Law Commons^™

Constitutional Law—Separation Of Church And State—New York Release Time Program, Spero L. Yianilos

Buffalo Law Review

Zorach v. Clauson, 198 Misc. 631, 99 N. Y. S. 2d 339 (Sup. Ct. 1950); Afd. 278 App. Div. 573, 102 N. Y. S. 2d 27 (2nd Dept. 1951); Aff'd. 303 N. Y. 161, 100 N. E. 2d 463 (1951).

Limitations On Municipal Indebtedness, John L. Bowers Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

Not a single state has seen fit to leave its cities unrestricted in the amount of indebtedness each might incur.' Assuming that the nature of a proposed expenditure is such that it is recognized as a legitimate municipal expense, the limitations imposed upon total indebtedness may yet prevent extension of a city's credit. Thus, a city may have a particular financing scheme invalidated simply because of the circumstance that its present indebtedness is so close to the limit that the contemplated increase would force the total amount to exceed the maximum allowable.

Three sources of limitation are commonly found today. …

Public Use, Public Policy And Recent Developments In The Law Of Eminent Domain, Morree Levine

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Search And Seizure—Evidence Obtained During Search Suppressed, Mary K. Davey

Buffalo Law Review

Jeffers v. United States, 187 F. 2d 498 (D. C. Cir. 1950); aff'd. __ U. S. __, 20 U. S. L. Week 4011 (Nov. 13, 1951).

Constitutional Law—Ordinance Restricting Door To Door Sales Held Constitutional, Joseph A. Taddeo

Buffalo Law Review

Breard v. City of Alexandria, 71 S. Ct. 920, (1951).

The Court And The Constitution. By Owen J. Roberts., Jacob D. Hyman

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

RECENT CASES

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW--FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT--REVOCATION OF DRIVER'S LICENSE WITHOUT HEARING

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--ECONOMIC REGULATION--STATE COURT INTERPRETATIONS OF SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--EMINENT DOMAIN FOR SLUM CLEARANCE--EFFECT OF SALE OR LEASE OF PROPERTY TO PRIVATE PERSONS FOR REDEVELOPMENT

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS--STATE SALES TAX ON INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR DEALING WITH FEDERAL AGENCY WHOSE "ACTIVITIES" ARE EXEMPTED

CRIMINAL LAW--EFFECT OF PROOF OF COMPLETED CRIME ON CHARGE OF ATTEMPT--FATAL VARIANCE

FEDERAL JURISDICTION--FORUM NON CONVENIENS--STAY OF FEDERAL ACTION PENDING STATE DECISION

INSANE PERSONS--COMMITMENT PROCEEDINGS--REQUIREMENT OF REASONABLE NOTICE

RIGHT OF PRIVACY--PUBLICATION OF PICTURES AS OFFENSE TO "ORDINARY SENSIBILITIES"--QUESTION OF LAW OR FACT?

TRUSTS--DUALITY OF INTEREST--MERGER OF TITLE …

Avoidance Of Constitutional Issues In The United States Supreme Court: Liberties Of The First Amendment, Burton C. Bernard

Michigan Law Review

The frequently criticized reluctance of the Supreme Court to consider complaints of unconstitutional governmental action is manifested in the utilization by the Court of various rules of avoidance of constitutional issues. Uncompromising defense of this self-restraint would not be easy to reconcile with the Court's pronounced sensitivity, in modem times, to the liberties of the First Amendment. This article will examine the considerations underlying the traditional restraint, and will suggest that the Court should modify several of its rules of avoidance, at least when liberties of the First Amendment are threatened.

Constitutional Law, Morris B. Abram, Robert B. Mckay

Mercer Law Review

Georgia appellate courts did not in the year under discussion have the occasion to pass on as many interesting and complex constitutional situations as in-the prior year. To a large extent the constitutional questions in the period related to matters of criminal law and procedure, and it was in this field, perhaps, more than any other that the principal decisions lay.

Constitutional Law--Import-Export Clause--Validity Of A State Gross Receipts Tax On Common Carriers Transporting Imports And Exports, Roger D. Anderson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The State of Maryland levied a nondiscriminatory gross receipts tax on revenues of common carriers operating within the state, apportioned on the basis of trackage within Maryland to trackage everywhere. Petitioners, who are common carriers operating within Maryland, objected to this tax to the extent that it constituted a tax on gross receipts derived from transporting imports and exports on the grounds that it violated the import-export clause. The court of appeals of Maryland declared the tax valid. On appeal, held, affirmed. Where the tax is on an activity connected with the import or export of goods, rather than …

