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Full-Text Articles in Law
Some Effects Of Identity-Based Social Movements On Constitutional Law In The Twentieth Century, William N. Eskridge Jr.
Some Effects Of Identity-Based Social Movements On Constitutional Law In The Twentieth Century, William N. Eskridge Jr.
Michigan Law Review
What motivated big changes in constitutional law doctrine during the twentieth century? Rarely did important constitutional doctrine or theory change because of formal amendments to the document's text, and rarer still because scholars or judges "discovered" new information about the Constitution's original meaning. Precedent and common law reasoning were the mechanisms by which changes occurred rather than their driving force. My thesis is that most twentieth century changes in the constitutional protection of individual rights were driven by or in response to the great identity-based social movements ("IBSMs") of the twentieth century. Race, sex, and sexual orientation were markers of …
Sexualized Racism/Gendered Violence: Outraging The Body Politic In The Reconstruction South, Lisa Cardyn
Sexualized Racism/Gendered Violence: Outraging The Body Politic In The Reconstruction South, Lisa Cardyn
Michigan Law Review
From its establishment in the months following the Civil War by a motley assortment of disgruntled former rebels, the first Ku Klux Klan, like its many vigilante counterparts, employed terror to realize its invidious social and political aspirations. This terror assumed disparate shapes - from the storied nightriding of disguised bands on horseback, to cryptic threats, horrific assaults, and, not infrequently, murder. While students of Reconstruction have considered many facets of klan violence, none to date has focused exclusively on sexual violence in its historical specificity. Yet, as the work of Catherine Clinton, Laura Edwards, and Martha Hodes persuasively demonstrates, …
What's Wrong With Our Talk About Race? On History, Particularity, And Affirmative Action, James Boyd White
What's Wrong With Our Talk About Race? On History, Particularity, And Affirmative Action, James Boyd White
Michigan Law Review
One of the striking and original achievements of the Michigan Law Review in its first century was the publication in 1989 of a Symposium entitled Legal Storytelling. Organized by the remarkable editor-in-chief, Kevin Kennedy - who tragically died not long after his graduation - the Symposium not only brought an important topic to the forefront of legal thinking, it did so in an extraordinarily interesting way. For this was not a mere collection of papers; the authors met in small editorial groups to discuss their work in detail, and as a result the whole project has a remarkable coherence and …
The Racial Origins Of Modern Criminal Procedure, Michael J. Klarman
The Racial Origins Of Modern Criminal Procedure, Michael J. Klarman
Michigan Law Review
The constitutional law of state criminal procedure was born between the First and Second World Wars. Prior to 1920, the Supreme Court had upset the results of the state criminal justice system in just a handful of cases, all involving race discrimination in jury selection. By 1940, however, the Court had interpreted the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to invalidate state criminal convictions in a wide variety of settings: mob-dominated trials, violation of the right to counsel, coerced confessions, financially-biased judges, and knowingly perjured testimony by prosecution witnesses. In addition, the Court had broadened its earlier decisions forbidding …
Caste, Class, And Equal Citizenship, William E. Forbath
Caste, Class, And Equal Citizenship, William E. Forbath
Michigan Law Review
There is a familiar egalitarian constitutional tradition and another we have largely forgotten. The familiar one springs from Brown v. Board of Education; its roots lie in the Reconstruction era. Court-centered and countermajoritarian, it takes aim at caste and racial subordination. The forgotten one also originated with Reconstruction, but it was a majoritarian tradition, addressing its arguments to lawmakers and citizens, not to courts. Aimed against harsh class inequalities, it centered on decent work and livelihoods, social provision, and a measure of economic independence and democracy. Borrowing a phrase from its Progressive Era proponents, I will call it the social …
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Racial Segregation Of Spectator Seating In Courtroom, Thomas W. Van Dyke
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Racial Segregation Of Spectator Seating In Courtroom, Thomas W. Van Dyke
Michigan Law Review
