Law Commons^™

The Meaning Of "Under Color Of" Law, Steven L. Winter

Michigan Law Review

The argument proceeds as follows. In Part I, I examine why the conceptual problem of who or what is "the State" is so intractable. In Part II, I present the historical evidence that establishes beyond doubt the pedigree and meaning of the phrase under color of law. I explain why Frankfurter would have indulged in such an obvious historical error to take the position he did. I suggest that, as was the case with the invention of modem standing doctrine, Frankfurter was here engaged in a stealthy, anachronistic campaign against the jurisprudence of the Lochner era - attempting to …

Nondeposit Deposits And The Future Of Bank Regulation, Jonathan R. Macey, Geoffrey P. Miller

Michigan Law Review

We argue in this paper that the nation has already entered with a vengeance into the era of nondeposit deposit banking. The traditional bank deposit against which reserves must be held and deposit insurance paid is suffering encroachment from a wide variety of competitive instruments and arrangements, all of which, to one degree or another - often to a substantial degree - serve a function economically similar to that of the checking account at a depository institution.

The legal system may respond to these developments by attempting to bring nondeposit deposits under regulation, as it has done with other banking …

Strange Visions In A Strange World: A Reply To Professors Bradley And Rosenzweig, Lynn M. Lopucki

Michigan Law Review

Much about chapter 11 is in need of improvement. But, as is so often the case, the resonant themes are not the right ones. All three legs of Bradley and Rosenzweig's argument for repeal are seriously flawed. The heart of their empirical argument is their claim to have shown that financially stronger companies reorganizing under chapter 11 have been paying less to both their creditors and their shareholders than did weaker companies reorganizing under prior law. In Part I below, I present several more plausible explanations for the stock and bond price phenomena they observed. In all likelihood, their data …

An Administrative Battle Of The Forms: The Eeoc's Intake Questionnaire And Charge Of Discrimination, Laurie M. Stegman

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that the EEOC's interpretation of Title VII as reflected in its regulations is consistent with underlying statutory intent and strikes an appropriate balance between the needs of employers and employees. Therefore, Congress should amend section 706(b) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide that a charge must be verified prior to the commencement of an EEOC investigation but not necessarily within the statutory filing period. Part I examines the legislative history of Title VII and its integrated procedures for obtaining administrative and judicial relief. Part II critiques the various ways in which …

Allocation Of Loss Due To Fraudulent Wholesale Wire Transfers: Is There A Negligence Action Against A Beneficiary's Bank After Article 4a Of The Uniform Commercial Code?, Robert M. Lewis

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that where a bank reasonably should have known of a fraud but still pays out a wire transfer to an unauthorized recipient, common law negligence should provide a basis for recovery despite the absence of an explicit Code provision imposing liability on the bank. Part I examines the UCC's language itself and analyzes possible cases, under 4A and under articles 3 and 4 by analogy, and discusses the applicability of these other parts of the UCC to wire transfers. Part II examines how extra-Code regulatory systems and the common law would determine wire transfer liability. Part II …

Legal Interpretation And A Constitutional Case: Home Building & Loan Association V. Blaisdell, Charles A. Bieneman

Michigan Law Review

The approaches of Hughes and Sutherland are but two extremes in constitutional interpretation. Though only two results were possible in the case - either the Act was constitutional or it was not - there are more than two methods by which an interpreter could reach those results. This Note explores possible ways of deciding Blaisdell, using the case as a vehicle for delimiting the boundaries of a positive constitutional command. As a sort of empirical investigation of legal philosophy, the Note examines how various interpretive theories affect an interpreter's approach to the case, and the results these theories might …

Cumulative Trauma Disorders: Osha's General Duty Clause And The Need For An Ergonomics Standard, David J. Kolesar

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that neither the Act nor its underlying policies supports OSHA's current use of the general duty clause to prosecute alleged ergonomics violations and that the only way to protect workers from CTDs fairly and effectively is through the promulgation of an ergonomics standard. Part I examines the purposes of the Act, as well as the function of the Act's general duty clause. Part II analyzes the four requirements of the general duty clause in the context of CTDs and finds that the clause does not apply to CTDs. Part III argues that the Act's intended policies support …

Does A Copyright Coowner's Duty To Account Arise Under Federal Law?, Craig Y. Allison

Michigan Law Review

This Note discusses both the source of the accounting rule and the proper forum for applying the rule. Part I provides a general history of joint ownership and the duty to account and suggests that the number of litigants presenting joint ownership claims will probably increase. Part II discusses joint ownership case law chronologically. This Part shows that the case law is consistent with the view that the duty to account was a creation of the federal courts. Part III argues that the accounting rule is federal common law and that federal jurisdiction necessarily follows for all copyright accounting cases. …

