Act voided a waiver …

Constitutional Law-Commerce Clause-State Taxation Of Interstate Air Carriers, Robert B. Olsen

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, an interstate air carrier, was incorporated in Delaware, and the home port of its planes was in Minnesota. It conducted regularly scheduled flights in and between twelve states. No landings were ever made in Delaware. Nebraska, one of the states in which landings were made by plaintiff, levied an ad valorem tax on a proportion of the Hight equipment of the plaintiff measured by the proportion of the total use of the equipment that was attributable to Nebraska. Plaintiff contended that the commerce clause of the United States Constitution precluded Nebraska from imposing any tax whatever upon such Hight …

The Legal Basis For Municipal Income Taxes In Michigan, Arthur M. Wisehart

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this article is to explore the legal difficulties which might beset a Michigan municipality attempting to impose an income tax. Because of the similarity of some of these difficulties to those encountered in other jurisdictions, it is hoped that this study will be useful outside of as well as within the state of Michigan.

Corporations-Ultra Vires Acts-Gifts To Educational Institutions, Judson M. Werbelow S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a New Jersey corporation, was engaged in the manufacture and sale of valves, fire hydrants and other special equipment for use in water and gas industries. The company employed about 300 persons at its plant in New Jersey. In 1951 the board of directors adopted a resolution appropriating $1,500 as a donation to Princeton University for university maintenance. When this appropriation was questioned by certain stockholders, the company instituted a declaratory judgment action to determine whether the proposed donation was ultra vires. The lower court ruled that the donation was intra vires. On appeal, held, affirmed. The gift …