Law Commons^™

The Proposed Federal Rules Of Criminal Procedure, Wendell Berge

Michigan Law Review

The recently published Preliminary Draft of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is now before the bench and bar for discussion. The rules proposed are, of course, tentative. Following a procedure similar to that adopted in the case of the civil rules a few years ago, they have been printed and distributed by the Advisory Committee at this stage for the purpose of obtaining criticisms and suggestions. Some of the rules merely restate existing law as provided by statute or adopted by general agreement in judicial decisions. Others work substantial procedural changes. How is the product to be judged?

"Enemy" Under The Trading With The Enemy Act And Some Problems Of International Law, Samuel Anatole Lourie

Michigan Law Review

When the United States entered this war and even before, it was evident that the measures and definitions of the Trading with the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, were obsolete instruments with which to cope, in economic and psychological warfare, with such dangerous enemies as the Axis, particularly Germany. Germany's preparations and planning for the war date back two decades, but took on intensified and conspicuous form only after the access of the Nazis to power.

In all types of warfare numerous weapons, devices and means are openly or secretly used. "Camouflage" is not the exclusive domain of military …

Installment Contracts

Michigan Law Review

Section 301 of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, as amended in 1942, is designed to protect the serviceman who has purchased property on the installment plan against forfeitures. It provides that a vendor or seller (or his assignee) of real or personal property (including a lease or bailment with a view to purchase) may not terminate or rescind his contract or resume possession of the property because of nonpayment or for any other breach of contract except by an action brought in a court of competent jurisdiction. This section is applicable in all cases in which …

Abstracts Of Recent Decisions, Benjamin M. Quigg, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Evidence-Judicial Notice By Appellate Courts Of Facts And Foreign Laws, Not Brought To The Attention Of The Trial Court, Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The general problem to be discussed in this comment is the process and supporting reasons used by appellate courts in their determination of the propriety of taking official cognizance of facts not brought to the attention of the trial court. This necessarily removes that great and complex body of case and statutory law dealing with situations where a court is called upon to take judicial notice of local statutes, municipal ordinances, and other similar matters of law. Also specifically excluded from discussion are the cases where error is alleged because the trial court refused to take notice of a fact …

German Lawyers-Training And Functions, Burke Shartel, Hans Julius Wolff

Michigan Law Review

Before Hitler, Germany took justifiable pride in the quality of its judiciary, its bar and its legally trained officials. Germany was a country where special training for civil, military, business, and professional functions was highly developed and where special qualifications were highly esteemed. The solid quality of all legal personnel was merely a consequence and manifestation in one sphere of a general stress on expertness which characterized all aspects of German life. The high standards of bench, bar and other legal personnel have, however, been largely broken down by the Hitler regime. This result has not ensued from an open …

Life Insurance

Michigan Law Review

The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, as amended in 1942, contains provisions which are designed to enable the serviceman to avoid forfeiting life insurance because of the lack of financial resources.

Just War-A Legal Concept?, Arthur Nussbaum

Michigan Law Review

During the century preceding the First World War the topic of "just war," frequently and intensely treated in earlier periods, had almost disappeared from the writings on international relations. Since the end of the war, however, the issue has been revived by writers within and without the legal profession. The present article purports, principally by an inquiry into its historical background, to determine its legal relevance.

Is The Business Of Insurance Commerce? A Re-Examination In The Light Of Modern Times, Nathan R. Berke

Michigan Law Review

A question of considerable import which has arisen time and again in recent years, particularly since the enactment of the various federal regulatory acts within the past decade, is whether the business of insurance is commerce. Although not a new question, and by no means unanswered by the courts, it has been a subject of recent reconsideration and in all probability will be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court.

The Development Of The Massachusetts Probate System, Thomas E. Atkinson

Michigan Law Review

American lawyers and laymen alike take for granted a system of probate of wills and administration of decedents' estates under the supervision of a single tribunal usually called a probate court. We are familiar with the setting up of the will, appointment of the personal representative, filing of bond and inventory by the latter, granting of allowances for support of the family, notice to creditors to present their claims, and settlement of accounts of the administration, all accomplished by this court's orders or under its scrutiny. While real property is deemed to pass directly to the heirs or devisees, it …

Soldiers And Sailors-Civil Relief Act Of 1940-Application To Decedents' Estates, Secured Obligations, Installment Contracts, Insurance, Taxes, And Assessments

Michigan Law Review

On October 17, 1940, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act became effective. The discussions which follow, written by different authors, do not cover the entire act, but only the parts indicated by the various headings.

