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Full-Text Articles in Law

Appeal And Error-Significance Of Denial Of Certiorari As Precedent By United States Supreme Court, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed. Nov 1950

Appeal And Error-Significance Of Denial Of Certiorari As Precedent By United States Supreme Court, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Respondents were found guilty of contempt of court for broadcasting dispatches concerning a person about to be tried on a charge of murder. The convictions were reversed on constitutional grounds by the Court of Appeals of Maryland, relying upon certain decisions of the United States Supreme Court. The state sought a writ of certiorari on the ground that the Maryland court had misconceived the rulings of the Supreme Court. Although the application for certiorari was denied, Justice Frankfurter took occasion to write an opinion stating that the denial of the writ meant only that fewer than four members of the …


Constitutional Law-Fourth Amendment-Search Without A Warrant Incident To Arrest, G. B. Myers S.Ed. Nov 1950

Constitutional Law-Fourth Amendment-Search Without A Warrant Incident To Arrest, G. B. Myers S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Respondent was convicted of selling and of possessing and concealing forged and altered stamps of the United States with intent to defraud. The primary evidence of "possessing and concealing" consisted of numerous forged and altered stamps taken from respondent's one room office by Federal officers immediately after his arrest. The stamps were the product of a one and one-half hour search of the desk, safe and file cabinets in the office. The officers, though without a search warrant for the premises, made the arrest pursuant to a valid warrant. Respondent protested the search, and this protest was renewed by motions …


Witnesses--Competence Of Defendant's Spouse As Witness For The Prosecution, William R. Worth S.Ed. Jun 1950

Witnesses--Competence Of Defendant's Spouse As Witness For The Prosecution, William R. Worth S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, on trial for the offense of transporting across state lines a sum of money exceeding $5,000 feloniously obtained by fraud, was convicted largely through the testimony of his victim. The fraud charged consisted of a lightning courtship and hasty marriage, closely followed by the disappearance of the new husband along with the entire estate of the too-gullible bride. Over the objection of the defendant, his wife was permitted to testify to the swindle practiced upon her. After conviction, he filed a motion for a new trial, contending that it was error to permit a wife to testify against her …


Soviet Socialism And Due Process Of Law, John N. Hazard Jun 1950

Soviet Socialism And Due Process Of Law, John N. Hazard

Michigan Law Review

An eminent American legal philosopher has recently written in the pages of this Review that Soviet leaders have discovered some ancient truths-namely, that some respect must be paid, sooner or later, to the principle of legality. In the light of various memoirs and disclosures of persons who have experienced or studied life in Soviet labor camps, such a statement invites incredulity. Can it have any basis in fact? Can it be possible that there is a dualism in Soviet practice, with one set of experiences supporting the conclusion that there is a trend toward legality and another set of experiences …


Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right Of Condemned Prisoner To A Hearing On Claim Of Supervening Insanity, Robert P. Griffin S.Ed. Jun 1950

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right Of Condemned Prisoner To A Hearing On Claim Of Supervening Insanity, Robert P. Griffin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was convicted of murder in a Georgia court and sentenced to die by electrocution. He made application to the governor to postpone execution on the ground that he had become insane after conviction. The governor, acting under authority of a state statute, appointed three physicians who conducted an examination of petitioner and found him sane. Thereupon, petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a state court contending that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment entitled him to a hearing on his insanity claim before a judicial or administrative tribunal at which he could …


Judgments - Double Jeopardy - Res Judicata - Effect Of Prior Conviction Or Acquittal On Subsequent Suit For Statutory Penalty Or Forfeiture, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed. Jun 1950

Judgments - Double Jeopardy - Res Judicata - Effect Of Prior Conviction Or Acquittal On Subsequent Suit For Statutory Penalty Or Forfeiture, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The case of United States v. One De Soto Sedan has again focused attention on some of the perplexing problems raised by the statutory imposition of both criminal and civil sanctions for the same wrongful act. The court held that an acquittal in a criminal prosecution for possessing liquor on which no federal tax had been paid was a bar to a civil in rem proceeding to forfeit claimant's car as having been used in the removal, deposit and concealment of the same liquor with intent to defraud the United States of taxes. Since the two proceedings involved the same …


