Law Commons^™

Labor Law - Certified Union's Loss Of Majority Status During Certification Year And Without Fault Of Employer As Justification For Refusal To Bargain, Eugene Alkema S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The "one year certification rule" was originated in the early years of the National Labor Relations Board and has been consistently applied by it. Essentially it provides that after certification an employer is required to bargain with the certified union for a reasonable time, which is usually one year in the absence of "unusual circumstances." The certified union is conclusively presumed to represent a majority of employees in the unit for that period, the presumption afterward becoming rebuttable. This system of successive conclusive and rebuttable presumptions represents a compromise between the competing policies of giving a union time to establish …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Automatic And Permanent Dismissal Of Public School Teachers For Invoking The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, John B. Huck S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners, employed as public school teachers in New York City, were subpoenaed to appear before a Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. When questioned by the committee about communist activities, petitioners asserted the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination. Pursuant to the New York City Charter, they were summarily dismissed and permanently barred from re-employment by the city. No hearing was required nor given prior to the dismissal. There was no evidence of conduct otherwise warranting a dismissal. In an action for reinstatement, held, dismissal affirmed. Daniman v. Board of Education of City of New York, 306 N.Y. 532, 119 N.E. (2d) …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Dismissal Of Appeal As Exercise Of Contempt Power, Morton A. Polster S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A superior court of the state of Washington rendered a $475,000 judgment against the petitioner union for the circulation of a libelous letter. The union filed an appeal to the Washington Supreme Court but obtained no stay of proceedings in the lower court because it made no offer of the required supersedeas bond. In a supplemental proceeding it was learned that the union had no substantial assets in Washington but did have $298,000 of United States bonds in its possession in California. The Superior Court ordered the union to deliver these bonds to the court's receiver to protect the judgment …

Regulation Of Business - Boxing And Theater Now Within Scope Of The Sherman Act, Norman A. Zilber S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The United States instituted two civil antitrust actions under section 4 of the Sherman Act claiming that defendants were acting in restraint of trade in their respective fields. Defendant Shubert was engaged in the multistate business of producing, booking, and presenting legitimate theatrical attractions. Defendant International Boxing Club was engaged in the business of promoting professional boxing contests, also on a multistate basis, with an alleged 25 percent of its revenue being derived from the interstate sale of radio, television, and motion picture rights. The district court dismissed both complaints on the authority of Federal Baseball Club v. National League …

Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Punitive Damages And Recovered "Insider's Profits" Taxable As Income, Alice Austin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In previous litigation one of the defendant taxpayers received punitive damages for fraud practiced upon it and both received treble damages for injuries to business caused by conduct in violation of the federal antitrust laws. The court of appeals affirmed the Tax Court's rulings that these receipts were not taxable as gross income. On certiorari to the Supreme Court, held, reversed. Money received as punitive awards is includible in gross income under section 22 (a), I.R.C. (1939). Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co. and William Goldman Theatres, Inc., 348 U.S. 426, 75 S.Ct. 473 (1955).

Trusts - Spendthrift Trusts - Reduction In Income As Justification For Termination In Favor Of Beneficiary, Norman A. Zilber S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Testatrix died in 1913 leaving a will which established a $20,000 spendthrift trust. The income from this trust was to be paid to her son for life with the remainder, in default of issue and the exercise of a general testamentary power of appointment, to go to the other descendants of the testatrix then living. The stated purpose of the trust was to assure her son of "a support throughout his . . . whole life, under any circumstances.'' The son, 65 years old and without issue, sought to terminate the trust on the ground that he was about to …

Wills - Ademption - Sale Of Property By Guardian Of Physically Incompetent Testator, David W. Swanson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

By a will executed in 1950, testator devised his undivided one-half interest in his home to his wife in fee simple. A year · later and with his consent, the probate court appointed a guardian for him on the ground of physical incompetency. In 1952 the guardian sold the devised property under court order, at which proceeding the testator was properly before the court, was consulted, and agreed to the sale. A small portion of the proceeds was used for the support of the testator but $7271 remained at his death five months later and was turned over to his …

Mccormick: Handbook Of The Law Of Evidence, Mason Ladd

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Handbook of the Law of Evidence. By Charles T. McCormick

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Cohen: The Principles Of World Citizenship, Samuel I. Shuman

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Principles of World Citizenship. By L. Jonathan Cohen

The Antitrust Laws In Foregin Commerce, Robert A. Nitschke

Michigan Law Review

The Sherman Act applies to trade or commerce "with foreign nations." Are there differences in the act's application to foreign trade compared with its application to domestic commerce? The Attorney General's National Committee to Study the Antitrust Laws was constituted at a time when this question was pressing for an answer.

