Law Commons^™

The Rico Nexus Requirement: A "Flexible" Linkage, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that the RICO "nexus" requirement can be interpreted to limit effectively this overbroad use of RICO without emasculating the statute. The "nexus requirement" is generally described as defining the word "through" in section 1962(c), the provision of RICO that makes it illegal to "conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of [an] enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity." This language establishes the necessity of proving a relationship between the enterprise and the racketeering. Once evidence of the alleged enterprise and the predicate racketeering acts has been submitted, the final element of proof must …

Administrative Regulation Of The High School Press, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines the constitutional limits on administrative regulation of publications by and for public high school students. Part I discusses the widely divergent standards adopted by different circuits. Part II describes the hard line the Supreme Court has taken against restraints on free expression in the adult context and the different circumstances that justify limiting freedom of expression in high schools. Part III discusses the timing of administrative regulation of student speech. This Part argues that prior restraint is constitutionally acceptable and, in fact, preferable to subsequent punishment so long as its use is governed by proper criteria. Part …

Claims Of Dual Nationals In The Modern Era: The Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note will discuss the considerations, implicit in the Tribunal's opinion, that support substituting the doctrine of dominant and effective nationality for the rule of state nonresponsibility in cases involving claims of dual nationals. Part I of this Note briefly examines the traditional framework of diplomatic protection and demonstrates that the policies supporting the doctrine of state nonresponsibility are anachronistic and that strict adherence to them leads to inequitable results. Part II argues that the doctrine of dominant and effective nationality is the preferred standard for determining the status of dual national claims. At the core of this doctrine is …

Second Generation State Takeover Legislation: Maryland Takes A New Tack, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines the approach recently adopted by the Maryland legislature in special session one year after the Supreme Court's decision in MITE. Maryland has departed radically from the regulatory approach of first generation statutes; however, this Note argues that the statute has failed to escape the constitutional infirmities of its predecessors. Part I outlines the various mechanisms that regulate acquisition of corporate control: the federal tender offer regulatory mechanism known as the Williams Act, state takeover legislation such as the Illinois statute invalidated in MITE, and the new Maryland statute. Part II analyzes the debate concerning the …

The Self-Critical Analysis Privilege And Discovery Of Affirmative Action Plans In Title Vii Suits, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that plaintiffs should have access to affirmative action plans in discovery. Part I describes the "self-critical analysis" or "self-evaluative" privilege that employers have advanced to block discovery of such plans. Part II examines the conflicting interests of society, employers and employees in allowing or denying discovery. Part III evaluates the application of a self-critical analysis privilege in light of these conflicting interests and concludes that the privilege should not be applied to affirmative action plans.

Backing Off Bivens And The Ramifications Of This Retreat For The Vindication Of First Amendment Rights, Joan Steinman

Michigan Law Review

In Part I of this Article, Chappell and Bush are analyzed against the backdrop of the preceding Bivens cases. The analysis explains how these cases presented situations that were similar to one another but unlike any the Supreme Court previously had faced in Bivens cases. It demonstrates how the Court departed from the line of analysis that its previous Bivens cases had established, in a way that makes it more difficult for at least some plaintiffs seeking vindication of their constitutional rights to succeed in having a money damage remedy implied directly under the Constitution. The Article then argues that …

The Efficiency Of Specific Performance: Toward A Unified Theory Of Contract Remedies, Thomas S. Ulen

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this essay is to begin the development of an integrated theory of contract remedies by delineating the circumstances under which courts should simply enforce a stipulated remedy clause or grant relief to the innocent party in the form of damages or specific performance. The conclusion, in brief, is that in the absence of stipulated remedies in the contract that survive scrutiny on the usual formation defenses, specific performance is more likely than any form of money damages to achieve efficiency in the exchange and breach of reciprocal promises. If specific performance is the routine remedy for breach, …

Consequences Of Supreme Court Decisions Upholding Individual Constitutional Rights, Jesse H. Choper

Michigan Law Review

The thrust of this Article is to attempt to ascertain just what differences the Court's judgments upholding individual constitutional rights have made for those who fall within the ambit of their protection. It seeks to address such questions as: What were the conditions that existed before the Court's ruling? How many people were subject to the regime that was invalidated by the Justices? Was the Court's mandate successfully implemented? What were the consequences for those affected? At a subjective level, were the repercussions perceived as salutary by those (or at least most of those) who were the beneficiaries of the …

Exemption Of Erisa Benefits Under Section 522(B)(2)(A) Of The Bankruptcy Code, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that the two federal statutes are exempting statutes under section 522(b)(2)(A), and thus BRISA funds should be exempt in a bankruptcy action when the debtor uses the state exemption scheme. Part I argues that standard principles of statutory interpretation, as applied to the language of the bankruptcy statute, refute the possibility that Congress intended the list of statutes in the legislative history to be exclusive. Having established that statutes other than those listed may be included under section 522(b )(2)(A), Part II first refutes the argument that the absence of BRISA from the list of exempting statutes …

