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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Civil Redress And Historical Memory Act Of 2029: A Legislative Proposal, William J. Aceves
The Civil Redress And Historical Memory Act Of 2029: A Legislative Proposal, William J. Aceves
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
During the extant “War on Terror,” U.S. and foreign nationals who did not engage in hostilities were detained and mistreated abroad by the United States or by other countries with the acquiescence of the United States. These individuals were accused of being terrorists or were suspected of associating with terror groups, but they were, in fact, innocent. They were eventually released and were never charged by the United States with any crime. Despite their innocence, the United States has failed to provide them with any form of redress for their mistreatment. The Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations refused to apologize …
Restoring Restitution To The Canon, Douglas Laycock
Restoring Restitution To The Canon, Douglas Laycock
Michigan Law Review
The Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment brings clarity and light to an area of law long shrouded in fogs that linger from an earlier era of the legal system. It makes an important body of law once again accessible to lawyers and judges. This new Restatement should be on every litigator's bookshelf, and a broad set of transactional lawyers and legal academics would also do well to become familiar with it. Credit for this Restatement goes to its Reporter, Professor Andrew Kull. Of course his work benefited from the elaborate processes of the American Law Institute, with every …
Section 2259 Restitution Claims And Child Pornography Possession, Dina Mcleod
Section 2259 Restitution Claims And Child Pornography Possession, Dina Mcleod
Michigan Law Review
In 2009, a child pornography victim brought a criminal restitution claim against a defendant who possessed images of her abuse. The statutory provision authorizing restitution, 18 U.S.C. § 2259, had never before been used to bring a claim against a defendant who had only possessed, rather than produced or distributed, child pornography ("child pornography possession defendants"). The federal courts have not developed a consistent approach to resolving Section 2259 claims involving such defendants. This Note argues that two conceptions of traditional proximate cause doctrine can provide a framework for analyzing such claims. It examines Section 2259 claims using both a …
Let Us Never Blame A Contract Breaker, Richard A. Posner
Let Us Never Blame A Contract Breaker, Richard A. Posner
Michigan Law Review
Holmes famously proposed a "no fault" theory of contract law: a contract is an option to perform or pay, and a "breach" is therefore not a wrongful act, but merely triggers the duty to pay liquidated or other damages. I elaborate the Holmesian theory, arguing that fault terminology in contract law, such as "good faith," should be given pragmatic economic interpretations, rather than be conceived of in moral terms. I further argue that contract doctrines should normally be alterable only on the basis of empirical investigations.
Against Irreparable Benefits, Omri Ben-Shahar
Against Irreparable Benefits, Omri Ben-Shahar
Articles
In a recent essay in The Yale Law Journal, Douglas Lichtman argues that courts considering preliminary injunctions should account for irreparable benefits in addition to irreparable harms. This is a provocative idea. If a preliminary injunction harms one party but benefits the other, and if both effects are equally difficult to subsequently undo, why focus on one effect (harm) and ignore the other (benefit)? There is a compelling geometric validity to this symmetry observation. But is this a valuable “flipping” exercise? Does it shed a new light and provide useful insight into the law of injunctions? In this Response I …
The Investor Compensation Fund, Alicia J. Davis
The Investor Compensation Fund, Alicia J. Davis
Articles
The prevailing view among securities regulation scholars is that compensating victims of secondary market securities fraud is inefficient. As the theory goes, diversified investors are as likely to be on the gaining side of a transaction tainted by fraud as the losing side. Therefore, such investors should have no expected net losses from fraud because their expected losses will be matched by expected gains. This Article argues that this view is flawed; even diversified investors can suffer substantial losses from fraud, presenting a compelling case for compensation. The interest in compensation, however, should be advanced by better means than are …
Rule-Oriented Realism, Emily Sherwin
Rule-Oriented Realism, Emily Sherwin
Michigan Law Review
In his new book The Law and Ethics of Restitution, Hanoch Dagan undertakes to explain and justify the American law of restitution. He offers a broad theoretical account of this poorly understood subject, designed not only to fortify the substantive law of restitution but also to clarify the role and methodology of courts in developing the field. Dagan's book also provides lively discussion of the role of restitution in some of the most highly publicized legal developments of recent years. Those who think of restitution as an obscure branch of "legal remedies" may be surprised to read about the …