During the 1920's and 1930's, the international cartel movement was in full Hood. American companies participated in some of these international arrangements, often in the belief that they were a necessary condition for world trade and upon the legal premise that restrictions adjunctive to patent and know-how licenses were …

Antitrust Policy In Distribution, Kendall B. Debevoise

Michigan Law Review

The American genius lies quite as much in distribution as in manufacturing. Other peoples have demonstrated equal or greater creative ability in many fields. And it is debatable whether their talents are any less at mass production given adequate economic demand. But they have nowhere shown the American genius for distribution. It is axiomatic that if you manufacture in Detroit and your potential customer lives in New York, you need mutual friends. We seem to have figured out better ways to provide better friends for this purpose than any other nation.

But manufacturing came first. Someone had to build a …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Validity Of Refusal To Permit The Showing Of A Motion Picture On The Grounds Of Obscenity, Donald F. Oosterhouse S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A Chicago municipal ordinance made it unlawful to exhibit any motion picture without first having secured a permit from the Commissioner of Police. The commissioner is required to issue the permit unless he finds the picture "immoral or obscene. . .. " On these grounds he refused to permit exhibition of "The Miracle." Plaintiffs brought suit to have the ordinance declared unconstitutional and to restrain enforcement of the prohibition on the picture. The trial court granted the relief asked. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded to determine if the motion picture is obscene. A prior restraint on the exhibition …

Limitations Of Actions - Conversion, Irving L. Halpern

Michigan Law Review

Defendant purchased and went into possession of land in 1944 at which time a logging donkey was upon the land. The donkey had been on defendant's land without having been moved or used since 1942. From 1944 to 1952 defendant made numerous inquiries as to the ownership of the donkey without success. Through various conveyances, beginning in 1946, and without any transfer of possession, plaintiff acquired title to the donkey in 1952. In May 1952, in order to further develop his land, defendant sold the donkey. In a suit by plaintiff for conversion of the donkey, the lower court ruled …

Antitrust And Labor, Russell A. Smith

Michigan Law Review

The thirteen-page treatment of the subject of "organized labor" in the Report of the Attorney General's National Committee to Study the Antitrust Laws shows that the committee approached the subject gingerly, and that the counsel of moderation prevailed. The views of those who would change the national policy favoring (or at least tolerating) the existing institutions of trade unionism and collective bargaining by subjecting unions to "monopoly" standards are not discussed in the Report. The result is a limited and generalized approach, which holds that some kinds of union practices "aimed directly at commercial market restraints" run counter to …

Criminal Law - Scope Of Lawful Search And Seizure Without Warrant When Incident To Arrest, Richard M. Adams S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Acting on information that defendants were engaged in the "numbers racket" in violation of the Michigan gambling laws, police officers picked up three of the defendants in an automobile, took them to the police station, and proceeded to the home of their accomplice, Abbey Clay. On being admitted to the residence, the officers placed Abbey Clay under arrest and, despite her objections, promptly searched the L-shaped room in which they were standing when the arrest was made. Although the officers did not have a search warrant, they looked through defendant's pocketbook, magazine rack, and a cardboard box which was in …

Husband And Wife -- Personal Tort Actions Between Spouses -- Statutory Construction, Robert B. Olsen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Following an interlocutory divorce decree, and while the parties were living apart from one another, defendant allegedly assaulted the plaintiff. The trial court dismissed her complaint on the ground that no action could be brought by one spouse against the other for personal torts committed during coverture. On appeal, held, reversed, three judges dissenting and one concurring. The Judicial Code and the Husband and Wife Statutes of Utah, when considered together, entitle a married woman to maintain an action against her husband for injuries intentionally inflicted upon her. Taylor v. Patten, 2 Utah (2d) 404, 275 P. (2d) …

Restitution - Election Of Remedies - Action In Quasi-Contract Against Joint Tortfeasor As Barring Fraud Action Against Other Joint Tortfeasors, Douglas Peck S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued for fraud, alleging that defendant engraving companies secretly agreed with an agent of the plaintiff to give the agent a commission in return for which the agent was to contract for engraving work to be done by the defendants for plaintiff at a rate in excess of the fair market price for such work. Upon discovery of the fraud and prior to the commencement of this action, plaintiff had instituted an action in a state court against its agent for money had and received, and had obtained an attachment. Upon defendants' motion to dismiss the fraud action, held …

Notes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A list of books received by Michigan Law Review

The Patent-Antitrust Problem, Bartholomew Diggins

Michigan Law Review

The Patent-Antitrust section of the Report of the Attorney General's National Committee to Study the Antitrust Laws is an excellent analysis of the existing law and is an invaluable handbook for practitioners in this difficult field. The writer's approach to the problem is different from that of the committee and before commenting specifically on the Report it is only fair to state the writer's views of the problem lest differences in viewpoint give the impression of criticism of the Report.