Retroactive Application Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1991 To Pending Cases, Michele A. Estrin

Michigan Law Review

This Note addresses the applicability of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to cases pending on the Act's date of enactment. Part I discusses current Supreme Court doctrine on the issue. This Part finds that the Court has endorsed two conflicting views on retroactively applying statutes to pending cases and that the lower federal courts consequently lack a principled framework for dealing with retroactivity issues in the 1991 Act. Part II describes the battle over the Civil Rights Acts of 1990 and 1991 and the subsequent confusion over the enacted statute's reach. This Part finds that Congress provided conflicting textual …

Deliberating About Deliberation, Frederick Schauer

Michigan Law Review

A Review of We the People: 1: Foundations by Bruce Ackerman

Employment Equality, Affirmative Action, And The Constitutional Political Consensus, Robert A. Sedler

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Equality Transformed: A Quarter-Century of Affirmative Action by Herman Belz and A Conflict of Rights: The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action by Melvin I. Urofsky

The Liability Of Officers And Directors Under The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery And Enforcement Act Of 1989, Jon Shepherd

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that FIRREA's gross negligence standard implements a minimum federal requirement that preempts state law only to the extent state law provides a more relaxed criterion. Part I examines the plain meaning of the statute and concludes that FIRREA preempts state law only to the extent the state law standard of care is lower than gross negligence. Part II scrutinizes FIRREA's legislative history and demonstrates that Congress did not intend to prevent states from imposing more stringent standards of liability. Part III analyzes the policies behind FIRREA and argues that the statute's purposes are best served by allowing …

An Economic And Political Look At Federalism In Taxation, Daniel Shaviro

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this article examines the reasons for preferring locationally neutral taxes and explains the basic tension between locational neutrality and state and local autonomy in taxation. Part II examines the federal judicial check on state and local taxation, which often relies on a principle barring discrimination against outsiders or interstate commerce. Part III explores the need for a broad federal judicial check by examining state and local governments' reasons for imposing (or avoiding) locationally distortive taxes, the countervailing benefits of allowing such governments broad autonomy in taxation, and Congress' willingness to strike down locationally distortive taxes under its …

Section 1983 And Implied Rights Of Action: Rights, Remedies, And Realism, Michael A. Mazzuchi

Michigan Law Review

This Note criticizes the Court's current reconciliation of the implied right of action and section 1983 inquiries, and argues that the availability of lawsuits under section 1983 should be the same as under an implied right of action test. Part I, by offering a working definition of rights, suggests an approach to identifying statutorily created rights. Part II discusses the evolution of the Court's implied right of action ' jurisprudence, and explores several explanations for the Court's hesitancy to create implied rights of action. Part III examines the influence of the Court's implied right of action test on its jurisprudence …

Minor Changes: Emancipating Children In Modem Times, Carol Sanger, Eleanor Willemsen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article reports on the use of still another mechanism for removing children in conflict with their parents: statutory emancipation, the process by which minors attain legal adulthood before reaching the age of majority. Statutorily emancipated minors can sign binding contracts, own property, keep their earnings, and disobey their parents. Although under eighteen, they are "considered as being over the age of majority" in most of their dealings with parents and third parties. Thus, while emancipated minors can sign contracts and stay out late, their adult status also means that their parents are no longer responsible for the minors' support. …

Environmental Reforms In Post-Communist Central Europe: From High Hopes To Hard Reality, Margaret Bowman, David Hunter

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article surveys the environmental law reforms taking place throughout the region and some of the important issues surrounding these reforms. Two caveats to this approach should be highlighted at the outset. First, information from the region is still somewhat incomplete. Precise translations of laws, in particular, are not always available. This article can provide only a general guide to legislative and regulatory trends in the region and should not form the basis for specific action or decisions. Second, every country in the region is different, with its own complexities. Despite our failure to resist the temptation to generalize about …

Above All, Do No Harm: The Application Of The Exon-Florio Amendment To Dual-Use Technologies, Gerald T. Nowak

Michigan Journal of International Law

In support of this proposition, this Note will first examine the legislative history and executive enforcement of the Exon-Florio Amendment, followed by a discussion of the goals of Exon-Florio and the applicability of Exon-Florio to dual-use technologies. Then, after an examination of the attitudes and experience of the European Community with regards to such protectionism, specifically in France and the United Kingdom, this Note will argue that vigorous enforcement of the Exon-Florio Amendment, and a fortiori passage of the Technology Preservation Act, is likely to result in less, not more, domestic production of dual-use technologies. As a matter of defense …