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Turning The Page On Section 5: The Implication Of Multiracial Coalition Districts On Section 5 Of The Voting Rights Act, Daniel A. Zibel Oct 2004

Turning The Page On Section 5: The Implication Of Multiracial Coalition Districts On Section 5 Of The Voting Rights Act, Daniel A. Zibel

Michigan Law Review

This Note analyzes the use of coalition districts in light of current section 5 and equal protection jurisprudence and argues that, in some circumstances, the Equal Protection Clause compels the use of coalition districts to achieve non retrogression under section 5. Part I examines the use of coalition districts, using the litigation in Page v. Bartels as an example. It then argues that the Supreme Court's opinion in Georgia v. Ashcroft permits jurisdictions to create viable racial coalition districts to comply with section 5. Part II argues that while Georgia v. Ashcroft permits the use of coalition districts to achieve …


Corporations - Dividends - New Jersey Dividend Credit For Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, John A. Beach S.Ed. Nov 1956

Corporations - Dividends - New Jersey Dividend Credit For Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, John A. Beach S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a New Jersey corporation, paid no dividends on its non-cumulative preferred stock after 1933, although it had annual earnings exceeding the total amount of the preference in each of the years 1941 through 1948, and again in 1951 and 1952. In 1955 defendant had earned surplus exceeding $12,000,000. Plaintiffs, holders of non-cumulative preferred shares, brought this action asking for a declaratory judgment as to the nature of their preference rights over the common holders. On appeal from a summary judgment for defendant, held, affirmed. In the absence of any impending or threatened declaration of dividends to common shareholders, …


Constitutional Law-Church And State-Distribution Of Gideon Bible In Public Schools, Raymond R. Trombadore S.Ed. May 1954

Constitutional Law-Church And State-Distribution Of Gideon Bible In Public Schools, Raymond R. Trombadore S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Gideons International, a non-profit religious corporation, applied by letter to the Board of Education of the Borough of Rutherford, New Jersey, for permission to distribute free copies of the Gideon Bible to pupils of the public schools of that community. By resolution passed at a regular meeting of the board, permission was granted for distribution to pupils whose parents requested copies of the Bible. Prior to distribution, suit for injunction was commenced by parents of Jewish and Catholic pupils to determine the validity of the distribution under the federal and New Jersey constitutions. The trial court found for defendants. …


Municipal Corporations-Zoning-Right Of Municipality And Property Owners Therein To Object To Amendment Of Zoning Ordinance Of Adjacent Municipality, Howard N. Thiele, Jr. May 1954

Municipal Corporations-Zoning-Right Of Municipality And Property Owners Therein To Object To Amendment Of Zoning Ordinance Of Adjacent Municipality, Howard N. Thiele, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The borough of Dumont in New Jersey amended its zoning ordinance to change one city block from a residential area to a district in which business user would be permissible. The amendment occasioned objections By certain boroughs which were adjacent to the reclassified block, property owners in the adjacent boroughs, property owners in Dumont, and property owners in the block itself. On suit in lieu of prerogative writ by these parties, held, ordinance set aside. Where several boroughs are adjacent to the block of the defendant borough, and in reliance on the residential character of the whole area single …


Constitutional Law-Legislative-Power To Reduce Grade Of Criminal Offense In Order To Avoid Jury Trial, Chester F. Relyea S.Ed. Mar 1954

Constitutional Law-Legislative-Power To Reduce Grade Of Criminal Offense In Order To Avoid Jury Trial, Chester F. Relyea S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A complaint was made in the Municipal Court of Hoboken against the defendant charging that he had willfully committed an assault and battery by spitting on another, in violation of the Disorderly Persons Law, which states: "Any person who commits an assault or an assault and battery is a disorderly person." The defendant moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that the statute violated his constitutional right to prosecution by indictment and trial by jury. The municipal court denied the motion. On certification to the New Jersey Supreme Court, held, the statute did not wrongfully deny defendant a …


Corporations-Ultra Vires Acts-Gifts To Educational Institutions, Judson M. Werbelow S.Ed. Mar 1954

