Law Commons^™

Bringing Clarity To Title Clearing: Tax Foreclosure And Due Process In The Internet Age, James J. Kelly Jr.

Journal Articles

The foreclosure of property tax liens performs an essential economic function by reconnecting underutilized properties to the real estate market. To clear title in an efficient and just manner, local jurisdictions foreclosing on tax liens require clear, balanced procedures for the provision of notice to affected parties. In its 2006 decision in Jones v. Flowers, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the foreclosing jurisdiction's lack of direct follow-up on returned notice mailings denied the addressee due process because the foreclosing party did not take steps that would be chosen by one desirous of actually informing the property owner. In subjecting …

Takings Cases In The October 2004 Term (Symposium: The Seventeenth Annual Supreme Court Review), Leon D. Lazer

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Today's Indian Wars: Between Cyberspace And The United Nations, S. James Anaya

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Landscape Of Constitutional Property, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

The Constitution contains two clauses that protect persons against governmental interference with their property. The Due Process Clause provides that "No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." The Takings Clause adds, "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Both provisions appear to impose a threshold condition that a claimant have some "property" at stake before the protections associated with the Clause apply. Thus, under the Due Process Clause, it would seem that a claimant must have an interest in "property" (or in "life" or "liberty") before …

Jam For Justice Holmes: Reassessing The Significance Of Mahon, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

When courts and commentators discuss Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, they use the same word with remarkable regularity: famous. Mahon has achieved this fame in part because it was the occasion for conflict between judicial giants, and because the result seems ironic. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.--the great Lochner dissenter and a jurist generally considered a champion of judicial deference to legislatures in the sphere of economic decision-making--wrote the opinion striking down a Pennsylvania statute barring coal mining that could cause the surface to cave-in. Sharply dissenting from Holmes's opinion was his consistent ally on the Court, Justice Louis …

Understanding Mahon In Historical Context, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite its enormous influence on constitutional law, Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon is just such an opinion; the primary purpose of the author’s article Jam for Justice Holmes: Reassessing the Significance of Mahon is to clarify Holmes's intent by placing the opinion in historical context and in the context of Holmes's other opinions. While other scholars have also sought to place Mahon in context, his account differs in large part because of its recognition, as part of the background of Mahon, of a separate line of cases involving businesses affected with a public interest.

The author argues that at …

The Politics Of Property Rights, John D. Echeverria

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Conflicts Between Water Rights Administration And Water Quality Protection, Jan D. Laitos

Water as a Public Resource: Emerging Rights and Obligations (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

43 pages.

Economic Due Process And The Takings Clause, John A. Humbach

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The discussion which follows will examine the new verbalizations repeatedly employed in Supreme Court takings decisions of the past decade and the Court's enlistment of the just compensation requirement as a basis for undertaking substantive review of legislation. As an introduction, the distinctive historical roles and roots of the substantive due process and just compensation requirements will be reviewed.

The National Park System And Development On Private Lands: Opportunities And Tools To Protect Park Resources, Michael Mantell

External Development Affecting the National Parks: Preserving "The Best Idea We Ever Had" (September 14-16)

34 pages.

Contains footnotes.

Do Government Rights Prevail, Or Are Shoshone Indians Trespassers In Their Own Country?, Richard B. Collins

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Applicability Of Shaffer To The Quasi-In-Rem Attachment Of Foreigners' Assets, Steven H. Becker

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note proposes to examine the nature of United States contacts availed of by foreign defendants, and to determine the impact of Shaffer on the potential assertion of quasi-in-rem jurisdiction based on those contacts. It is instructive to consider quasi-in-rem jurisdiction's relation to four possible scenarios involving a foreign defendant: (1) the foreign defendant who owns real estate in this country; or (2) maintains deposits in United States banks; or (3) invests in securities that are registered locally; or (4) extends credit to United States companies or individuals on a regular basis. This Note ultimately concludes that in light of …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Notice By Publication Is Constitutionally Inadequate In Tax Sale Proceeding, Martin A. Geer

Scholarly Works

In 1976 the Michigan Supreme Court’s determined in Doe v. State that procedural due process requires an owner of a significant interest in real property to be given notice of the state’s foreclosure petition and a meaningful opportunity for a hearing which he may challenge the state’s claim that property taxes remain unpaid without legal justification. This casenote examines the existing legal precedent during the Doe v. State decision, the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision and analysis, and the legislature’s actions following the decision.