Yankees Out Of North America: Foreign Employer Job Discrimination Against American Citizens, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note explores Title VII's relationship to the hiring practices of foreign employers. It focuses on Japanese employers, who might face the toughest Title VII challenge to a business and cultural familiarity or citizenship requirement. Part I sets out arguments for and against finding intentional discrimination - disparate treatment - in either of these hiring requirements. It suggests that a court should refuse to find national origin discrimination when the employer imposes a business and cultural familiarity requirement. However, when an applicant is denied employment solely on the basis of citizenship, a strong argument may be made that the …

Freedom Of Association After Roberts V. United States Jaycees, Douglas O. Linder

Michigan Law Review

The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Roberts v. United States Jaycees, upholding a Minnesota ruling which requires the Minnesota Jaycees to admit women as full members, ended one controversy but marked only the beginning of a far larger one. It was predicted by many that U.S. Jaycees would answer the question of whether private associations with restrictive membership policies were vulnerable to state anti-discrimination laws or were constitutionally protected. It did not. Instead, while rejecting the Jaycees' constitutional claims, the Court established a comprehensive framework for analyzing future claims of associational freedom that contains a number of …

Where The Money Is: Remedies To Finance Compliance With Strict Structural Injunctions, James M. Hirschhorn

Michigan Law Review

This Article examines the formal powers that are available to the federal courts to meet this situation. Part I places the problem in perspective, describing the party structure of the institutional reform decree, the :financial burdens it places on the government defendants, and the relationship of these defendants to the fiscal authorities. Part II surveys the coercive powers historically available to the federal courts sitting in equity. Part III discusses the use of these devices against government defendants who claim financial impossibility. It emphasizes the limited recognition of impossibility, the power to compel the defendants to use available resources efficiently …

Redefining The "Cost Of Suit" Under Section Four Of The Clayton Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note explores the possible interpretations of the "cost of suit" provision and the policies which it implicates. It concludes that the Copper Liquor interpretation best advances the goals of the antitrust laws set forth by Congress and the courts. Part I examines the development of the present controversy among the circuits. Part II analyzes and refutes the arguments which have been set forth in support of the traditional rule. Part III explores the policy considerations which underlie private treble damage actions and concludes that the Copper Liquor interpretation of the "cost of suit" provision serves them better than does …

Denial Of Unemployment Benefits To Otherwise Eligible Women On The Basis Of Pregnancy: Section 3304(A)(12) Of Federal Unemployment Tax Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines the conflicting interpretations of section 3304(a)(12) of the Federal Act. The Porcher decision serves as a point of reference throughout this Note, since opposing constructions of the section were presented in the case. Part I describes the basic framework of FUTA and presents the disparate interpretations of section 3304(a)(12) that have been advanced.

Part II analyzes section 3304(a)(12) with reference to the statutory language and legislative history. As a preliminary matter, this part considers the degree of deference that should be afforded the Secretary of Labor's certification of state programs that treat pregnancy like all other medical …

The Establishment Clause And Religion In Child Custody Disputes: Factoring Religion Into The Best Interest Equation, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines when judges deciding custody disputes may consider potential custodians' religious practices without violating the establishment clause of the first amendment to the Constitution. Although courts agree that they may not prefer one parent to another for religious reasons when both parents are religious and neither parent's religious practices threaten the child's health or safety, some courts believe that they may constitutionally prefer a religious parent to a nonreligious parent. Part I argues that courts violate the establishment clause by preferring religion to nonreligion when there is no showing that the child has personal religious convictions. Part II …

The Treatment Of Mandatory Tax Withholdings In Calculating Afdc Benefits: Fairness As A Relevant Inference In Ascertaining Congressional Intent, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note contends that the more appropriate construction of the statute is to view mandatory tax withholdings as nonincome and nonwork expense items. Part I traces the pre-OBRA legislative and administrative history and examines the judicial interpretations of 42 U.S.C. section 602(a)(7) "income" and section 602(a)(8) "earned income." It concludes that under the "availability" principle, tax withholdings have always been regarded as nonincome items distinct from work expenses. It contends that, notwithstanding contradictory language in the regulations implementing section 602(a)(8), the status of tax withholdings as nonincome items under section 602(a)(7) is controlling. Part II considers the legislative history and …

The Unnecessary Doctrine Of Necessaries, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that neither the traditional nor the modem necessaries doctrines are justifiable in contemporary society. Part I investigates the practical effects of both the traditional and contemporary necessaries doctrines and demonstrates that neither is an effective mechanism for providing support to a needy spouse. While a more successful support remedy might be devised to replace modem and traditional versions of the necessaries rule, Part II shows that yet another reformulation would not be worthwhile because the theoretical underpinnings of the doctrine are faulty. There is no persuasive evidence to establish the existence of the narrow support problem the …

Civil Enforcement Of Eec Antitrust Law, Francis G. Jacobs

Michigan Law Review

This paper examines whether and to what extent private civil remedies are, as a matter of law, and ought to be, as a matter of policy, available in the courts of the EEC Member States for breach of the antitrust provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (the Treaty of Rome). These questions are addressed in Part I. Part II sets the issues in the broader context of the enforcement of the Treaty obligations of Member States. In this way, it is hoped to elucidate the relationship between national law and Community law, and also indirectly to illuminate …

Socialist Federation--A Legal Means To The Solution Of The Nationality Problem: A Comparative Study, Viktor Knapp

Michigan Law Review

The history of federations is both long and short. It is long in that the federation originated with the Swiss Confederation, which dates back to the 1291 defense confederacy of the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden; it is short because the second federation in world history, one that has become a model for many others, did not come into being until almost five centuries later in America.