Corporations-Ultra Vires Acts-Gifts To Educational Institutions, Judson M. Werbelow S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a New Jersey corporation, was engaged in the manufacture and sale of valves, fire hydrants and other special equipment for use in water and gas industries. The company employed about 300 persons at its plant in New Jersey. In 1951 the board of directors adopted a resolution appropriating $1,500 as a donation to Princeton University for university maintenance. When this appropriation was questioned by certain stockholders, the company instituted a declaratory judgment action to determine whether the proposed donation was ultra vires. The lower court ruled that the donation was intra vires. On appeal, held, affirmed. The gift …


Municipal Corporations-Tort Liability Of Municipality For Injury Caused By Neglect To Perform Mandatory Duty, J. S, Ransmeier S.Ed. Jan 1952

Municipal Corporations-Tort Liability Of Municipality For Injury Caused By Neglect To Perform Mandatory Duty, J. S, Ransmeier S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

By statute the State of New Jersey imposed upon every New Jersey municipality the obligation to insure the drivers of municipal motor vehicles against liability for damages resulting from the operation of such vehicles. The Township of Lyndhurst neglected to procure insurance in favor of plaintiff, and a personal judgment was recovered against him for his negligent operation of a township fire truck while in pursuance of his municipal duties. Plaintiff brought the present action to recover from the municipality for its breach of the statutory obligation. Judgment below was for defendant. On appeal, held, affirmed, three justices dissenting. …


Civil Procedure-Judgments-Revival Of Judgments On Notice Served Outside The State, Nancy J. Ringland S.Ed. Nov 1951

Civil Procedure-Judgments-Revival Of Judgments On Notice Served Outside The State, Nancy J. Ringland S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Relator filed a petition for mandamus to compel the respondent, one of the circuit judges of the City of St. Louis, to assume jurisdiction and take steps to revive a judgment for alimony in favor of relator against her former husband, who was a resident of New Jersey, where notice of the proceedings was personally delivered to him, and who had no property within the state of Missouri. The Missouri statute provided that a revival must be "upon personal service duly had upon the defendant or defendants therein." Held, mandamus denied, on the ground that a personal judgment could …


Constitutional Law - Municipal Control Of Public Streets And Parks As Affecting Freedom Of Speech And Assembly, Lenamyra Saulson Jun 1951

Constitutional Law - Municipal Control Of Public Streets And Parks As Affecting Freedom Of Speech And Assembly, Lenamyra Saulson

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to explore only one small part of the problem: the flight for freedom of speech and assembly as opposed by the municipality's police power to control its streets and parks. Three decisions handed down by the Supreme Court on January 15, 1951, will form the basis for an appraisal of the Supreme Court's present position in this area. However, the full import of these cases cannot be realized without first considering the history of the struggle and how the Court has dealt with it.


Taxation-Immunity Of Federal Bonds To State Taxation, Lenamyra Saulson Mar 1951

Taxation-Immunity Of Federal Bonds To State Taxation, Lenamyra Saulson

Michigan Law Review

A New Jersey statute imposed a tax on domestic stock insurance corporations on the value of intangible property exclusive of tax-exempt property but required an assessment against all intangible property of not less than fifteen per cent of capital and surplus in excess of liabilities. In conformity with this statute, a tax was imposed on the appellant, a domestic stock insurance corporation, of fifteen per cent of the entire net worth, without deduction of the principal amount of tax-exempt United States bonds and accrued interest thereon. The appellant appealed to the United States Supreme Court on the ground that the …


Jurisdiction-Diversity Of Citizenship-Corporations Domiciled In More Than One State, Harold G. Christensen Feb 1951

Jurisdiction-Diversity Of Citizenship-Corporations Domiciled In More Than One State, Harold G. Christensen

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought action against defendant railroad in the federal district court for New Jersey district alleging that she was a citizen of New Jersey and that defendant was a corporation and citizen of New York. Defendant moved to dismiss for lack of diversity of citizenship alleging that it was a consolidated corporation of New York and New Jersey. Held, action dismissed. Since corporate existence was dependent upon both states, and plaintiff was also a citizen of one, diversity did not appear. Gavin v. Hudson & Manhattan R. Co., (D.C. N.J.1950) 90 F. Supp. 172.