Housing For The Elderly: Constitutional Limitations And Our Obligations, Ed Stafman

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Of "Liberty" And "Property", Henry Paul Monaghan

Faculty Scholarship

After a century of experience, we are now thoroughly accustomed to viewing the fourteenth amendment as imposing upon the experimentation otherwise permitted in our fifty separate "laboratories" limitations that do not materially differ from those fastened upon the national government by the bill of rights. The history of this evolution is far too well known to justify rehearsing here even in the barest outline. But it bears noting that few, if any, observers believe that the language of the amendment has played a significant role in this historical evolution. Here, as elsewhere, "[b]ehind the words ... are postulates which limit …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--DUE PROCESS--ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY MAY DENY APPRISAL AND CONFRONTATION IN PURELY INVESTIGATIVE PROCEEDING

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--DUE PROCESS--STATE MAY DISCHARGE EMPLOYEE FOR FAILURE TO PERFORM STATUTORY DUTY TO ANSWER

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DAMAGES--REFUSAL TO INSTRUCT JURY TO CALCULATE LOSS OF EARNINGS ON THE BASIS OF NET INCOME AFTER TAXES

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EVIDENCE--ADVERSE SPOUSAL TESTIMONY--WIFE COMPELLED TO TESTIFY IN MANN ACT PROSECUTION

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FEDERAL PROCEDURE--CHANGE OF VENUE--TRANSFER OF CIVIL ACTION MUST BE TO DISTRICT HAVING STATUTORY VENUE

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FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT--SUIT ALLOWED FOR NEGLIGENCE EVEN THOUGH ACCOMPANIED BY MISREPRESENTATION

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INSURANCE--FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION--REGULATION BY STATE WHERE UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICE ORIGINATES DOES NOT OUST FTC …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Adequacy Of Notice By Publication, Cyril Moscow S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In condemnation proceedings instituted by a city against a landowner, notice of proceedings to determine his compensation was given only by publication in the official city newspaper. The statute in force called for notice either in writing or by publication. After the time authorized for appeal from a compensation award had elapsed, the landowner brought an equitable action to enjoin the city from entering upon the property, alleging that he knew nothing of the condemnation proceedings until after the time for appeal had passed. The trial court denied relief, holding that the newspaper publication was sufficient notice to meet due …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Notice Required To Validate Tax Foreclosure Of Property Of Known Mental Incompetent, Frank M. Lacey S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

On May 8, 1952, the town of Somers instituted an action to foreclose a number of tax liens. One of these was upon the property owned by a person known in the community to be a mental incompetent, but who had not yet been so certified by a court. Notice was given to the incompetent taxpayer in compliance with the statute by mail, posting, and publication. When she failed to answer within the prescribed period, foreclosure was entered and a deed to her property delivered to the town. Five days later she was declared a person of unsound mind, and …

Michigan Title Examinations And The 1954 Revenue Code's New General Lien Provisions, L. Hart Wright

Michigan Law Review

Title examiners, and more particularly their clients, have long suffered from a controversy-limited almost exclusively to Michigan- involving the methods by which the United States Treasury Department could perfect general federal tax liens. The December 1952 issue of the Michigan Law Review carried an article by the present writer pointing up the irreconcilable difference which has existed for a quarter of a century between the type of record notice which the Treasury was willing to provide prospective bona fide purchasers et al., and the quite different and more demanding type which the Michigan Legislature insisted upon if the local offices …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CHARLES EVANS HUGHES AND THE SUPREME COURT

By Samuel Hendel

New York: King's Crown Press, 1951. Pp. 337

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DUE PROCESSES OF LAW

By Virginia Wood

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1951. Pp. 436. $6.00.