Defendant, judge of a municipal court in Virginia, assigned seating on the basis of race in that part of his courtroom reserved for spectators and for those awaiting the call of their business before the court. The same number of seats were provided for Negroes as for whites. There was no separation of the races in the area immediately before the bench nor was there any complaint of discrimination in the administration of justice. Plaintiffs are Negroes who have been required on more than one occasion to occupy seats in the spectator section on a racially-segregated basis. In a suit …
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Racial Discrimination And The Role Of The State, William C. Griffith S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Racial Discrimination And The Role Of The State, William C. Griffith S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Constitutional history from the 1857 Dred Scott decision to the 1954 Brown decision records "a movement from status to contract" for the American Negro. Although uncertainty clouds the definition of "state action," the civil rights of the Negro under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment have been clearly established. The Negro citizen has arrived; the Negro minority group remains one of the gravest social problems of twentieth century America. De facto school segregation, limited economic opportunity, and inadequate housing are problems not solved by invocation of the fourteenth amendment or incantation of the Declaration of Independence. Solution, …
Greenberg: Race Relations And American Law, Spencer L. Kimball
Greenberg: Race Relations And American Law, Spencer L. Kimball
Michigan Law Review
A Review of RACE RELATIONS AND AMERICAN LAW. By Jack Greenberg.
Civil Rights - Legislation - The Civil Rights Act Of 1957, Thomas R. Winquist S.Ed.
Civil Rights - Legislation - The Civil Rights Act Of 1957, Thomas R. Winquist S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
It is the purpose of this comment to note the nature of the prior legislation in the civil rights area, the provisions of the new act and the effect of the new act upon civil rights protection.
The Fourteenth Amendment Reconsidered, The Segregation Question, Alfred H. Kelly
The Fourteenth Amendment Reconsidered, The Segregation Question, Alfred H. Kelly
Michigan Law Review
Some sixty years ago in Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court of the United States adopted the now celebrated "separate but equal" doctrine as a constitutional guidepost for state segregation statutes. Justice Brown's opinion declared that state statutes imposing racial segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, provided only that the statute in question guaranteed equal facilities for the two races. Brown's argument rested on a historical theory of the intent, although he offered no evidence to support it. "The object of the amendment," he said, "was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, …
Constitutional Law - Due Process - State Procedure For Attacking The Composition Of Grand Juries, Robert E. Hammell
Constitutional Law - Due Process - State Procedure For Attacking The Composition Of Grand Juries, Robert E. Hammell
Michigan Law Review
Defendant Michel, a Negro, was indicted by a grand jury for rape on February 19, 1953. On March 2, the same day that the term of the grand jury expired, he was arraigned and counsel was appointed. One week (five judicial days) later, motion was made to quash the indictment on grounds of discrimination against Negroes in impaneling the grand jury. The trial court ruled that the objection had been waived because Louisiana law requires that it be raised within three judicial days after the expiration of the term of the grand jury. The defendant was convicted, and the Louisiana …
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Discrimination Against Negroes In State Recreation Facilities, Sanford B. Hertz S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Discrimination Against Negroes In State Recreation Facilities, Sanford B. Hertz S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Three suits were brought to obtain injunctions to prevent racial segregation at public bathing beaches, bathhouses, and swimming pools. Because the cases raised the same legal issue they were consolidated for trial. The plaintiffs moved for judgment on the pleadings. Held, motion denied. The segregation of Negroes and whites at bathing beaches, bathhouses and swimming pools does not per se deny to Negroes any rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Lonesome v. Maxwell, (D.C. Md. 1954) 123 F. Supp. 193.
