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Michigan Law Review

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Articles 9391 - 9420 of 11192

Full-Text Articles in Law

Taxation - Constitutionality Of A Conclusive Presumption That A Transfer Executed Within A Limited Period Before Death Is Made In Contemplation Of Death Jan 1932

Taxation - Constitutionality Of A Conclusive Presumption That A Transfer Executed Within A Limited Period Before Death Is Made In Contemplation Of Death

Michigan Law Review

Motion for a refund by the plaintiff on the ground that certain transfers made within two years of the death of the decedent should not have been subjected to the federal estate tax as they were not in fact made in contemplation of death. The defendant filed a statutory demurrer on the ground that section 302 of the Revenue Act as amended in 1926 (26 U. S. C. A. sec. 1049C) renders such property taxable irrespective of what impelled the transfer. The section reads, "Where within two years prior to his death and without consideration the decedent has made a …

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Torts - Negligence - Duty To Go To Rescue Jan 1932

Torts - Negligence - Duty To Go To Rescue

Michigan Law Review

Without any negligence on the part of the officers or the crew, a seaman fell overboard and was drowned. No assistance was given to the sailor upon discovery of his plight. In an action against the owners of the boat, it was held that, though the accident occurred as a result of the negligence of the deceased, defendant owed an affirmative duty to make a reasonable effort to save him. Harris v. Pa. R. Co., 50 F.(2d) 866 (1931).

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Torts - Negligence - Duty To Licensee Jan 1932

Torts - Negligence - Duty To Licensee

Michigan Law Review

A former customer received permission to use the telephone in defendant's store, and, in leaving, slipped on a freshly waxed and improperly polished floor. It was held that the plaintiff enjoyed the status of an invitee, but that even as a licensee, when her presence in the store was known, her status would result in the creation of a duty to avoid injuring her by a positive act of negligence or by a failure of duty equivalent to such an act; and the failure to warn her of the condition of the floor would involve a breach of that duty. …

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Wills-Status Of Illegitimates Under Bequest To Children Jan 1932

Wills-Status Of Illegitimates Under Bequest To Children

Michigan Law Review

The testator devised $5,000 to "the children of my deceased sister B, to be divided equally among those living at my death, including the child or children of a deceased child by right of representation." B had one child who predeceased the testator, leaving two illegitimate children, the complainants. Held, the illegitimates can take, providing they can show that the testator knew that they were the only surviving offspring, at the time the will was made. In re Kauffer's will, (Wis. 1931) 234 N.W. 502.

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Legislation - Unemployment Insurance Bills Jan 1932

Legislation - Unemployment Insurance Bills

Michigan Law Review

The ever-present problem of unemployment is today particularly acute. The ultimate aim, of course, must be to put an end to unemployment. But achievement of this aim is not in sight, and in the meantime we are set the task of mitigating, so far as possible, the sufferings incident to unemployment. The laissez-faire attitude toward social problems is passing, and an increasing opinion accepts this task of mitigation as resting on society. In 1908 Sir William Beveridge was able to write: "There has been thus a steady, if gradual, growth of the sense of public responsibility for the case of …

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Conflict Of Laws - Remarriage After Divorce Jan 1932

Conflict Of Laws - Remarriage After Divorce

Michigan Law Review

H obtained a divorce in Alabama under a statute prohibiting remarriage without. permission of the court. He remarried in Tennessee, where the statute prohibited remarriage during the life of the other spouse. Held, the Tennessee law applied to divorces obtained in that state only. In the absence of express words. to that effect, the Alabama statute had no extra-territorial effect; and the marriage, valid where performed, was valid everywhere. Smith v. Goldsmith, (Ala. 1931) 134 So. 651. H secured a divorce in Vermont under a statute declaring void any remarriage within three years, either within or without the …

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Constitutional Law - Self-Incrimination - Effect Of State Immunity Statute In Federal Court Jan 1932

Constitutional Law - Self-Incrimination - Effect Of State Immunity Statute In Federal Court

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was indicted for violation of the National Prohibition Act. He pleaded immunity from prosecution in the federal court because of his forced testimony in the trial of another in the state court. Held, the state immunity statute was ineffective to protect the defendant in a federal court. United States v. Smith, 51 F.(2d) 803 (1931).