In any approach to the patent-antitrust problem there is a basic question: does a "patent-antitrust problem" exist? The Report …

Antitrust Administration And Enforcement, John T. Chadwell

Michigan Law Review

The importance of the nation's antitrust policy requires that administration and enforcement powers and techniques be equal to the huge task of effectively safeguarding competition. The recommendations of the Attorney General's Committee represent a statesmanlike effort to balance the need for effective enforcement with the need for the preservation of fairness and the conservation of time and resources in antitrust litigation. Some of the recommendations will undoubtedly engender heated controversy; others seem relatively uncontroversial.

Many individual topics are dealt with in the Report of the committee and space does not permit comment upon all of them. The following discussion is …

Constitutional Law - Federal Anti-Subversive Legislation - The Communist Control Act Of 1954, Paul R. Haerle

Michigan Law Review

This comment is intended as a preliminary step in an analysis of the legislative history of the act and a consideration of both its potential effectiveness and constitutional validity.

Criminal Law - Contradictory Statements Under Oath As Grounds For Perjury In The Federal Courts, Richard M. Adams S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Perjury has frequently been described as one of the more difficult convictions to obtain, and the truth of this saying is no better illustrated than in the case of Harvey Matusow. During the two years in which ex-Communist Matusow served as a professional government witness, he accused 180 or more persons as being members of the Communist Party or Communist sympathizers. This same witness has now described himself as a "habitual and perpetual liar" and has publicly admitted that all of his previous testimony was false. On the strength of this recantation, motions were filed for a new trial in …

Conflict Of Laws - Contracts - Enforcement Of Foreign Contract Though Contrary To State, William G. Cloon, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of Texas, obtained from the defendant an insurance policy which was written and delivered in Texas. The defendant agreed to pay for any damages to plaintiff's truck caused by fire, but stipulated that any dispute over the amount of the loss should he determined by arbitration proceedings in accordance with the terms of the contract. The truck was damaged by fire in Arkansas and a dispute arose over the amount of the loss. Plaintiff refused to submit the question to arbitration and brought this suit in the Federal District Court for Arkansas. Defendant argued that the action …

Contributory Negligence - Duty Of Pedestrian To Look While Crossing Intersection With Light, Harvey A. Howard S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff was crossing a busy intersection in reliance on a green traffic light in his favor when he was struck by defendant's automobile. Testifying in his own behalf, plaintiff said that he waited until the light changed to green and traffic on both sides stopped before proceeding to cross the street. He further stated that he was hit just before reaching the other side of the street. He did not see defendant's automobile before it struck him. At the conclusion of this testimony defendant moved for a directed verdict on the ground that plaintiff had failed to show freedom …

Evidence - Privilege - Maintaining Action Where The Evidence May Affect The National Security, John F. Dodge, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff brought an action for the breach of a contract for the manufacture of certain arming mechanisms for the use of the United States Army. The defendant moved to dismiss the action on the grounds that the contract in question was classified as confidential by the army and that the disclosures of certain facts asserted to be material in the prosecution and defense of the action would be a violation of the Federal Espionage Laws. Held, motion denied. The court should invoke every proper judicial technique to keep state secrets unrevealed, but it should not dismiss a valid …

Weihofen: Mental Disorder As A Criminal Defense, Winfred Overholser M.D.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Mental Disorder as a Criminal Defense. By Henry Weihofen.

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Suits Against Unincorporated Associations Under The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, John Kaplan

Michigan Law Review

Concepts, Benjamin Cardozo has said, "are useful, indeed indispensable, if kept within their place. We will press them quite a distance. . . . A time comes, however, when the concepts carry us too far, or farther than we are ready to go with them, and behold, some other concept, with capacity to serve our needs is waiting at the gate. 'It is a peculiar virtue of our system of law that the process of inclusion and exclusion, so often employed in developing a rule, is not allowed to end with its enunciation, and that an expression in an opinion …

Criminal Law - Reexamination Of Tests For Criminal Responsibility, Mary Lee Ryan

Michigan Law Review

Criminal law in the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence is based upon the concept that persons should be held responsible for their acts. A strong corrollary to this idea is that certain types of persons, namely the "insane," should not be held responsible for criminal conduct. Although this proposition seems beautifully simple, courts in England and the United States for over a hundred years have wrestled with the problem of what constitutes insanity, or, to phrase it more accurately, what type of mental condition should preclude responsibility for a criminal act.