Trade Friction With Japan And The American Policy Response, Thomas J. Schoenbaum

Michigan Law Review

In Toyko recently I called upon an official of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to discuss trade frictions between the United States and Japan. On the way to my appointment I passed by Hibiya Park in the center of the city. About 10,000 people were gathered in a peaceful demonstration against any lifting of Japan's quotas on imports of agricultural products. Inside the MIT! building I asked the official whether the quotas on beef and oranges would be abolished soon. He told me they would eventually be liberalized or abolished to please the United States, but that …

The Interrelationship Between United Nations Law And The Law Of Other International Organizations, Richard H. Lauwaars

Michigan Law Review

The question regarding the interrelationship between UN law and the law of other international organizations acquired actual significance in the Netherlands in the spring of 1983. At that time, the Dutch Government published a Note stating that, due to the strictures of international law embodied in the law of the European Economic Community (EEC) and European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the Benelux Economic Union, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), it could not impose unilateral sanctions against South Africa. In response to this Note, a group of public international law professors in the Netherlands issued a …

Eric Stein Vita & Bibliography, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Eric Stein Vita & Bibliography

The Impact Of The Case Law Of The Court Of Justice Of The European Communities On The Economic World Order, Pieter Vanloren Van Themaat

Michigan Law Review

Among Europeans, Eric Stein is generally considered to be the outstanding expert on European Community law in the United States. Now we Europeans flatter ourselves, of course, with the opinion that there are outstanding experts on Community law within Europe as well. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the reason why so many students and scholars from Europe have gone to Ann Arbor for post-graduate studies or research work on European Community law lies mainly in the fact that Eric Stein has always been appreciated as a great scholar in international law and the law of international organizations, as well as an …

The Supervision Of Corporate Management: A Comparison Of Developments In European Community And United States Law, Alfred F. Conard

Michigan Law Review

In 1971, Eric Stein published an account of the remarkable progress of the European Economic Community (EEC) toward a harmonized law of business corporations. The progress was particularly striking from an American viewpoint, because the harmonization was achieved by moving toward the more rigorous of the various national standards, in contrast to the "race of laxity" or "race for the bottom" that has characterized the movement toward uniformity in the corporation laws of U.S. states.

International Law As Law In The United States, Louis Henkin

Michigan Law Review

"International law is part of our law." Justice Gray's much-quoted pronouncement in The Paquete Habana was neither new nor controversial when made in 1900, since he was merely restating what had been established principle for the fathers of American jurisprudence and for their British legal ancestors. And Gray's dictum remains unquestioned today. But, after more than two hundred years in our jurisprudence, the import of that principle is still uncertain and disputed. How did, and how does, international law become part of our law? What does it mean that international law is a part of our law? What is the …

Eric Stein, William W. Bishop Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A tribute to Eric Stein

Eric Stein -- A Tribute, Joseph H.H. Weiler

Michigan Law Review

A tribute to Eric Stein

Federalism And Company Law, Richard M. Buxbaum

Michigan Law Review

It would be a simplifying and historically dubious reduction to equate state interest in corporation law with interventionist or regulatory policies and federal interest with liberal or facilitative ones. So long as a federal legal system presupposes the continuing involvement of two governments with the same subject, however, it is only the subordinate polity's interest in intervention or regulation that makes for interesting reading. State facilitative policies in an era of national facilitative policies raise no questions, and a state's continuing adherence to laissez faire policies when the national government turns interventionist typically creates no conflict. It is only the …

Socialism And Federation, John N. Hazard

Michigan Law Review

Federal structures are often established by national founders to manage intractable problems created over generations, if not centuries, by the migration of peoples. Military and economic pressures may stimulate union to assure survival, but ethnic, racial or religious tensions sometimes hamper draftsmen who sense the need for unity. Federation has often been the modem solution to the conflict between the need for unity and the desire for autonomy felt by groups fearing the loss of identity.

Judicial Jurisdiction In The United States And In The European Communities: A Comparison, Friedrich Juenger

Michigan Law Review

Eric Stein deserves our gratitude for making European integration accessible to American students and teachers. He has taught and written widely on this important subject, and the casebook he published with Hay and Waelbroeck is a valuable aid for dispelling what a judge of the Communities' Court of Justice called "splendid mutual ignorance." Following Judge Pescatore's suggestion that it is time to take note of the experience gathered on both sides of the Atlantic, it seems worthwhile to compare the evolution of jurisdictional principles in the United States and in the Common Market.