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LEGAL AID IN THE UNITED STATES

By Emery A. Brownell

Rochester: The Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Co., 1951. Pp. 333. $4.50.

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LEVIATHAN AND NATURAL LAW

By F. Lyman Windolph

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951. Pp. 147. $2.50.

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OIL AND LAW

Articles reprinted from the Texas Law Review

Austin:Texas Law Review, 1951. Pp. 1736. Bound copies $15.00, unbound copies $12.00.

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PRICE POLICIES …

Constitutional Law - Validity Of Mortgage Moratorium Act - Effect Of Lapse Of Time On "Emergency'' Legislation, Ralph Winkler

Michigan Law Review

A mortgage moratorium law was enacted in Nebraska in 1933. It was re-enacted in 1935 and again in 1937. The act recited that an emergency existed and that the law was adopted to provide for this condition. The instant case involved the constitutionality of this law. A majority of the court held that the law violated the due process clause and the contracts clause of the state constitution. While the court admitted that "land values have not been restored to the prices they had attained prior to March 1, 1934," nevertheless, "It appears that there is no crisis now prevailing …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Plan - Adequate Protection Of Claims - Due Process, Erwin S. Simon

Michigan Law Review

In proceedings for reorganization under Section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act, the debtor held real property valued at $245,025, while outstanding against the property there were first mortgage bonds of $445,000, second mortgage notes for $40,250 and a third mortgage note for $27,000. The court confirmed a plan which made no provision for junior lienors or stockholders, and to which they had not given their consent. On certiorari, granted by the Supreme Court, it was held, that since there was no equity in the property above the first mortgage, the claims of the junior lienors and stockholders had no …

Constitutional Law - Race Segregation Ordinance - Effect Of Military Order Of Governor Issued For Same Purpose

Michigan Law Review

A "segregation ordinance" of Oklahoma City, prospective in nature, made it unlawful for any negro to occupy as a residence any house or building located in a block wherein a majority of the buildings used were occupied by white persons. The initial step in the segregation of races in the city occurred when the Governor issued a military order for the separation of the races, because it appeared that riot and bloodshed were imminent; such order to remain in effect until an ordinance was passed in lieu of the order. Held, the ordinance was an invalid exercise of the …

Land Title Registration-Effect Of Registration Of Forged Deed And Transfer To Bona Fide Purchaser Under Torrens Act

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, purchasers of land previously brought under Illinois Torrens Act, delivered certificate of title to party under agreement to sell, who forged deed to himself, had certificate issued in his name, and then conveyed to defendants who were good faith purchasers for value. Plaintiffs informed registrar of the forgery after the defendants had bought, and demanded cancellation of the deeds and certificates, and the reissue of a certificate to themselves. The registrar refused, and this petition was brought to compel such action. Held, plaintiffs having voluntarily bought land brought under Torrens system, there was a waiver of any constitutional …

Compulsory Construction Of New Lines Of Railroad, Kenneth F. Burgess

Michigan Law Review

In the half century of public regulation of railroads in the United States, regulatory legislation has dealt primarily with functions incident to the operation of existing enterprises. The basic concept has been that railroad corporations as common carriers have voluntarily assumed obligations to the public which the public has a right to require to be performed.

Note And Comment, Edgar N. Durfee, Cyril E. Bailey, Edwin B. Stason, William C. O'Keefe, Clyde Y. Morris

Michigan Law Review

The Basis of Relief from Penalties and Forfeitures - The equitable principle of relief from penalties and forfeitures is so far elementary as almost to defy analysis. Many, perhaps most, of the judicial explanations of the principle have based it upon interpretation or construction, appealing to the doctrine that equity regards intent rather than form. Yet a logical application of this doctrine would lead to results very different from those which have actually been arrived at in the decisions. Thus, a stipulation in a mortgage that the mortgagor waives his equity of redemption can hardly be interpreted as meaning that …