Law Commons^™

Constitutional Law - Police Power - Equal Protection - Voluntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse Statute, Louis Bader

Duquesne Law Review

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that the Pennsylvania voluntary deviate sexual intercourse statute is beyond the valid exercise of the state's police power and is violative of the equal protection clauses of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Commonwealth v. Bonadio, 490 Pa. 91, 415 A.2d 47 (1980).

Constitutional Law - Sixth Amendment - Indigent Criminal Defendants - Right To Assigned Counsel - Misdemeanors, Patricia T. Galvin

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has held that the sixth and fourteenth amendments do not require a state to provide counsel for an indigent defendant charged with a crime for which imprisonment upon conviction is authorized but not imposed.

Scott v. Illinois, 99 S. Ct. 1158 (1979).

Pennsylvania Constitutional Law - Search And Seizure - Right To Privacy - Individual Banking Records, Jane E. L. Miller

Duquesne Law Review

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that the Pennsylvania Constitution protects an individual bank depositor's records from unauthorized police subpoenas when no legal proceedings have been instituted against the individual.

Commonwealth v. DeJohn, 403 A.2d 1283 (Pa. 1979)

Remedies And Damages For Violation Of Constitutional Rights, Frank M. Mcclellan, Phoebe Haddon Northcross

Duquesne Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Civil Rights Action - Federal Court Review Of State Statutes - Abstention, David C. Levenreich

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has held that federal courts must abstain from intervention into pending state proceedings under the Younger doctrine when the federal plaintiff has an available state court opportunity to raise his federal constitutional claim.

Moore v. Sims, 99 S. Ct. 2371 (1979)

A Review Of Prisoners' Rights Under The First, Fifth, And Eighth Amendments, Judith Ann Mackarey

Duquesne Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Sixth Amendment - Waiver Of The Right To Counsel, Anthony M. Bittner

Duquesne Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States has held that an explicit statement of waiver is not necessary to support a finding that a defendant waived the right to remain silent or the right to counsel guaranteed by

Miranda v. Arizona. North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369 (1979).

The Uncertain Power Of The President To Execute The Laws, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals.

Constitutional Law - The Speech Or Debate Clause And Immunity For Congressional Aides, Louis Leo Brunetti

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has held that the speech or debate clause applies to congressional aides, insofar as the aides conduct would be a protected legislative act if performed by the Member himself; but it does not extend immunity to the Member's aide when testifying before a grand jury about acts done by the Member or himself, if such inquiry does not impinge upon the legislative process, and proves relevant to investigating possible third party crimes.

Gravel v. United States, 408 U.S. 606 (1972).

Constitutional Law - Aliens, John J. Reid

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has held that state welfare laws discriminating against aliens violate the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, and encroach upon the exclusive federal control of immigration.

Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365 (1971).

Constitutional Law - Right To Trial By Jury In Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings, Dennis L. Veraldi

Duquesne Law Review

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has held that the right to trial by jury in a juvenile proceeding is not so "fundamental" as to be constitutionally required.

Terry Appeal, 438 Pa. 339, 265 A.2d 350 (1970).

Constitutional Law - Burden Of Proof In A Juvenile Delinquency Proceeding, M. Lawrence Shields Iii

Duquesne Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States has held that where a juvenile is charged with the commission of a delinquent offense for which institutional confinement may be imposed, due process requires that the charges against him be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (1970).

Constitutional Law - Rent Withholding Act, Mark Louis Glosser

Duquesne Law Review

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that the Rent Withholding Act is not an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority, despite the fact that it leaves to the Department of Licenses and Inspections the task of applying the concepts of "fit and unfit for human habitation"; nor does it act as an unconstitutional taking of landlords' property without due process of law.

DePaul v. Kaufman, 441 Pa. 386, 272 A.2d 500 (1971).

Constitutional Law - Access To Courts - Indigent Seeking Divorce Decree, John Edward Wall

Duquesne Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States has held that the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment precludes a state from denying to an indigent access to the courts pursuant to an effort to dissolve a marriage, solely because of his inability to pay court fees.

Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371 (1971).

Constitutional Law - Self-Incrimination - Use Of Confessions For Impeachment Purposes, Janice I. Gambino

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has held that the voluntary confessions of a criminally accused, made in the absence of full Miranda warnings, may be used to impeach his credibility.

Harris v. New York, 401 U.S. 222 (1971).

Constitutional Law - Trial - Decorum In The Courtroom, Bernadine Meyer

Duquesne Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Right To Travel, Patrick J. Kearney

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has held that state residency requirements for eligibility under federal welfare assistance programs are unconstitutional because they restrict the right to travel.

