Law Commons^™

Schools - Private Parochial Schools - Transportation Of Pupils - Use Of Public Funds, Fred C. Newman

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff taxpayers instituted proceedings to restrain defendant board of education from complying with a statute which required defendant board of education to expend public funds for the purpose of transporting pupils to and from a parochial school. Held, that the statute was invalid as violative of the provision of the state constitution which prohibited the use of any public money "directly or indirectly" in aid of any sectarian school, and plaintiffs were entitled to judgment upon the pleadings; three judges dissented. Judd v. Board of Education of Union Free School Dist. No. 2, 278 N. Y. 200, 15 …

Insurance - Supervision By The State - What Constitutes The Insurance Business, Thomas E. Wilson

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a corporation, advertised that any person who bought goods from certain selected stores would be entitled to receive coupons, and when his coupons amounted to a certain sum he would be entitled to certain death and security benefits up to specified amounts. Plaintiff brought suit against the Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania to enjoin him from interfering with the plaintiff's business. Held, that the plaintiff was carrying on an insurance business and was subject to supervision by the Insurance Commissioner. Hunt v. Public Mutual Benefit Foundation, (C. C. A. 3d, 1938) 94 F. (2d) 749, certiorari denied (U. …

Municipal Corporations - Official Misconduct As Ground For Removal Of Officer, Leonard D. Verdier Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a member of the council of the city of Highland Park, Michigan, was removed by the council, as provided in the charter because of membership in the Black Legion. The Black Legion was a secret society founded on principles of racial, religious, and political discrimination. Its members took an oath to further these purposes by any means ordered by the officers of the organization, including violence and terrorism. Members were forbidden to expose the organization under penalty of death, and membership was supposedly permanent. The council found that membership in such a society rendered Wilson incompetent to perform the …

Recent Developments In Actions Against Nonresident Motorists, Maurice S. Culp

Michigan Law Review

When this subject was discussed several years ago, statutes in thirty-five states authorized service of process upon some state official in actions filed against nonresident motorists. The passage of such legislation has continued. Today, out of the forty-eight states and the District of Columbia, apparently only Missouri, Nevada and Utah do not make some provision for such service.

It is proposed herein to discuss the new statutes which have been enacted since the previous article was written, to consider significant changes and developments in older legislation, and to survey the recent judicial decisions interpreting these process statutes.

Injunctions - Courts - Labor Law - Power Of A State Court To Enjoin National Labor Relations Board Officials, Amos J. Coffman

Michigan Law Review

The Circuit Court of Washtenaw County, Michigan, recently issued an injunction enjoining the regional officials of the National Labor Relations Board from holding a scheduled hearing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The injunction was issued on the theory that if any unfair labor practices were being practiced by the Ann Arbor Press (a local job printer charged with violating the act) they did not affect interstate commerce and hence were not within the jurisdiction of the board. The injunction was at least temporarily effective. The hearing was not held in Ann Arbor. The regional office of the board in Detroit withdrew …

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 …

Banks And Banking - Taxation Of National Bank - Safe Deposit Vault As Integral Function Of National Bank, Marcus L. Plant

Michigan Law Review

The council of the city of Portland passed an ordinance declaring it unlawful to carry on certain businesses without securing an appropriate license from the city. Among the business activities specified was "Safe Deposit Vault" for which an annual license fee of forty dollars was imposed. The plaintiff, a national bank, and other national banks, all of which operated safe deposit vaults, brought an action to restrain the city and its officers from collecting the fee. It was held that the safe deposit business is a necessary and integral function of a national bank, and therefore the city was without …

Constitutional Law - Act Changing Pensions - Impairing Obligation Of Contracts - Due Process, Bertram H. Lebeis

Michigan Law Review

An Illinois statute provided for the compulsory retirement of teachers at the age of seventy with an annuity of $1500 a year for life, and an amendment thereto granted annuities on a sliding scale from $1000 to $1500 a year to teachers voluntarily retiring between the ages of sixty-five and seventy. These provisions were changed by an act of 1935 which abolished the provisions for voluntary retirement and .fixed compulsory retirement at the age of sixty-five, with annuities reduced to a flat rate of $500 annually. Plaintiffs, who either had retired or were eligible for retirement at the time the …

Constitutional Law - Elections - Proportional Representation, Gerald M. Stevens

Michigan Law Review

In November, 1936, the people of the city of New York voted to adopt a system of proportional representation for the election of members of the city council. Each borough was to elect its representatives at large rather than from single-member districts. Each voter was restricted to voting for one councilman; but he might indicate the order of his preference for as many candidates as he desired. Thus he should have marked his first choice by the numeral "1," his second "2," and similarly as many choices as he wished to express. By a system of vote-transferring his vote would …