Probate Proceedings-Administration Of Decedents' Estates- The Mullane Case And Due Process Of Law, Nolan W. Carson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court, a new chapter has been added to the law on the requisites of notice under the due process clause of the Constitution. This case held that publication of notice prior to a judicial settlement of accounts by the corporate trustee of a common trust fund does not afford due process of law to those beneficiaries with present interests whose addresses are known to the trustee. The court refused to classify the action as in rem or in personam but held that whatever its technical definition, the published notice was not …

Western Union Telegram To Mr. Virgil D. Hawkins, Registrar

Documents

During his struggle to gain entry to the University of Florida College of Law, Mr. Hawkins never applied to Florida A & M for law school. Nevertheless, he was notified, by telegram, that his "application for admission" was approved and he was given instructions to register for classes for the fall semester, 1951.

Constitutional Law-Standards For Testing Validity Of State Regulations Affecting Interstate Commerce [Dean Milk Co. V. City Of Madison, U.S. Sup. Ct. 1951].

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Criminal Law Administration Prior To Trial: Recent Constitutional Developments, Paul H. Sanders

Vanderbilt Law Review

Probably the most pervasive dilemma in human experience is that which poses the choice with respect to the use of normally-condemned means in order to attain what are considered to be desirable ends. The field of criminal law administration offers a particularly apt illustration of the dilemma in modern society. The actual, day-to-day methods of operation of our law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges and other officials concerned with the investigation, trial and punishment of those charged with crime,--all reflect the choice that has been made in fact by our society. We can each judge, within the limits of our experience, …

Constitutional Law-Commerce Clause-State Regulation Of Interstate Commerce, William O. Allen

Michigan Law Review

The City of Madison enacted an ordinance prohibiting the sale within the municipality's jurisdiction of milk not pasteurized and bottled within five miles of the city's central square. Plaintiff, an Illinois corporation engaged in distributing milk and milk products in Illinois and Wisconsin, had its pasteurization plant in Illinois, approximately sixty-five miles from Madison. After it had been denied a permit to distribute milk in Madison, plaintiff brought an action for a declaratory judgment as to the validity of the ordinance. The ordinance was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court as a reasonable exercise of the municipality's police power. On …

International Law-Aliens-Confiscation Of Alien Enemy Property-Alien Enemy Character Of Shinto Shrine In Hawaii, Jean Engstrom S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a Hawaiian corporation, brought suit under section 9 of the Trading with the Enemy Act for the return of real and personal property vested in 1948 under authority of section S(b). Evidence was introduced to show that plaintiff's members were largely alien Japanese; that, prior to December 7, 1941, plaintiff operated what purported to be a Shinto shrine in Honolulu where three Japanese gods were worshiped; that the shrine looked like a Shinto shrine and was in some respects operated like one. It was further shown that plaintiff's members had no real understanding of the tenets of Shintoism as …

Constitutional Law-Civil Rights-Discharge Of Teachers For Subversive Activity, William H. Bates

Michigan Law Review

An action was brought seeking a declaratory judgment as to the constitutionality of New York's Feinberg law. The statute provided that the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York should list organizations found to be subversive. Membership in such organizations was made prima facie disqualification for the position of public school teacher. At the time of suit the Board of Regents had made no listing of subversive groups nor had any teacher been discharged under the provisions of this enactment. The supreme court of New York, special term, held the law unconstitutional; the appellate division …

Constitutional Law-Fifth Amendment-Privilege Against Self-Incrimination By Admission, Or Knowledge, Of Communist Activities, Morris G. Shanker

Michigan Law Review

ln response to a subpoena, petitioner appeared as a witness before a United States district court grand jury. Several questions concerning· her knowledge and association with the Communist Party were put to her. In each case, she refused to answer the questions, claiming the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination. For refusal to answer these same questions when brought before the district court, petitioner was adjudged to be in contempt of court. The court of appeals affirmed the holdings, and certiorari was granted by the Supreme Court. Held, judgment reversed. The Smith Act makes it unlawful to advocate knowingly the desirability …

Constitutional Law - Racial Discrimination On Juries, Leigh A. Crockett

William and Mary Review of Virginia Law

No abstract provided.

