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Unconstitutional Conditions Upon Public Employment: New Departures In The Protection Of First Amendment Rights, Harold H. Bruff

Publications

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The Role Of A Trial Jury In Determining The Voluntariness Of A Confession, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States has vigorously implemented the principle that criminal prosecution is an investigative, not an inquisitorial, process. Evidence of guilt must be obtained by methods free from physical or psychological coercion. Protections in the Bill of Rights against illegal search and seizure, self-incrimination, and trial without counsel have been extended to the states through the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. Safeguards against the admissibility of coerced confessions into evidence have also been instituted. Because a confession practically determines the ultimate question of guilt, the critical standards for· admissibility are frequently challenged on appeal. …

Legislative Apportionment And Representative Government: The Meaning Of Baker V. Carr, Jo Desha Lucas

Michigan Law Review

In three recent cases the Supreme Court has reopened the question of the extent to which federal courts will review the general fairness of state schemes of legislative apportionment. It is a question on which the Court has had nothing to say for over a decade, leaving the bar to patch together the current state of the law from the outcome of cases disposed of without opinion considered against a backdrop of language used in earlier decisions.

Gideon V. Wainwright: The Art Of Overruling, Jerold H. Israel

Articles

During the 1962 Term, the Supreme Court, on a single Monday, announced six decisions concerned with constitutional limitations upon state criminal procedure. The most publicized of these, though probably not the most important in terms of legal theory or practical effect, was Gideon v. Wainwright. In an era of constantly expanding federal restrictions on state criminal processes, the holding of Gideon-that an indigent defendant in a state criminal prosecution has an unqualified right to the appointment of counsel-was hardly startling. And while Gideon will obviously have an important effect in the handful of states that still fail to appoint counsel …

Meiklejohn: Political Freedom, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Political Freedom. By Alexander Meiklejohn

The Supreme Court - October 1958 Term, Bernard Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court, reads a famous passage by Bryce, "feels the touch of public opinion. Opinion is stronger in America than anywhere else in the world, and judges are only men. To yield a little may be prudent, for the tree that cannot bend to the blast may be broken."

The history of the highest Court bears constant witness to the truth of Bryce's statement. Supreme Court action which has moved too far in one direction has always ultimately provoked an equivalent reaction in the opposite direction. Even an institution as august as the high tribunal cannot escape the law …

Constitutional Law - Due Process -Knowledge Of The Law Required For Conviction Under Criminal Registration Ordinance, David C. Berg

Michigan Law Review

Defendant-appellant was charged with violation of a Los Angeles municipal ordinance which required all persons convicted of a felony in California, or of a crime committed elsewhere which would have been punishable as a felony in California, subsequent to January 1, 1921, to register with the Chief of Police upon remaining in the city longer than five days, or upon making more than five visits to the city within a thirty-day period. At the time of her arrest, appellant had been a resident of Los Angeles for seven years. Within that period she had been convicted (in Los Angeles) of …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Denial Of Admission To The Bar Based On Unwarranted Inferences Of Bad Moral Character, Jerome B. Libin

Michigan Law Review

Power over admission to the bar has long been vested in the judiciary of each state. While the legislature may prescribe certain standards, the state court alone is responsible for the determination of those qualified for the practice of law within its jurisdiction. The application of these standards often demands the exercise of meticulous judgment by the court in reaching its conclusion as to an applicant's fitness. Where, on the evidence or lack of evidence presented, the court finds that it cannot in good conscience grant its approval, the candidate is denied admission. To the extent that such a denial …

Constitutional Law - Due Process -Watkins V. United States As A Limitation On Power Of Congressional Investigating Committees, Allan F. Bioff S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to examine the nature and extent of the restraints imposed by the Watkins case as well as the potential problems raised by the decision.

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Jurisdiction Of A State Court Over A Foreign Corporation, Robert L. Knauss S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Peninsular Gas Company, a Michigan corporation, brought an action in Missouri against the plaintiff for breach of contract. A judgment was returned for plaintiff, and plaintiff immediately filed suit for malicious prosecution and served process on the president of the corporation who was in Missouri for the prior trial. On a motion to quash, held, sustained. Under the due process clause of the United States Constitution, the court had no right to assume jurisdiction. Defendant corporation was not doing business in Missouri, for bringing a prior lawsuit was a single isolated act and was not a part of its …

The Fourteenth Amendment Reconsidered, The Segregation Question, Alfred H. Kelly

Michigan Law Review

Some sixty years ago in Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court of the United States adopted the now celebrated "separate but equal" doctrine as a constitutional guidepost for state segregation statutes. Justice Brown's opinion declared that state statutes imposing racial segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, provided only that the statute in question guaranteed equal facilities for the two races. Brown's argument rested on a historical theory of the intent, although he offered no evidence to support it. "The object of the amendment," he said, "was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, …

Bontecou: The Federal Loyalty-Security Program, Theodore J. St. Antoine S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of THE FEDERAL LOYALTY-SECURITY PROGRAM. By Eleanor Bontecou.

Beaney: The Right To Counsel In American Courts, William M. Kunstler

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Right to Counsel in American Courts. By William M. Beaney

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Judicial Review Of Jury Determination On Coerced Character Of Confession, James M. Potter S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, suspected of the murder of his parents, was subjected to intensive police interrogation culminating in a confession to a state-employed psychiatrist. Petitioner had been allowed only a small amount of sleep and was suffering from a sinus condition when he was introduced to the psychiatrist, who was represented as a general practitioner. The questioning of the psychiatrist, who was skilled in hypnosis, was a subtle blend of threats and promises of leniency. Within the next three and one-half hours petitioner also confessed to a police captain, a business associate, and two assistant state prosecutors. The confession to the psychiatrist …

Legislation - Requirement Of Definiteness In Statutory Standards, Robert B. Krueger S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

While it is universally recognized that definiteness in statutory standards is a condition prerequisite to the application of a statute, there is no agreement among either the courts or the writers as to the theory behind this requirement. However, common elements in each of the two prevalent theories indicate certain factors which may well be decisive on the question of definiteness in any given case. The purpose of this comment is to explore the practical implications of the interplay of these various factors and theories.