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Conflict Of Laws - Contracts - Public Policy Jan 1932

Conflict Of Laws - Contracts - Public Policy

Michigan Law Review

The decedent, in Florida, became the grantee of Florida land by a deed which recited that it was made subject to a mortgage held by one Key, in the sum of $9,000, securing a note for that amount. The deed stipulated that "the grantee herein assumes and agrees to pay the above mortgage and notes." By Florida law the grantee was effectually bound by such a clause. Upon the death of the grantee, Key entered a claim against the estate in Pennsylvania. The lower court disallowed the claim on the basis of a Pennsylvania statute which held a grantee of …

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Damages - Death Of Minor Child Caused By Negligent Act Jan 1932

Damages - Death Of Minor Child Caused By Negligent Act

Michigan Law Review

The defendant's negligence, resulting in the death of a child four years and nine months old, caused the jury to assess damages at $4,500 in an action brought for the benefit of the parents pursuant to the terms of the Death Act, (2 N. J. Comp. Stat. 1907, 1908 (1910)) which provides that "in every such action the jury may give such damages as they shall deem fair and just with reference to the pecuniary injury resulting from such death . . . . " On appeal, the supreme court held the damages excessive, and reduced the amount of recovery …

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Torts -Attractive Nuisance - Natural Hazards Jan 1932

Torts -Attractive Nuisance - Natural Hazards

Michigan Law Review

The defendant maintained an open storm drain twenty feet deep which was easily accessible by means of its sloping sides. Muddy water and debris in the bottom of the drain concealed a dangerous pool formed by caved-in banks constructing a dam and by water falling from a conduit gouging out a pit. A child of ten years, while playing in the drain, fell into the hole and was drowned. Held, since the pool had not been created by an act of the defendant, the case did not fall within the attractive nuisance doctrine which requires that there be an …

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Torts - Fraud - Spoliation Of Will Jan 1932

Torts - Fraud - Spoliation Of Will

Michigan Law Review

In a suit in tort for damages, plaintiff alleged that defendant, heir-at-law of the decedent, suppressed a genuine will under which the plaintiff was devisee, and forged and fraudulently probated a will which did not contain the devise to the plaintiff who remained in ignorance of both the fraud and the existence of the genuine will for more than twenty years. The defendant demurred. Held, that the plaintiff has a cause of action in tort. Morton v. Pettit, 38 Ohio App. 348, 176 N.E. 494 (1930), aff'd., (Ohio 1931) 177 N.E. 591.

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Decency At The Bar Dec 1931

Decency At The Bar

Michigan Law Review

One day, during the trial of the notorious Al Capone in the Federal Building in Chicago, immediately after an adjournment, officers stepped up to a man by the name of D'Andrea in the corridor outside the court room and removed from his person a business-like looking gun. The gentleman so unburdened is said to have been Mr. Capone's bodyguard, his attendant inside and outside the court room. After that, Mr. Capone had to get along without that particular guardian, for Judge Wilkerson, before whom the trial was conducted, ordered the henchman confined in jail. After the main case had been …

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Negligence - Liability Of Manufacturers To Third Parties Dec 1931

Negligence - Liability Of Manufacturers To Third Parties

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was engaged in selling bottled beverages at a roadside stand. While she was attending to her duties, a bottle filled with carbonated soda pop exploded, throwing glass particles into her eye and eventually causing the loss of sight. Plaintiff proved that the bottle was defective, that proper inspection would have revealed the defect, and that neither the bottle manufacturer nor the bottler had made proper inspection. Held, both the manufacturer and the bottler are liable to plaintiff for injuries sustained. Smith v. Peerless Glass Co., 251 N. Y. S. 708 (1931).

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The Recognition Of Russia, Edwin D. Dickinson Dec 1931

The Recognition Of Russia, Edwin D. Dickinson

Michigan Law Review

Revolution in Russia culminated, on March 15, 1917, in the abdication of the Romanoffs and the establishment of the Provisional Government. In November, 1917, the Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolsheviki and the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic was proclaimed. Thus in nine turbulent months authority in Russia passed from the autocracy of the Czars, through the ineffective hands of the moderates, to extreme radicals frankly committed to communism and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

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Criminal Jurisdiction And The Territorial Principle, Wendell Berge Dec 1931

Criminal Jurisdiction And The Territorial Principle, Wendell Berge

Michigan Law Review

The authority of legislatures and courts in criminal matters is supposed to be circumscribed by the territorial boundaries of the state. That as a general proposition the criminal law of a state has no extraterritorial operation, few lawyers would question. But an uncritical acceptance of the proposition is not warranted. Merely to assert that the authority of a state over crime ends at its territorial boundaries is of no help in settling jurisdictional questions in complicated crime situations in which the constituent acts of the crime occur in different states. Modern criminals have little concern for political boundaries except as …