Civil Procedure-Venue-Forum Non Conveniens-Application Of Doctrine By State Court In Case Arising Under Federal Employers' Liability Act, Nancy J. Ringland S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Two suits based on the Federal Employers' Liability Act were brought in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri. In both cases, plaintiff was not a Missouri resident, the defendant carrier was a foreign corporation, and the cause of action arose outside the state of Missouri. A motion to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens was denied as beyond the jurisdiction of the court, and mandamus proceedings were begun in the Supreme Court of Missouri to compel the trial court to exercise its discretion in disposing of the motions. The writs were quashed by the …

Constitutional Law-Due Process Of Law-Thornhill Reexamined, Rex Eames S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In the spring of 1940, the Isle of Thornhill emerged from the watery depths and assumed a position in the Sea of American Constitutional Law. The discoverors of this Isle indicated their success was largely due to certain revelations made known three years· before by another highly distinguished explorer. The pronouncement in 1940 of the Isle's existence excited great furor and debate among the professional geographers as to its substance and future utility. In the early days of its discovery, Thornhill's area and coastline were not precisely or clearly charted, and only through several subsequent voyages have these important …

Cases And Materials On Constitutional Law, By John P. Fran, Thomas Reed Powell

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Civil Rights—"Threat" To Public Order Held Superior To Freedom Of Speech, Edward S. Spector

Buffalo Law Review

Feiner v. New York, __ U. S. __, 71 S. Ct. 303 (1951).

Recent Constitutional Developments On Eminent Domain, John L. Bowers Jr., J. L. Boren Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

Although the provisions of both state and federal law that cruel and unusual punishments shill not be imposed are considered popularly to relate only to those punishments which exist solely in the books, the provisions are not useless today. Recent cases have shown a tendency to expand the scope of the prohibition, especially with regard to excessive punishment, and to incorporate the proscription within the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. As respect, that which likely will be deemed cruel and unusual, little can be done beyond noting those situations in which the limitation has been applied. If a generalization …

Strikes, Picketing And The Constitution, Archibald Cox

Vanderbilt Law Review

The law's first response to organized labor activities was to attempt to define by judicial decision the ends for which employees might resort to economic weapons against an employer,' the weapons which they might use in pursuit of lawful objectives, and the occasions on which resort to economic weapons would be curtailed, as in the case of a nationwide railroad strike, because of the danger of a public catastrophe. The effort was unsuccessful. The judge-made law was neither a reflection of the enduring sentiment of the community nor a response to its needs. The subsequent reaction, which took its initial …

The Charter And The Constitution: The Human Rights Provisions In American Law, Oscar Schachter

Vanderbilt Law Review

The United Nations has added new complications to the well-worn subject of treaties and the Constitution. The issues have arisen principally in the field of human rights and, inevitably, constitutional discussions have reflected the political as well as the legal complexities. One consequence has been an apparent shift in legal positions: bar association leaders, long devoted to strict construction, have been inclined recently to stress the broad and expansive character of the treaty power and the supremacy clause ; in contrast, U.S. Government officials normally expected to support federal power have increasingly emphasized constitutional limitations. In political terms, this turnabout …

Foreword: A Symposium On Current Constitutional Problems, John W. Davis

Vanderbilt Law Review

The place of the Constitution in American life nowhere appears more clearly than in the form of our oaths of allegiance. These do not run to any personal sovereign, or to any nation or government by name. They pledge only the support of the Constitution of the United States, to which is sometimes added the promise to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic. It must be and it is something more than a mere document which is sanctified by such oaths. It is the embodiment and symbol of nationhood, of a form of government and of a way …

A Modern Supreme Court In A Modern World, Charles F. Curtis

Vanderbilt Law Review

It is all very well, indeed it is very good, to bear down on the fact that the author of the Constitution was, and still is, "We the People of the United States." But there is more sentiment than explanation in it. We think too much about who is the author of the Constitution. Of course it was not the Convention of 1789, nor the First Congress which wrote the Bill of Rights, nor the Thirty-Ninth which wrote the Fourteenth Amendment. It was We the People, but even when we have recognized this, all we have done is recognize that …

Current Constitutional Problems In Federal Taxation, Charles L.B. Lowndes

Vanderbilt Law Review

The most significant constitutional problem in federal taxation today is the absence of constitutional problems. The federal income, estate and gift taxes all encountered an extremely critical reception at the hands of the courts and suffered serious constitutional set-backs early in their careers. Today, however, they function in a constitutional climate as benevolent as it was formerly hostile. A microscopic analysis of the present federal tax system may reveal minor irregularities which might conceivably be magnified into major constitutional issues. From a practical point of view, however, the chance of invalidating a federal tax assessment on constitutional grounds is infinitesimal. …

Legislative Disqualifications As Bills Of Attainder, Francis D. Wormuth

Vanderbilt Law Review

The separation of powers was first introduced into political discussion during the English Civil Wars of the seventeenth century by the political party known as Levellers. The object was to insure that persons be judged by general and prospective rules. If the legislative authority should decide a particular case, it might be tempted through partiality or prejudice to improvise a special rule for the situation. So the separation of powers was intended to achieve that impartiality in government which Aristotle called "the rule of law."

The doctrine of checks and balances was also introduced into political discussion during the Civil …