Justice For The Collective: The Limits Of The Human Rights Class Action, Paul R. Dubinsky
Justice For The Collective: The Limits Of The Human Rights Class Action, Paul R. Dubinsky
Michigan Law Review
The class action lawsuit is our grand procedural experiment in collective justice. As against the U.S. legal system's strong orientation toward individual rights rather than group rights, the class action is a countercurrent. Through Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, large numbers of previously unaffiliated individuals can proceed in federal court as a group, litigating through representatives. A recent form of this litigation, the human rights class action, takes this experiment to its far reaches. In the human rights class action, the tension between individual claimants and the group as a whole can be heightened. The class …
In Defense Of The Good Samaritan, Hanoch Dagan
In Defense Of The Good Samaritan, Hanoch Dagan
Michigan Law Review
In the year 1880, in Dalles City, Oregon, a large and valuable load of lumber fell into the Columbia River and was about to be carried away by the river's waters. Since Savage, the owner of this lumber, was absent from the scene, Glenn - who, at that time, was doing construction work for Savage - "furnished help and did service" in saving the lumber "from being washed away and lost." Seven years later, the Supreme Court of Oregon rejected Glenn's claim that Savage owed him "the reasonable value" of his services as well as of the services of the …
Revaluing Restitution: From The Talmud To Postsocialism, Michael A. Heller, Christopher Serkin
Revaluing Restitution: From The Talmud To Postsocialism, Michael A. Heller, Christopher Serkin
Reviews
Whatever happened to the study of restitution? Once a core private law subject along with property, torts, and contracts, restitution has receded from American legal scholarship. Few law professors teach the material, fewer still write in the area, and no one even agrees what the field comprises anymore. Hanoch Dagan's Unjust Enrichment: A Study of Private Law and Public Values threatens to reverse the tide and make restitution interesting again. The book takes commonplace words such as "value" and "gain" and shows how they embody a society's underlying normative principles. Variations across cultures in the law of unjust enrichment reflect …
The Distributive Foundation Of Corrective Justice, Hanoch Dagan
The Distributive Foundation Of Corrective Justice, Hanoch Dagan
Michigan Law Review
There are two, apparently conflicting, approaches to private law theorizing. One approach - by now, dare I say, the prevailing approach - analyzes private law through the lens of its social, economic, cultural, or political meanings and ramifications. For the purposes of this Article, we may call the proponents of this approach the "social values school." Other theorists, those who take a corrective justice approach, insist that the adjective "private" is significant and should be the starting point for any understanding of "private law." They claim that this starting point inevitably generates a radically different understanding of private law. Organized …
Victim Reparations In The Inter-American Human Rights System: A Critical Assessment Of Current Practice And Procedure, Jo M. Pasqualucci
Victim Reparations In The Inter-American Human Rights System: A Critical Assessment Of Current Practice And Procedure, Jo M. Pasqualucci
Michigan Journal of International Law
Part II of this article analyzes the statutory authority for reparations in the Inter-American system in light of the legislative history of the American Convention's reparations provision and compares that authority with that provided for in the European human rights system. Part III sets forth the Inter-American Court's procedures for determining reparations once State responsibility has been established. Part IV evaluates the parties who may receive reparations. Part V analyzes the types of reparations provided generally under international law and specifically in the Inter-American system. Part VI criticizes the Court's determination to grant only a small share of the reparations …
A Bitter Inheritance: East German Real Property And The Supreme Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision Of April 23, 1991, Jonathan J. Doyle
A Bitter Inheritance: East German Real Property And The Supreme Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision Of April 23, 1991, Jonathan J. Doyle
Michigan Journal of International Law
This article briefly examines the principal expropriatory measures undertaken between 1945 and 1989, the agreements between the two German governments relating thereto, and the divisive constitutional issues raised by this fusion of two antithetical legal systems in the area of property law. The text concludes with an analysis of the German Supreme Court's "Land Reform" decision and the juridical controversy surrounding it.