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Anti-Chain Store Legislation, Hugh A. Fulton Dec 1931

Anti-Chain Store Legislation, Hugh A. Fulton

Michigan Law Review

During the past few years chain store merchandising has made such serious inroads upon the trade of independent wholesale and retail merchants that they have been forced to use every expedient within their reach in order to survive. They have banded together in order to achieve the economies which have made chain store merchandising so successful and have been rewarded with a large measure of success and even with the hope of competing on an equal basis with the average chain system. But they have not been satisfied with merely seeking to operate on a smaller margin of profit. They …

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Constitutional Law - Freedom Of The Press - Restraints On Publication, Maurice S. Culp Dec 1931

Constitutional Law - Freedom Of The Press - Restraints On Publication, Maurice S. Culp

Michigan Law Review

A recent Supreme Court decision establishes a new concept of freedom of the press, and adds new meaning to the liberty safeguarded by the Fourteenth Amendment. The defendant, Near, was enjoined from publishing his newspaper because it was alleged that the paper was largely devoted to the publication of malicious, scandalous, and defamatory articles about the grand jury, public officials, and others. The injunction was granted pursuant to a statute which made the publication of a malicious, scandalous, or defamatory newspaper, magazine, or periodical a nuisance subject to abatement by injunction. The Supreme Court of the United States decided that …

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Divorce - Domicil - Recognition Of Foreign Decrees, Florence K. Frankel Dec 1931

Divorce - Domicil - Recognition Of Foreign Decrees, Florence K. Frankel

Michigan Law Review

The New York Court of Appeals has re-emphasized some well-established principles of divorce jurisdiction in the recent case of Fischer v. Fischer. In a suit involving the validity of a second marriage, W proved a Nevada divorce from her first husband, a citizen of New York, who had been served in New York but had not appeared to defend the litigation. The court denied recognition to the Nevada decree because W's residence in Nevada, while it conformed with the statutory requirements of that forum, was proved to have been acquired solely for the purpose of securing a divorce. The …

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Trusts - Statute Of Frauds - Part Performance Of Oral Trusts, Mark H. Harrington Dec 1931

Trusts - Statute Of Frauds - Part Performance Of Oral Trusts, Mark H. Harrington

Michigan Law Review

In some jurisdictions, where some equivalent to the seventh section of the English Statute of Frauds has not been enacted, an oral trust of land is enforceable. In others, it is held that the provisions requiring a writing in the case of conveyances of and contracts concerning interests in land forbid oral trusts of land. It is clear, however, that when the statute of frauds in force contains a provision requiring express trusts to be created or evidenced by writing, an oral agreement between grantor and grantee that the property conveyed should be held in trust can not be enforced …

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Bills And Notes - Presentment - Waiver Dec 1931

Bills And Notes - Presentment - Waiver

Michigan Law Review

In an action by the holder against the indorser of a promissory note the question, on the defendant's motion to strike, was whether there was raised a question of fact as to a waiver by the defendant of presentment and notice of dishonor. The plaintiff relied on two letters as evidence of such waiver. One, a letter from the plaintiff to the defendant stating that the note was past due and not paid; and the other, the reply of the defendant Samuel Kullman to the indorser, that "the note will be taken care of not later than next week," but …

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Bills And Notes - Post-Dated Checks - Criminal Liability Dec 1931

Bills And Notes - Post-Dated Checks - Criminal Liability

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was indicted for violating a statute which prohibited the drawing of a check with knowledge that funds were insufficient for payment. (Laws of S. D., 1923, c. 121.) The statute provided for abatement of any criminal prosecution upon the defendant's showing that he had an account with the drawee bank thirty days before the check was delivered and had no intent to defraud, and also paid the amount of the check and costs. It was also provided that the statute was inapplicable if the drawee honored the check. The defendant had drawn what is known as a post-dated …

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Conflict Of Laws - Mistake Of Foreign Law As Mistake Of Fact Dec 1931

Conflict Of Laws - Mistake Of Foreign Law As Mistake Of Fact

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued in Ohio to set aside a deed of Ohio land given by the plaintiff, a resident of that state, in exchange for Texas lands deeded by the defendant who was also a resident of Ohio, for mistake as to defendant's title to the Texas land resulting from a Texas statute of which both parties were ignorant at the time of the transaction. Held, a mistake of foreign law is a mistake of fact authorizing equitable relief. Miller v. Bieghler, 123 Ohio St. 227, 174 N.E. 774 (1931).