Shapiro v. Thompson, 89 S. Ct. 1322 (1969).

Constitutional Law - Qualifications Of Congressmen, Elmer S. Beatty

Duquesne Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States has held that Congress, in judging the qualifications of its members, is limited to the standing qualifications prescribed by the Constitution.

Powell v. McCormack, 89 S. Ct. 1944 (1969).

Constitutional Supremacy: An Early Advocate Of Judicial Review, Leonard B. Rosenberg

Duquesne Law Review

It has often been said that judicial review is a necessary ingredient in a federated system, for supremacy must reside somewhere; and that in the American system, with its additional tripartite structure, it is an absolute necessity. Even critics of judicial review generally agree that the power of the Supreme Court over acts of state legislatures and state courts, as contradistinguished from its power over congressional legislation and presidential activities, is essential to the American political system and, in addition, is a constitutional directive (Article VI-the "supremacy clause").

Constitutional Law - Search Warrants - Health And Safety Inspections, John M. Campfield

Duquesne Law Review

Health and Safety Inspections- The Fourth Amendment guarantees that a person may not be convicted for refusing to consent to a health or safety inspection of his residence or place of business to be made without a search warrant.

Camara v. Municipal Court, 87 S. Ct. 1727 (1967). See v. City of Seattle, 87 S. Ct. 1737 (1967).

Constitutional Law - Fourth Amendment - Electronic Eavesdropping, Jay Paul Kahle

Duquesne Law Review

Electronic Eavesdropping- Verbal evidence of gambling activities obtained without a warrant by means of an electronic listening device held inadmissable [sic].

Katz v. United States, 88 S. Ct. 507 (1968).

Constitutional Law - Self-Incrimination, Donald J. Burns

Duquesne Law Review

An accused gambler's claim of constitutional privilege against self-incrimination provides a complete defense to federal prosecution for violation of federal tax statutes requiring gamblers to pay excise and occupational taxes.

Marchetti v. United States, 88 S. Ct. 697 (1968). Grosso v. United States, 88 S. Ct. 709 (1968).

Constitutional Law, John Ralph Kenrick

Duquesne Law Review

Initiative measure permitting discrimination in the sale or rental of private housing held to be "state action" in violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.

Mulkey v. Reitman, 413 P.2d 825 (1966), cert. granted, ___ U.S. ___ (1966) (No. 483).

Erie V. Tompkins: A Geography Lesson, Louis L. Manderino

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court, in 1938, deciding the case of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, held that a federal court in a diversity of citizenship case must apply state law rather than federal law to the controversy. The Court subsequently held in 1941, in Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Mfg. Co., Inc., that the Erie case necessitated a ruling that a federal court, sitting solely on the basis of diversity jurisdiction, had to use the conflict of law rules of the state in which it was "sitting" in determining which state's law was applicable to the controversy. …

Constitutional Law - Reapportionment, Andrew M. Schifinio, Dennis Gerard Long

Duquesne Law Review

The Pennsylvania Reapportionment Act held unconstitutional.

Butcher v. Bloom, 415 Pa. 438, 203 A. 2d 556 (1964)

Constitutional Law - Civil Rights, Frank Regan Nerone, John W. Latella

Duquesne Law Review

Public Accommodations Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, 85 Sup. Ct. 348 (1964).

Constitutional Law - Illegal Search And Seizure, Samuel J. Pasquarelli

Duquesne Law Review

The rule announced in Mapp v. Ohio will not be used to overturn any conviction finally adjudicated before Mapp v. Ohio was decided.

Linkletter v. Walker, 85 Sup. Ct. 1731 (1965).

Constitutional Law - Right To Counsel, Ronald H. Heck

Duquesne Law Review

The United States Supreme Court, in making an accused's right to confront witnesses a fundamental right applicable to the states, unnecessarily extended constitutional law.

Pointer v. Texas, 380 U. S. 400 (1965).

Constitutional Law - Self Incrimination, Frank Intrieri

Duquesne Law Review

The fifth amendment, in its direct application to the federal government and its bearing on the states by reason of the fourteenth amendment, forbids either comment by the prosecution on the accused's silence or instructions by the court that such silence is evidence of guilt.

Griffin v. State of California, 85 Sup. Ct. 1229 (1965)

Constitutional Law - Right To Travel - Area Restrictions, F. Regan Nerone

Duquesne Law Review

Area Restrictions-Congressional intent of Passport Act of 1926 and Immigration & Nationality Act of 1952.

Zemel v. Rusk, 381 U. S. 1, 85 Sup. Ct. 1271 (1965).