Secured Obligations, Benjamin M. Quigg, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The scope of this discussion probably is best defined in the words of the act itself as appear in section 302 (1): "obligations secured by mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage · upon real or personal property, owned by a person in military service at the commencement of the period of military service"; and the problems herein discussed are those which arise under the act in connection with the sale, foreclosure, seizure, or repossession of property which is security for such obligations.

Taxes And Assessments

Michigan Law Review

Provisions for tax relief for members of the military and naval forces of the United States are found not only in the Soldiers' and Sailors' Relief Act, but also in three other important federal statutes, namely, the Internal Revenue Code, the War Pay and Allotments Act of 1942, and the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943. Relief measures fall into three classes: (1) those granting postponement of taxes and tax proceedings, (2) those providing reduction of the tax burden, and (3) those providing abatement of taxes in the event of death in military service. Those provisions will be discussed in …

A Legal Approach To Equitable Servitudes, Ralph A. Newman

Michigan Law Review

The variety of conceptions of the nature of equitable servitudes is only one indication of the complexity of this particular branch of the law; the difficulty of classifying the topic as a branch of equity rather than of real property, or the reverse, is another, and one which grows out of the interplay of both of these divisions of the law upon the particular field of equitable servitudes. The following discussion is designed to indicate that many of the difficulties inherent in the concept of equitable servitudes may be resolved by analyzing the subject from the point of approach of …

Sales - Place Of Title - "Cash Sales"

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiffs contracted to sell lambs not yet in existence to Boylen; $500 was paid at the execution of the contract in May, an additional $500 was to be paid in August, and the remaining amount was "to be paid on delivery of the lambs." The August payment was made. On September 20 plaintiffs delivered the lambs to Boylen at a railway shipping station. There was no station agent at the place, no bill of lading was taken out and no bill of sale or other paper transferred. Apparently the lambs were simply delivered into the possession of Boylen and …

Abstracts, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

The Trading With The Enemy Act, Samuel Anatole Lourie

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this paper is to discuss two aspects of the Trading with the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917: (1) The evolution of the T.E.A. through legislative enactments and executive orders; (2) Some problems of constitutional and administrative law raised by the last amendment to the act.

Public Utilities-Smythe V. Ames Again, Thomas G. Long

Michigan Law Review

The suit arose in 1893 over railroad freight rates prescribed by an act of the legislature of Nebraska approved April 12, 1893 which went into effect August 1, 1893. The claim was that the rates prescribed were so low that the plaintiff stockholders' railroads were deprived of property in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The state officials showed "that the railroads of Nebraska can be reproduced completely for about $20,000 per mile." Eleven railroads were concerned. The lowest funded debt was $12,324 per mile with four over $20,000 per mile. The par value …

Courts - Federal Courts - Diversity Of Citizenship Requirement - Persons Evacuated To Other States By Government Order, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs were United States citizens of Japanese ancestry domiciled in California. By order of the Western Defense Command, United States Army, they were removed to the Gila River Relocation Center, Arizona. Defendants were residents of California. After their relocation plaintiffs brought this action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California "to terminate trust, for an accounting, and for appointment of a receiver," and jurisdiction of the federal court was based solely on allegations of diversity of citizenship. Held, action dismissed for want of jurisdiction. A person moving under legal or physical compulsion, from his …

The Literature Of Opa: Administrative Techniques In Wartime, John W. Willis

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this article to outline the various administrative mechanisms which OPA has devised to carry out the regulation of prices and rents and the rationing of goods. The wisdom of any particular policy is not at issue; we are concerned only with the "how" and not with the "why," with the procedure and not the substance.

The Scope Of A Civil Action, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

In the last fifty years the rules which deal with what Professor Millar happily has called "The Compass of the Cause" have shown "conspicuous advance." This advance is clearly reflected in the Rules of Civil Procedure of the District Courts of the United States, effective in 1938. It is the purpose of this paper, first, to present a complete analysis of the concept: scope of a civil action; second, to show the weaknesses of the codes in dealing with this concept; and, third, to indicate to what extent these, weaknesses have been remedied by the new …