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Corporations - Chattel Mortgages - Consent Of Stockholders Dec 1931

Corporations - Chattel Mortgages - Consent Of Stockholders

Michigan Law Review

The claimant held a chattel mortgage on certain fixtures, the property of a corporation in which the bankrupt held a controlling interest. The validity of the mortgage was challenged by the trustee for the reason that it had been executed in disregard of the statutory requirements. It was admitted that the assent of the stockholders was not formally expressed, but it appeared that the requisite number of stockholders had, in fact, assented. Held, that the mortgage is void since it did not have the statutory consent to its execution, the fact of actual consent being immaterial. In re Joseph …

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Corporations - Injunctive Relief Against Corporate Action Which Requires Unanimous Approval Dec 1931

Corporations - Injunctive Relief Against Corporate Action Which Requires Unanimous Approval

Michigan Law Review

A bill for an injunction to prevent the submission, at a stockholders' meeting, of a corporate by-law providing for extra dividends on stock owned by officers and employees, was maintained, on the ground that the proposed move was illegal and unauthorized by statute. Scott v. P. Lorillard Co. (N. J. Eq. 1931) 154 Atl. 515.

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Corporations - Power To Dispose Of Realty Dec 1931

Corporations - Power To Dispose Of Realty

Michigan Law Review

A cattle company, authorized by its charter to deal only in live stock, was in possession of three tracts of land. Upon a decision of the stockholders and directors to dissolve, two of these tracts were sold outright. The third, being near a large city, was subdivided into city lots with streets, sidewalks, water, lights, etc., for the purpose of a more advantageous sale. This involved the expenditure of considerable sums of money, and at the end of four years some of the lots were still unsold. The corporation became insolvent and the receiver refused to pay the money borrowed …

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Corporations - Rate Of Interest On Bonds And Interest Coupons After Maturity Dec 1931

Corporations - Rate Of Interest On Bonds And Interest Coupons After Maturity

Michigan Law Review

Defendant issued a series of coupon junior income bonds with interest at 5 per cent payable from income at such times as directors deemed prudent. The bonds and some of the coupons not having been paid at maturity, defendant maker redeemed them thereafter with interest to the redemption date at the contract rate (5 per cent). Plaintiff, holder of bonds and coupons, sues to recover the legal rate of interest (6 per cent) after maturity of bonds and coupons. Held, (1) The local law where payable will be followed as to interest on the bond after maturity (in Massachusetts …

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Corporations - Rescission Of Contract Procured Through Fraud Dec 1931

Corporations - Rescission Of Contract Procured Through Fraud

Michigan Law Review

P purchased shares of stock in S Company through the fraud and misrepresentation of his agents in collusion with the agents of the S Company. Upon discovery of the fraud, P tendered back a number of shares equal to the number received by himself and his innocent associates. In the meantime, P had resold part of the shares at a higher price. Held, P must also tender the profit resulting from the resale and subsequent purchase of equivalent shares in a fallen market, together with any dividends paid on stock and interest from date of payment. Marr v. Tumulty …

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Crimes-Withdrawal Of A Plea Of Guilty Dec 1931

Crimes-Withdrawal Of A Plea Of Guilty

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was charged with the violation of the prohibition law, to which he pleaded guilty. About two months after this plea was in, he filed a motion to withdraw it, and substituted one of not guilty. In support of this motion he set up that he had not been advised of his constitutional rights to have counsel; that the arresting officers told him the case would be heard in a federal court, and his punishment would be light; and that he was unaware of the liquor being in his car (which claim was subsequently disproved by the evidence). The motion …

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Easements - Ways Appurtenant- Requirement Of Contiguity Dec 1931

Easements - Ways Appurtenant- Requirement Of Contiguity

Michigan Law Review

The respondent, in a proceeding to register title, claimed a right of way appurtenant over the land of the petitioner. The tracts in question were separated by a strip of plowed land belonging to a third party and it was argued that, since one terminus of the way did not touch on the respondent's land, the claim should be denied. Held, however, that the way was appurtenant to the close even though the servient estate was not adjacent to the dominant. Jones v. Stevens (Mass. 1931), 177 N.E. 91.

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Evidence - Privileged Communication Dec 1931

Evidence - Privileged Communication

Michigan Law Review

In a suit for divorce on the ground of adultery, a Luthern clergyman refused to testify concerning a disclosure made to him in his religious capacity by the defendant husband, on the ground that it was a privileged communication under the Minnesota statute. The district court adjudged him in contempt of court. Upon certiorari to the supreme court of Minnesota, held, the communication was privileged, and the order was reversed. In re Swenson (Minn. 1931) 237 N.W. 589.

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