Labor Law -- Anti-Injunction Acts -- Presence Or Absence Of Labor Dispute As Affecting "Jurisdiction", Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff secured a temporary injunction against the picketing of her beauty shop by members of a union who sought an agreement as to the prices which plaintiff would charge her customers. None of plaintiff's employees were dissatisfied with the terms and conditions of employment. The trial court, on the basis of allegations in plaintiff's bill, affidavits and oral testimony, but without an answer being filed by defendant, held that the case did not "involve or grow out of a labor dispute" and awarded a temporary injunction. A Minnesota statute provided that no court of the state should have "jurisdiction" to …

Corporations-Foreign Corporations-Entrance Fees-Constitutionality, Charles E. Nadeau

Michigan Law Review

A Virginia statute, providing that foreign corporations desiring to carry on intrastate business there must pay an entrance fee graduated according to authorized capital stock, imposed on plaintiff a fee of $5,000. Only two-thirds of plaintiff's authorized stock was issued. A considerable amount of its assets were used in interstate commerce, though the sum invested in Virginia was negligible. Plaintiff contended that such an entrance fee burdened interstate commerce because measured by property used in interstate commerce, that it denied due process because measured by property without the state, and that it denied equal protection of the laws becaused measured …

Interstate Commerce - Constitutionality Of State Weight And Size Limitations As Applied To Interstate Motor Carriers, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

A South Carolina statute limited the width of motor trucks (including semi-trailers) to 90 inches and their gross weight to 20,000 pounds. The validity of this legislation was challenged before a three-judge federal court on three grounds: (1) that it was a denial of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment; (2) that the power of the states to regulate size and weight of motor vehicles used in interstate commerce had been superseded by the Federal Motor Carrier Act of 1935; (3) that the statute as applied to vehicles used by interstate motor carriers placed an unreasonable burden upon interstate commerce. …

Taxation - Stevedoring As Interstate Commerce - Constitutionality Of Occupation Tax, Ralph Winkler

Michigan Law Review

The state of Washington enacted a business privilege tax, the amount of which was to be determined on a gross income basis. A domestic corporation had been servicing vessels engaged in interstate commerce in two ways-it supplied stevedores to the vessels, and it did the work of loading and unloading. In a bill to enjoin the collection of this tax the Supreme Court of Washington dismissed the suit on the ground that the corporation was not engaged in interstate commerce. On appeal, held (1) furnishing stevedores to the vessels without maintaining control over the operations of the workmen is a …

Federal And State Cooperation Under The Constitution, Louis W. Koenig

Michigan Law Review

Federalism, as a system of government, is peculiar in that it involves a union of several autonomous political entities for · common purposes which may be achieved through apportioning the sum total of legislative power between a "national" or "central" government, on the one hand, and constituent "states" on the other. In our own federation, a written Constitution has sought to define the functions of both these centers of government, assigning to each certain spheres of influence upon all persons and property within a given territory. At the Constitutional Convention, the committee of detail carefully listed the powers of the …

Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Extraterritorial Effect, Gerald M. Stevens

Michigan Law Review

A city ordinance prohibited the sale of ice cream within the city unless the seller had first obtained a certificate of registration from the city. The certificate could be obtained by registering the applicant's state ice cream factory license with the city commissioners of health, allowing an inspection of his factory, and paying an annual inspection fee. Defendant sold ice cream in the city without having done so. His factories were located two counties distant from the city; they had been duly licensed by the state. On prosecution by the city, held, the ordinance was void on the ground …

Municipal Corporations - Quasi-Contractual Liability - Distinction Between Quasi-Contract And Ratification, Edward J. Wendrow

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued to recover for services rendered as foreman on a city "Works Project," the services having been rendered at the request of the mayor and with full knowledge on the part of the city council. Because of the foregoing fact the plaintiff claimed the contract had been ratified even though no formal corporate action had been taken authorizing the contract. Defendant's demurrer was overruled in the circuit court. On appeal, held, although plaintiff could not recover in an action based on the alleged contract because no formal contract was ever entered into, and because plaintiff's compensation had not …

Public Utilities - Rate Regulation - Reproduction Cost And Prudent Investment As Factors In Determining "Fair Value", Erwin B. Ellmann

Michigan Law Review

At a hearing conducted by the California Railroad Commission, the existing gas rates charged by a utility were deemed unreasonable, and a new schedule of rates was prescribed. The commission, in determining the rate base, used historical cost exclusively, and refused to attach any weight to the present cost of reproducing the properties. A three-judge federal court enjoined the enforcement of the rates without making a finding that as prescribed the rates were confiscatory. Held, by a majority of the Court, the trial court was without power to enjoin the enforcement of the rates, regardless of the method of …

Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Validity Of Ordinance Fixing Closing Hours, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A municipal ordinance required that all local business concerns selling or distributing food stay open for business only during the hours of duty of the municipal meat and food inspector. Hotels, restaurants, boarding houses, confectioneries, drug stores, soda fountains, and milk and cream dispensers were expressly excepted from these requirements. Plaintiff, a general grocery store, sought an injunction against the enforcement of these provisions, alleging that they were unreasonable and that the exceptions were discriminatory. Held, that under its police power to protect the public health, the municipality was authorized to pass such an ordinance as an aid to …