Habeas Corpus-Exhaustion Of State Remedies-Denial Of Certiorari By Supreme Court As Condition To Obtaining Original Writ In Federal District Court, B. J. George, Jr. S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The expanded concept of due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment during the past thirty years has brought increased inquiry by the federal courts into state criminal procedure. A common method of bringing such matters to the Supreme Court's attention has been the use of habeas corpus, particularly following confinement. But this increased vigilance over state criminal procedure has wrought an increasingly tender conscience on the part of the federal courts over resulting interference with state court systems. The theoretical problem has been further amplified on the practical level by the flood of petitions, largely frivolous or perjured, by …

Habeas Corpus-Inadequacy Of State Remedy, Joseph Gricar

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner had pleaded guilty to a criminal indictment and was sentenced to prison by an Illinois circuit court. His petition for a writ of habeas corpus, based upon an alleged denial of due process at trial, was denied without hearing. The Illinois Supreme Court in People v. Loftus, decided in 1949, seems squarely to have held that habeas corpus is a proper post-trial proceeding for hearing charges of denial of due process. Since the Illinois Supreme Court does not review habeas corpus proceedings in the circuit court, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari. Held, remanded to the …

Appeal And Error-Eisler's Flight And The Case And Controversy Question, Albert B. Perlin, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a federal court conviction on a charge of contempt of Congress. Pending determination of the appeal, appellant was released on bail and, after argument on the merits but before a decision had been rendered, he wrongfully fled the country. Subsequently the Attorney General notified the Court that appellant had been apprehended in England at the request of the Secretary of State and that a court of competent jurisdiction there found that appellant was not guilty of an extraditable offense under English law. The Court of its own motion then considered the …

Habeas Corpus-Federal Courts-Exhaustion Of State Remedies, E. W. Rothe, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner's writ of habeas corpus, alleging denial of due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, was quashed on the merits by an inferior Florida court whose action was affirmed without opinion by the Florida Supreme Court. It was impossible to ascertain whether the affirmance was on the merits or on the ground that, under Florida law, habeas corpus was not the proper procedure to raise the due process issue. A later decision by the Florida Supreme Court clearly established that the prior case had been decided on the merits of the constitutional question, and that habeas corpus …

The Bill Of Rights, The Fourteenth Amendment And The Supreme Court, John Raeburn Green

Michigan Law Review

The first enforcement of any of the First Amendment freedoms against the states, through the Fourteenth Amendment, was in 1927. In the twenty years since, these freedoms have, one by one, been brought within the protection of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as integral parts of the "liberty" which is safeguarded against state denial-the process having been completed in 1947 by the dictum that the prohibition of the establishment of religion ran against the states. The chronology of the struggle to enforce the Bill of Rights against the states, as well as other circumstances, suggests that the …

The Federal Constitution Today-Important Decisions Of The Supreme Court In The Last Eight Years 1937-1944 Inclusive, Burke Shartel

Michigan Law Review

In recent years one often hears lawyers say that the Constitution is gone; or one hears them echo the remark of Charles E. Hughes, made while he was Governor of New York, "We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is," and then perhaps add that lawyers can no longer determine with any assurance what the judges will do or will say the Constitution is. Such expressions and reactions are not unnatural in any period of rapid doctrinal change. All contain a large element of truth. Certainly much of the Constitutional Law is gone …

Retroactive Application Of Law-A Problem In Constitutional Law, Edward S. Stimson

Michigan Law Review

May an overruling decision be applied to ascertain the legal effect of prior conduct? In cases arising under the diversity of citizenship jurisdiction, the United States Supreme Court has held that the federal courts should apply earlier state court decisions, and not a decision overruling them, whenever the retroactive application of the new rule would adversely affect a party who had changed his position in reliance on the decisions overruled. In the absence of such reliance and change of position it has sustained the retroactive application of a new rule. If the basis of the first principle is elemental fairness …

Constitutional Law - Federal Questions Reviewable By The Supreme Court

Michigan Law Review

Two cases decided by the Supreme Court at the October, 1932, term of Court raised important questions of federal practice and due process of law. Judgment was rendered, on motion, without notice, pursuant to the terms of the bond, against the American Surety Company on a supersedeas bond given in an action in which the Singer Sewing Machine Company and one Anderson were the defendants in the trial court after the Supreme Court of Idaho had affirmed the judgment of the trial court as to Anderson and reversed it as to the Sewing Machine Company. An order of the trial …

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.

Social And Economic Interpretation Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Robert Eugene Cushman

Michigan Law Review

For those who love precision and definiteness the question of the application of the Fourteenth Amendment to social and economic problems remains an irritating enigma. The judicial construction of due process of law and the equal protection of the law has from the first discouraged systematic analysis and defied synthesis. More than one writer has emerged from the study of the problem with a neat and compact set of fundamental principles, only to have the Supreme Court discourteously ignore them in its next case. But paradoxical as it may seem, those who long for a wise and forward-looking solution of …

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 …

Due Process Of Law In Procedure, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

There are two classes of cases which may arise under the "due process" provisions of the 5th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution, so far as rules of procedure are concerned. One embraces cases of new remedial processes which may be criticized as too radical. The other consists of cases of old processes which may be criticized as obsolete and out of harmony with prevailing conceptions of justice. Due process may thus be said to fill the wide space between those innovations which carry us so far away from established methods as to remove the safeguards which are …