Courts--Process--Retroactive Operation Of Statutes Providing For Substituted Service, Robert H. Frick S.Ed. Mar 1950

Courts--Process--Retroactive Operation Of Statutes Providing For Substituted Service, Robert H. Frick S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a stockholder of a South Carolina corporation, commenced a derivative suit against former directors of the corporation by serving a summons and complaint on the Secretary of State of South Carolina. Plaintiff relied on a statute providing that nonresident directors of domestic corporations, by acceptance of election or appointment as directors, should be held to have appointed the Secretary of State their agent for service of process. The statute became effective in May, 1947. Defendants, residents of New Jersey and Maryland, had resigned as directors of the corporation in December, 1946. On appeal from a judgment vacating the service …


Constitutional Law–Due Process–Equal Protection Of The Laws–Anti-"Strike Suit'' Legislation Held Constitutional, Joseph Gricar S.Ed. Mar 1950

Constitutional Law–Due Process–Equal Protection Of The Laws–Anti-"Strike Suit'' Legislation Held Constitutional, Joseph Gricar S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought a derivative suit against the defendant, a Delaware corporation, in a United States district court in New Jersey. While the suit was in process, New Jersey passed a statute permitting a corporation in whose name a suit was brought to demand security for reasonable expenses including attorney fees. The plaintiff stockholder was to be liable for such expenses if the suit was unsuccessful. The statute was not to apply when the complainant's holding represented 5% of the par or stated value of the corporation's outstanding stock or had a value of $50,000. Since the act applied to suits …


Power Of Appointment-Validity Of Exercise Subject To A No-Contest Clause, John J. Gaskell Jan 1950

Power Of Appointment-Validity Of Exercise Subject To A No-Contest Clause, John J. Gaskell

Michigan Law Review

The decedent received under the will of her husband a general testamentary power of appointment over a remainder interest. In her will she exercised the power, providing that any person benefiting under the power who in any manner should institute, encourage, or participate in proceedings for the avoidance of any part of the will should forfeit his right to any benefits from the power or from her estate. Held, exercise of a general testamentary power of appointment subject to a no-contest forfeiture provision is valid. Marx v. Rice, 1 N.J. 584, 65 A. (2d) 48 (1949).


Corporations-General Effect Of Statutes Prohibiting Corporate Loans To Directors, Officers And Stockholders, Paul W. Eaton, Jr. Dec 1949

Corporations-General Effect Of Statutes Prohibiting Corporate Loans To Directors, Officers And Stockholders, Paul W. Eaton, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Over the years a number of states have felt that loans by private corporations to their directors and stockholders should be regulated to protect the interests of creditors and, in many cases, stockholders. At present, twenty-two states have statutes which either absolutely prevent such loans or else limit their scope, and this number will probably increase. A typical statute may be found in New Jersey: "No corporation shall loan money to a stockholder or officer thereof. If any such loan be made the officers who make it, or assent thereto, shall be jointly and severally liable, to the extent of …


Municipal Corporations-Zoning-Abrogation Of Private Restrictive Covenants By Zoning Regulations, Robert Dilts Nov 1949

Municipal Corporations-Zoning-Abrogation Of Private Restrictive Covenants By Zoning Regulations, Robert Dilts

Michigan Law Review

A recent New Jersey decision raises a question of current importance in view of the acute housing shortages in many metropolitan areas. Can a municipality, acting under its power to establish zoning regulations, authorize the construction of multiple-family dwellings in a particular area and simultaneously abrogate private covenants which restrict the area to single-family dwellings?


Constitutional Law-Due Process-Freedom Of Speech-Limitations On Use Of Sound Amplification Devices, Bernard Goldstone S. Ed. May 1949

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Freedom Of Speech-Limitations On Use Of Sound Amplification Devices, Bernard Goldstone S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant used sound equipment mounted on his truck to comment on a labor dispute. He was convicted in a police court of violating a city ordinance which prohibited the use on any public street of sound amplifying devices emitting loud and raucous noises. The intermediate court of appeal of New Jersey, in affirming the conviction, construed the ordinance to be an absolute prohibition. The conviction was sustained on appeal to the highest court of New Jersey by an evenly divided court of twelve justices. On appeal to the United States Supreme Court, held, affirmed. Justice Reed, joined by Chief …


Corporations-Voluntary Dissolution - Rights Of Minority Stockholders, Bayard E. Heath S.Ed. Apr 1948