Restitution And Reform, Dale A. Oesterle
Restitution And Reform, Dale A. Oesterle
Michigan Law Review
A Review of Restitution and Reform by George E. Palmer
Review Of The Law Of Restitution, Whitmore Gray
Review Of The Law Of Restitution, Whitmore Gray
Reviews
The appearance of this excellent treatise is a major step toward a better understanding of the place of restitution in Anglo-American law. The authors' exhaustive treatment of the English case law and the inclusion of much American authority give a perspective on the field which has not previously been available. Like the 1937 Restatement of Restitution, this is a presentation in one volume of legal and equitable remedies for enforcing a substantive right to restitution.' It goes well beyond the uneasy, loose association of the legal and equitable parts of the Restdtement, however, and gives us a unified treatise. Until …
Sec Enforcement Of The Rule I0b-5 Duty To Disclose Material Information-Remedies And The Texas Gulf Sulphur Case, Edmund B. Frost
Sec Enforcement Of The Rule I0b-5 Duty To Disclose Material Information-Remedies And The Texas Gulf Sulphur Case, Edmund B. Frost
Michigan Law Review
On April 16, 1964, the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company announced one of the most significant mineral discoveries of the twentieth century-a major copper and zinc deposit near Timmins, Ontario, found by means of geophysical exploration and exploratory drilling. Unusual market activity prior to this announcement prompted a Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation of insider stock transactions. In April 1965, the SEC brought suit against a group of Texas Gulf insiders, alleging that their purchase of stock on national exchanges before the disclosure of the information concerning the Timmins strike constituted a violation of section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act …
Latin-American Land Reform: The Uses Of Confiscation, Kenneth L. Karst
Latin-American Land Reform: The Uses Of Confiscation, Kenneth L. Karst
Michigan Law Review
This article examines the legislative techniques for taking land, showing their confiscatory operation. For many lawyers, the analysis would then be easily completed: confiscation is wrongful and must be condemned. Rejecting the implicit absolutism of that conclusion, this article inquires into the justifications that can be pleaded on behalf of selective confiscation as an aid in solving some of Latin America's economic and social ills.
Restitution--Quasi-Contract--Non-Conformance With State Building Contractors Licensing Statute As Basis For Denial Of Restitution, Stefan Tucker
Restitution--Quasi-Contract--Non-Conformance With State Building Contractors Licensing Statute As Basis For Denial Of Restitution, Stefan Tucker
Michigan Law Review
Defendants, owners of an apartment building containing stores and living units, contracted with plaintiff to replace the roof of the building. Pursuant to the contract plaintiff replaced the roof, and when defendants refused to pay for the work done, plaintiff sued in the alternative for damages on the contract or for restitution on an implied contract. Defendants moved for dismissal at pre-trial, contending that plaintiff was a residential alteration contractor and as such was required by state statute to have a license in order to bring an action for the collection of compensation. On appeal from pre-trial orders dismissing the …
Restitution - Purchaser's Remedies Where Real Estate Broker Falsely Purports To Be Owner's Agent And Misrepresents Owner's Minimum Price, John W. Simpson
Restitution - Purchaser's Remedies Where Real Estate Broker Falsely Purports To Be Owner's Agent And Misrepresents Owner's Minimum Price, John W. Simpson
Michigan Law Review
Defendant, a licensed real estate broker, represented that he was exclusive agent for the sale of 72 acres of property. Plaintiff made him an offer to purchase at $4,000 per acre, but was later informed by defendant that the owner had rejected the offer, insisting on at least $5,000 per acre. Plaintiff then submitted an offer of $5,000 per acre, which defendant subsequently indicated that the owner had accepted. The deal was consummated with most of the papers handled through a third party employee of defendant. Plaintiff subsequently learned that defendant had never been the agent of the owner, had …
Mental Illness And The Law Of Contracts, Robert M. Brucken S.Ed., David L. Genger S.Ed., Denis T. Rice S.Ed., Mark Shaevsky S.Ed., William R. Slye S.Ed., Robert P. Volpe S.Ed.