Municipal Corporations - Police Power - Billboard Regulations For Aesthetic Purposes, Bertram H. Lebeis

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff applied to defendant superintendent of buildings for permits to erect billboards for general advertising purposes on plaintiff's, property in the city of Troy. Defendant refused to issue the permits on the authority of an ordinance which made it unlawful to erect any billboard and/ or signboard within the city limits, except upon real property owned or leased by the occupants thereof and for the sole purpose of advertising the sale of such property or of merchandise kept for sale upon such premises. Plaintiff petitioned for a writ of mandamus to compel defendant to issue the permits. Held, that …

Vendor And Purchaser - Equitable Conversion - Application To Obligation To Extinguish Forest Fires, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Montana statute placed the burden of extinguishing forest fires on the person on whose "property" the fire occurred, and, on failure of such person to extinguish it, made him liable to reimburse any authorized unit that should do so. Fire broke out on property owned by D, and a Government unit extinguished it. Previous to such fire, D had contracted to sell the land to X under a contract giving X the right of possession. Held, by the doctrine of equitable conversion, X was the beneficial owner, and the land was not D's "property" so as …

Interstate Commerce - Constitutionality Of Weight And Size Limitations Of Motor Carriers - Commerce Clause And Due Process Clause, Donald H. Larmee

Michigan Law Review

The District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina had recently before it a well-presented case, Barnwell Bros. Inc. v. South Carolina State Highway Dept., involving the authority of the state to regulate the size and weight of motor vehicles operating on South Carolina's highways. The South Carolina statute in question limited the width of motor trucks (including semitrailers) to ninety inches, and their gross weight 4 to 20,000 pounds. The validity of this statute was challenged upon three distinct grounds: (1) that it was a denial of due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment; (2) that the …

Judgments - Default Judgments Rendered Without Jurisdiction - Validating Effect Of A Subsequent General Appearance, Richard B. Maxwell

Michigan Law Review

The effect of a general appearance by the defendant following a default judgment rendered without jurisdiction over the person of the defendant has been again raised by the recent Wisconsin case of Schwantz v. Morris. In this case the original judgment was invalid for lack of jurisdiction over the defendants, but the Supreme Court of Wisconsin held, that by joining non-jurisdictional grounds with jurisdictional grounds in a motion to set the judgment aside, the defendants had waived any defects in or objections to the jurisdiction of the court and that this waiver related back to the time of the …

Constitutional Law - Religious Freedom - Compulsory Salute And Pledge Of Allegiance To Flag By School Children -Validity, Dan K. Cook

Michigan Law Review

A Massachusetts statute imposed a duty upon each public school teacher to lead his pupils, at least once each week, in a salute and pledge of allegiance to the flag. Petitioner was in his third year as a pupil in the public schools, and, in obedience to his father's commands, refused to participate in the salute and pledge. For such refusal, the school committee expelled the petitioner from the school, and he thereupon submitted a petition for a writ of mandamus, to compel his readmission to the school. Held, that the writ be denied, inasmuch as the statute did …

Constitutional Law - Zoning - Amendment Of Zoning Ordinance As Impairing Vested Rights, Ralph Winkler

Michigan Law Review

The town plan commission amended the municipal zoning ordinance to permit the erection of an incinerator in a class C residence district. The particular tract upon which the incinerator was to be located had been a municipal garbage dump, and as such, a non-conforming use under the zoning ordinance. The board of health by ordinance declared the garbage dump to be a nuisance. The facts revealed there was an immediate need to dispose of the garbage, etc.; that the erection of an incinerator was the best means of so doing; that the proposed site was a suitable location; that the …

Municipal Corporations - Constitutional Limitations On Amount Of Debts - Obligations Of Other Public Corporations As Debts Of City, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The city of Troy, New York, had obtained federal aid for a Public Works Administration project involving the erection of a new high school building, conditioned upon the city's supplying $786,000 as its share of the cost. The constitutional debt limitation did not permit the city to borrow this amount. The legislature came to the aid of the city and enacted a law providing that the bonds should be issued as "general obligations" of the city school district by the district's board of education. The act expressly stated that the bonds should not be considered as part of the debt …

The Effect Of The Contract Clause And The Fourteenth Amendment Upon The Power Of The States To Control Municipal Corporations, E. B. Schulz

Michigan Law Review

Although the power to establish systems of local government is reserved to the states under the Federal Constitution, they are obliged to exercise it in conformity with the limitations, direct or indirect, by which their powers in general are circumscribed. Since a state lacks authority to delegate powers which it does not possess, it may not confer upon municipal corporations, to cite but a few examples, the power to pass ex post facto laws and bills of attainder, to coin money, to emit bills of credit, to regulate foreign and interstate commerce, or to levy taxes for strictly private purposes. …