Corporations-Voluntary Dissolution - Rights Of Minority Stockholders, Bayard E. Heath S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The directors of defendant, a New Jersey corporation, in an effort to effect corporate tax savings and simplification of operations, submitted the following plan to its shareholders: Defendant was to sell all of its operating assets to X, a Pennsylvania corporation which had been formed by the directors and was to receive as consideration all of the capital stock of X. Then defendant was to be dissolved and X's stock and any corporate surplus was to be distributed to the stockholders. The necessary two-thirds majority of the stockholders, as required by statute, voted to sell the operating …


Bills And Notes-Imposters In The Law Of Bills And Notes, Ralph W. Aigler Apr 1948

Bills And Notes-Imposters In The Law Of Bills And Notes, Ralph W. Aigler

Michigan Law Review

Two crooks, Baron and Brasch, now apparently residents of the New Jersey penitentiary, yielded to the temptation to acquire money by supposedly easy means. They selected as their victim a Miss Russell, a retired school teacher with more cash than is usual in the cases of people with her background. She seems to have had a strong leaning towards charitable contributions, and it was this trait which commended her to Baron and Brasch.


Link: Wilson: The Road To The White House, Michigan Law Review Jan 1948

Link: Wilson: The Road To The White House, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of WILSON: THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. By Arthur S. Link.


Constitutional Law-Interstate Commerce-Congressional Consent To Discriminatory State Taxation, George Brody S.Ed. Jan 1947

Constitutional Law-Interstate Commerce-Congressional Consent To Discriminatory State Taxation, George Brody S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

South Carolina statutes imposed upon foreign insurance companies a tax of 3 per cent of the aggregate premiums received from business done within the state, without reference to its interstate or local character, as a condition to receiving a certificate of authority to do business within the state. No similar tax was imposed upon domestic insurance companies. The Prudential Life Insurance Company, a New Jersey corporation doing business in South Carolina, refused to pay, contending that since it was a discriminatory tax it was unconstitutional. Furthermore, Prudential challenged the power of Congress to consent to the levying of such discriminatory …


Evidence - Constitutional Problems In Compelling The Attendance Of Witnesses Outside The State, Paul J. Keller, Jr. Aug 1942

Evidence - Constitutional Problems In Compelling The Attendance Of Witnesses Outside The State, Paul J. Keller, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Cooper, a citizen of New Jersey, was sought as a witness by a defendant in a criminal prosecution in a New York court in accordance with a New Jersey statute, which allowed such a procedure upon certain conditions. The conditions included a hearing in New Jersey on the summons and provisions for compensation and immunity from service of process while acting on the writ outside the state. At the New Jersey hearing on the summons Cooper objected on the ground that the statute was an unconstitutional deprivation of his liberty. Held, that the statute is constitutional. In re Cooper …


Mortgages - Recording - Effect Of A Mortgage Recorded In The Book Of Deeds, Paul M. Oberndorf Dec 1941

Mortgages - Recording - Effect Of A Mortgage Recorded In The Book Of Deeds, Paul M. Oberndorf

Michigan Law Review

An interest in certain land was mortgaged by the owners to the plaintiff in October, 1933. This same interest was subjected to a lien of certain judgment creditors recovered against the owners in July, 1936. The defendant, as assignee of the claim of the judgment creditors, claimed priority over the mortgagee by reason of the fact that the mortgage was delivered to the register for the purpose of being recorded as a deed and was in fact so recorded. The judgment creditors disclaimed all notice of this prior mortgage. The statutes of New Jersey provide that mortgages should be registered …


Corporations - Limitation Of Actions - Nature Of Directors' Statutory Liability For Illegal Loans To Stockholders, Oscar Freedenberg Jun 1940

Corporations - Limitation Of Actions - Nature Of Directors' Statutory Liability For Illegal Loans To Stockholders, Oscar Freedenberg

Michigan Law Review

The creditors of a bankrupt corporation sued its directors under a New Jersey statute that made the directors liable for all corporate debts to the extent of loans illegally made to stockholders. The decision hinged on the nature of the directors' liability with respect to the New Jersey statute of limitations. The directors maintained that the action was either for a contractual debt or else for a penalty, and that in either case it was barred by limitations. Held, that the liability of the directors was neither for a simple debt nor for a penalty within the meaning of …