Constitutional Law - Freedom Of Religion - Compulsory Flag Salute, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The state of West Virginia enacted an amendment to its statutes in 1941 requiring all schools to conduct courses in history and civics for the purpose of fostering "the ideals, principles and spirit of Americanism," and pursuant thereto the Board of Education adopted a resolution ordering that the flag salute and declaration of allegiance should be a regular part of the program of activities in the public schools. Expulsion from school was provided for nonconformity- and until compliance the child was considered unlawfully absent from school and the parents were liable to fine and imprisonment for causing child delinquency. Appellees …

Future Interests - Charities - Validity Of Accumulation For Charity When Impracticable To Accumulate Desired Amount, Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

An executor petitioned for instructions under a will which devised the residuary estate to trustees to be accumulated in trust until sufficient to purchase a farm upon which a home for the aged and indigent would be established. The trustees waived all interest in the fund, which amounted to less than two hundred dollars. Held, there is no reasonable prospect of the accumulation becoming sufficient to establish the charity, or to maintain it if it should be established. The contingencies are thus so remote that the trust fails for impracticality. Green v. Parker, (N.H. 1943) 32 A. (2d) …

Municipal Corporations - Constitutional Law-Exemption Of Homesteads From Taxation For State Purposes, Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A taxpayer brought a class suit in his own name for the use and benefit of himself and other taxpayers against the city of Wichita Falls to have an ordinance exempting from all taxes $3,000 of the assessed taxable values of all residence homesteads of the city declared void, and for a permanent injunction restraining the city from allowing such exemption and issuing certificates therefor to owners of homesteads. The ordinance had been passed under authority of a constitutional amendment permitting a similar exemption for "state purposes." Held, a homestead is taxable under the constitution for all purposes other …

Corporations-The Executive Committee In Corporate Organization-Scope Of Powers, Dickson M. Saunders

Michigan Law Review

From the very beginning of the use of the corporate structure as a device for carrying on the businesses and activities of man, it has been apparent that the nominal brain, the board of directors, could not feasibly run the affairs of the inanimate entity unless certain powers could be delegated to officers and agents. The early case of Hoyt v. Thompson's Executor illustrates the judicial recognition of delegated powers. The charter authorized all business of ordinary nature to be transacted by a board of directors of twenty-three.

Future Interests - Taxation - Evidence - Presumption As To The Possibility Of A Woman Bearing Children, Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Testatrix, a resident of Massachusetts, set up a trust of her residuary estate for her two daughters, the principal to be paid to their issue, but if either should die without issue, her share to be paid to certain named charities. On probate, the remainder to charity was held to be void. The income tax law of Massachusetts imposed a three per cent levy on income accumulated for contingent future interests, but exempted from taxation certain interests of nonresidents, including vested remainders not subject to being divested. The daughters, nonresidents, contended that their interests should not be taxed as contingent …

Abstracts, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Constitutional Law-Right To Impose A License Tax Upon Dissemination Of Religious Literature - Jones V. Opelika Reversed, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners were members of the religious sect "Jehovah's Witnesses," who "sold" and/ or donated religious tracts and literature, and in connection therewith used phonographs and records, in their door to door activities to spread their religious beliefs. They failed to obtain a license for the privilege of canvassing and soliciting, as required of all persons by an ordinance of the city of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, and were convicted and fined for violation thereof. Petitions for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania were denied; the case came before the United States Supreme Court on petition for writ of certiorari. …

Principal And Surety- Right Of Surety On Building Contract To Be Subrogated To Funds In Owner's Hands As Against Right Of Bank That Advanced Funds To Contractor, Mary Jane Morris

Michigan Law Review

A contract for construction of a city sewerage system provided for progress payments on the fifteenth of each month of ninety per cent of the engineer's estimate of work done during the preceeding month, ten per cent being retained by the owner until final completion of the contract. The contract also required the contractor by the twentieth of the month to pay all labor costs and ninety per cent of the cost of materials delivered the month before. Because the necessary estimates had not been made, the June check was not paid to the contractor on the payment date. On …

The Administrative Crime, Its Creation And Punishment By Administrative Agencies, Edmund H. Schwenk

Michigan Law Review

The application of the penal sanction in the field of administrative law involves mainly three problems: (1) the constitutionality of a statute which authorizes an administrative agency to issue rules and regulations enforceable by punishment and thus to create certain elements of crime; (2) the constitutionality of a statute which authorizes an administrative agency to create the penalty for the violation of its rules and regulations; and (3) the constitutionality of a statute which authorizes an administrative agency to impose a penalty upon the delinquent. Even if the first problem can be answered in the affirmative, two questions still remain: …