Mental Illness And The Law Of Contracts, Robert M. Brucken S.Ed., David L. Genger S.Ed., Denis T. Rice S.Ed., Mark Shaevsky S.Ed., William R. Slye S.Ed., Robert P. Volpe S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
The traditional and most important problem relative to mental illness and the contract is the situation created when mental illness exists at the time of agreement (the problem of contractual capacity). One principal result of mental illness at this time may be the avoidance of the contract by the mentally ill person. Since case law in this area is extensive, the major portion of the study is concerned with this problem (parts II, III and IV) and the effects of such incapacity throughout the remaining course of the contract. Mental illness occurring after agreement and at the time of performance …
Restitution - Availabilty As An Alternative Remedy Where Plaintiff Has Fully Performed A Contract To Provide Goods Or Services, Jerome K. Walsh Jr.
Restitution - Availabilty As An Alternative Remedy Where Plaintiff Has Fully Performed A Contract To Provide Goods Or Services, Jerome K. Walsh Jr.
Michigan Law Review
It is hornbook law that restitution is sometimes available as an alternative remedy to a party who has suffered a breach of contract after having conferred a benefit on the defaulting party. It is equally clear, however, that in many cases where a benefit has been conferred, the plaintiff may not elect to sue for the value of his performance but is left to his action for damages on the contract. The cases which are concerned with one or the other of the above rules constitute a large portion of the area of the law called Restitution, and no attempt …
Restitution - Constructive Trust Relief For Breach Of Oral Contract To Create Trust In Land, Edward A. Manuel S.Ed.
Restitution - Constructive Trust Relief For Breach Of Oral Contract To Create Trust In Land, Edward A. Manuel S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff mining company sued to impose a constructive trust on mineral interests purchased by the defendant employee in breach of his oral agreement with the company. The agreement included a promise to hold any property so acquired in trust for the employer at his election. Ruling that this agreement was unenforceable under the Oklahoma statute of frauds, the trial court relied on the defendant's status as an ordinary employee without duties relating to the acquisition of mineral interests or access to confidential information, and gave judgment for the defendant. On appeal, held, affirmed. Without proof of positive fraud or …
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 …
Restitution - Recission - Measure Of Restitution Required Of Rescinding Vendee Of Executed Land Contract, Donald W. Shaffer S.Ed.
Restitution - Recission - Measure Of Restitution Required Of Rescinding Vendee Of Executed Land Contract, Donald W. Shaffer S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff vendee sought to rescind an executed contract for the sale of an inn, alleging fraud in the inducement. The lower court granted rescission and ordered repayment to the plaintiff of that part of the purchase price already paid over to defendant- vendor, less $2,500, which was found to be the fair or reasonable rental value for the period of the plaintiff's possession. Both parties appealed, defendant claiming a higher rental figure and plaintiff asserting that no rental should be allowed. Held, the plaintiff should be charged rent measured by the value of the benefits which accrued to him …
Restitution - Fraud - Prospective Vendee's Rights Against Broker, Stephen C. Bransdorfer S.Ed.
Restitution - Fraud - Prospective Vendee's Rights Against Broker, Stephen C. Bransdorfer S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Defendant was retained as a real estate agent by the vendor. He listed the vendor's eighty acres and buildings for sale. Plaintiff, a prospective purchaser, offered $7,000 for the property. Defendant failed to transmit this offer to the vendor and, instead, fraudulently caused the vendor to convey to two strawmen, as purported purchasers, for $6,500. After the defendant had falsely told the plaintiff that the latter's offer for the whole tract had been rejected, plaintiff purchased seventeen acres, including the buildings, for $6,000, an admittedly fair price. The strawmen conveyed the remaining sixty-three acres to the defendant's son, defendant giving …
Practice And Procedure - Conditional Judgments At Law - Validity And Advantages
Practice And Procedure - Conditional Judgments At Law - Validity And Advantages
Michigan Law Review
Some modern courts have asserted and many lawyers have assumed that in common law actions a court can not render a judgment conditional in form. It is argued that the court is without jurisdiction so to decide a case, and that in any event the common law has never recognized such a form of judgment as valid. The first point is not so difficult to disprove, and the second, so far as actual decision is concerned, is clearly incorrect." In several early cases common law courts were willing not only to stay execution of judgments until conditions were performed, but …