Constitutional Law - Civil Rights - Right Of Negro To Vote In State Primary Elections, John C. Hall S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - Civil Rights - Right Of Negro To Vote In State Primary Elections, John C. Hall S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
The Jaybird Democratic Association was formed in Fort Bend County, Texas, in 1889. Membership was open to all white voters in the county. The association was not governed by the state statute regulating political parties. Candidates nominated by the Jaybird Party entered the Democratic county primary as individuals, not as Jaybird candidates, but those candidates won both the Democratic primary and the general election with only one exception in the entire history of the Jaybird Party. Terry, a Negro, sought a declaratory judgment and injunction permitting Negroes to vote in the Jaybird primary. The federal district court ruled that the …
Constitutional Law - State Action - Trade Union's Authority Is Not Derived From The State, S. I. Shuman S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - State Action - Trade Union's Authority Is Not Derived From The State, S. I. Shuman S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiffs claimed that defendant union and defendant company conspired to discriminate against Negro cab driver employees by means of a working regulation intended to compel plaintiffs to pick up passengers only in wards inhabited primarily by Negroes. Two bases for original jurisdiction in federal court were advanced. First, it was contended that the cause of action involved more than $3,000 and arose under the laws of the United States because the bargaining power of the union was conferred upon it by the National Labor Relations Act. Second, it was maintained that the Civil Rights Act vested jurisdiction, on the ground …
Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Use Of Property And Poll Tax Lists For Selection Of Jurors, Alfred W. Blumrosen S.Ed
Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Use Of Property And Poll Tax Lists For Selection Of Jurors, Alfred W. Blumrosen S.Ed
Michigan Law Review
Brown, a Negro, was convicted of a capital offense in Forsyth County, North Carolina. Having exhausted his state remedies, he petitioned the federal district court for a writ of habeas corpus alleging, inter alia, systematic discrimination against Negroes serving on grand and petit juries. This discrimination was claimed to result from the use of property and poll tax lists as sources from which to draw jury panels. The district court denied his petition and was affirmed by the court of appeals. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, affirmed. The use of property and poll tax lists …
Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right Of Accused To Writ Of Error Coram Nobis, Bernard L. Trott
Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right Of Accused To Writ Of Error Coram Nobis, Bernard L. Trott
Michigan Law Review
Petitioner, a nineteen year old Negro, was convicted of rape in a circuit court of Alabama. The conviction, largely predicated on a confession made by petitioner on July 3, 1946, to the local police, was affirmed on April 24, 1947, by the Supreme Court of Alabama. This petition was subsequently initiated before the Alabama Supreme Court seeking an order granting permission to petition the trial court for a writ of error coram nobis. The request was accompanied by an allegation that petitioner's confession had been induced by mental and physical torture administered by the local police. At no time during …
Constitutional Law--Commerce Clause--Foreign Commerce--Validity Of State Statute Prohibiting Racial Discrimination By Carrier, Bruce L. Moore S.Ed.
Constitutional Law--Commerce Clause--Foreign Commerce--Validity Of State Statute Prohibiting Racial Discrimination By Carrier, Bruce L. Moore S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Appellant owns and operates two steamships for transportation of its patrons between Detroit and Bois Blanc Island, part of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The island is owned by appellant and operated as an amusement and recreation center for the people of Detroit. For refusal to transport a negro girl, appellant was prosecuted and convicted under the Michigan Civil Rights Act which provides that "All persons within the jurisdiction of this state shall be entitled to full and equal accommodations . . . facilities and privileges . . . of public conveyances on land and water . . . ," …
Constitutional Law-Protection Of Civil Liberties-Federal Criminal Prosecution Of State Police Officers-Constitutionality And Construction Of Section 20 Of Criminal Code, George Brody
Michigan Law Review
In United States v. Classic the Civil Liberties Unit of the Department of Justice resurrected the long dormant section 20 of the United States criminal code to prosecute successfully election officials in Louisiana for altering and falsely counting ballots cast in a Louisiana primary for representatives to Congress. Although the acts of the defendants were also in violation of state law the court asserted that "misuse of power possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with authority of state law, is action taken under color of state law" and therefore within the …