Criminal Law-Confessions Obtained Prior To Commitment-What Constitutes Unreasonable Delay, B. J. George, Jr. May 1950

Criminal Law-Confessions Obtained Prior To Commitment-What Constitutes Unreasonable Delay, B. J. George, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Defendants were arrested on suspicion of murder and questioned by police. Defendants confessed after being held incommunicado for some hours during the night, but were not arraigned until the following morning. The confessions were admitted in evidence and defendants found guilty. On appeal, held, affirmed. There had not been an unreasonable delay in producing defendants before a commissioner, because the length of time in hours was not unreasonable and because committing magistrates are not available late at night. Garner v. United States, (App. D.C., 1949) 174 F. (2d) 499.


The Rule Of Clear And Present Danger: Scope Of Its Applicability, Chester James Antieau Apr 1950

The Rule Of Clear And Present Danger: Scope Of Its Applicability, Chester James Antieau

Michigan Law Review

The rule of clear and present danger originated in 1919 in an attempt by Mr. Justice Holmes to formulate a principle for the limitation of liberty with a conscious, intelligent weighing of the opposed societal interests. In the Schenck case, the societal and individual interest in freedom of expression clashed with the societal interest in defense of the state. In conflicts of this kind the criterion has had its most frequent application. The societal interest in preservation of the state was adequately protected by application of the test in prosecutions arising under the Espionage Act of 1917, although Mr. Justice …


Mr. Justice Murphy And Civil Rights, Thurgood Marshall Apr 1950

Mr. Justice Murphy And Civil Rights, Thurgood Marshall

Michigan Law Review

There is constant danger that the unpopularity of an individual, or of the group of which he is a member, will be reflected in dealings with his rights by his neighbors or by the organized community. In America today this bias is most likely to stern from differences of race, origin, nationality, or religious or political belief. Prejudice may victimize an entire group or any of its members. Any charge of shocking or anti-social conduct against one who is already thus unpopular increases the likelihood of unfair treatment. Not only private citizens, but legislators, judges and administrative officers of government …


The Intent Element In Contempt Of Injunctions, Decrees And Court Orders, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed. Apr 1950

The Intent Element In Contempt Of Injunctions, Decrees And Court Orders, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Recent years have seen increasing effort on the part of courts to distinguish between civil and criminal contempts. This effort has been engendered by an awareness of the different procedural and substantive aspects of the two classifications. A discussion of these aspects, as well as of the tests used to distinguish civil and criminal contempts, is beyond the scope of this paper. Suffice it to say that those tests which have been applied leave much to be desired. The lack of clarity, so evident in prevailing tests, is in part a legacy from early decisions which permitted the two types …


Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right To Counsel In State Courts, Charles Myneder Feb 1950

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Right To Counsel In State Courts, Charles Myneder

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was tried before a jury on a charge of larceny, convicted and sentenced to a penitentiary term. He did not request counsel, and the court made no offer to appoint counsel. In the course of the trial, petitioner was prejudiced by his failure to object to certain errors in evidence. In a petition for habeas corpus in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, he alleged denial of a constitutional right of counsel. On answer, it was averred that in petitioner's conduct of his own defense he displayed a "familiarity with legal process in the criminal courts." A transcript of petitioner's …


Constitutional Law-Due Process-Use Of Extraneous Evidence In Determining Criminal Sentence, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr. S. Ed. Feb 1950

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Use Of Extraneous Evidence In Determining Criminal Sentence, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr. S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree with a recommendation for life imprisonment. In reliance on police and probation reports showing petitioner's background which included over thirty burglaries for which he had never been arraigned and a "morbid sexuality," the trial judge disregarded the jury's recommendation and imposed the death sentence. Although petitioner did not have an opportunity to examine the reports prior to the sentence hearing, he was represented by counsel at the hearing and did not challenge them at that time. Petitioner contended that he had been denied due process of law because his sentence had …


Habeas Corpus-Inadequacy Of State Remedy, Joseph Gricar Jan 1950

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 …