Corporations - Jurisdiction - Foreign Corporations And Venue In The Federal Courts - Consent To Be Sued, Theodore R. Vogt May 1940

Corporations - Jurisdiction - Foreign Corporations And Venue In The Federal Courts - Consent To Be Sued, Theodore R. Vogt

Michigan Law Review

In the long history of the struggle to hold foreign corporations subject to suit at the place of their business activity/ another chapter was written when the Supreme Court decided Neirbo Company v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as the Neirbo case. In that case the plaintiffs, who were citizens and residents of New Jersey, had brought an action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and had sought and obtained the addition, as a party defendant, of Bethlehem, a Delaware corporation. Since, as between plaintiffs and Bethlehem, the suit had …


Corporations - Stockholder's Derivative Suit - Diversity Of Citizenship, Edward S. Biggar Mar 1940

Corporations - Stockholder's Derivative Suit - Diversity Of Citizenship, Edward S. Biggar

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a New York corporation, brought a stockholder's derivative suit, in federal court, against the American Tobacco Company, a New Jersey corporation, and its directors, the majority of whom were citizens of New York. There being no federal question involved, defendant moved to dismiss the complaint because there was no proper diversity of citizenship. Plaintiff argued that by the New York decisions the ultimate interests of the defendant corporation and the plaintiff were identical, and that consequently the defendant corporation must be considered as the real plaintiff, thus supplying the necessary diversity of citizenship under the rule of Erie R.R. …


Labor Law - National Labor Relations Act - Jurisdiction Of The National Labor Relations Board, John C. Griffin Jun 1939

Labor Law - National Labor Relations Act - Jurisdiction Of The National Labor Relations Board, John C. Griffin

Michigan Law Review

Respondent, employing about sixty persons, was the sole owner of a garment-tailoring concern in New Jersey. His only business was with the Lee Company, a New York firm, that sold finished goods. There was no financial affiliation between them. The Lee Company purchased the cloth and caused it to be delivered to respondent. Respondent tailored it and delivered the finished product to a representative of the Lee Company at respondent's plant. This representative sent it back to New York in Lee Company trucks. Title to the cloth remained throughout in the Lee Company. Held, Justices McReynolds and Butler dissenting, …


Constitutional Law - Taxation - Curtailment Of Intergovernmental Tax Immunities, Allan A. Rubin May 1939

Constitutional Law - Taxation - Curtailment Of Intergovernmental Tax Immunities, Allan A. Rubin

Michigan Law Review

In the recent well-publicized decision of Graves v. O'Keefe, the United States Supreme Court, following a path adequately cleared by Helvering v. Gerhardt, again enlarged the scope of the governmental powers to impose non-discriminatory taxes. In so doing, the Court clarified the fundamental principles underlying intergovernmental tax immunities by eliminating inconsistencies and resolving confusion persisting in this field of law. The Gerhardt case had sustained the imposition of a federal income tax on the salaries of employees of the Port of New York Authority, a state instrumentality created by New York and New Jersey. But it had not …


Torts - Liability Of Landlord For Injury To Property Of Tenant's Customer, Arthur P. Boynton Mar 1939

Torts - Liability Of Landlord For Injury To Property Of Tenant's Customer, Arthur P. Boynton

Michigan Law Review

A customer of the tenant sued the landlord for damage, to fur coats left with the tenant in the normal course of his business, from water, due to a leaky condition of the roof of the building which was in the control of landlord. Held, that it was the duty of the landlord to exercise reasonable care to keep the roof in reasonable repair not only as regards the safety of persons in the building but also as respects property lawfully there; that this duty was not performed and the damage resulted therefrom. Whelkin Coat Co. v. Long Beach …


Workmen's Compensation-Burden Of Proof Of Cause Of Accident- Presumptions, Michigan Law Review Dec 1936

Workmen's Compensation-Burden Of Proof Of Cause Of Accident- Presumptions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Decedent, who was an employee of respondent, was found dead in respondent's store with a rope around his neck and legs. The doctor found that death was caused by asphyxiation by hanging. The deputy commissioner held that petitioner had not sustained the burden of proving that decedent met with an "accident arising out of and in the course of" employment, and that the mere finding of the body of an employee on the premises of an employer will not alone raise a presumption that there was an "accident arising out of and in the course of" the employment. Dietz v. …