Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 12 of 12

Full-Text Articles in Law

The Appropriations Power And Sovereign Immunity, Paul F. Figley, Jay Tidmarsh May 2009

The Appropriations Power And Sovereign Immunity, Paul F. Figley, Jay Tidmarsh

Michigan Law Review

Discussions of sovereign immunity assume that the Constitution contains no explicit text regarding sovereign immunity. As a result, arguments about the existence-or nonexistence-of sovereign immunity begin with the English and American common-law doctrines. Exploring political, fiscal, and legal developments in England and the American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this Article shows that focusing on common-law developments is misguided. The common-law approach to sovereign immunity ended in the early 1700s. The Bankers' Case (1690- 1700), which is often regarded as the first modern common-law treatment of sovereign immunity, is in fact the last in the line of English …


The Rhetoric Of Constitutional Law, Erwin Chemerinsky Aug 2002

The Rhetoric Of Constitutional Law, Erwin Chemerinsky

Michigan Law Review

I spend much of my time dealing with Supreme Court opinions. Usually, I download and read them the day that they are announced by the Court. I edit them for my casebook and teach them to my students. I write about them, lecture about them, and litigate about them. My focus, like I am sure most everyone's, is functional: I try to discern the holding, appraise the reasoning, ascertain the implications, and evaluate the decision's desirability. Increasingly, though, I have begun to think that this functional approach is overlooking a crucial aspect of Supreme Court decisions: their rhetoric. I use …


Limitations Of Sovereign Immunity Under The Clean Water Act: Empowering States To Confront Federal Polluters, Corinne Beckwith Yates Oct 1991

Limitations Of Sovereign Immunity Under The Clean Water Act: Empowering States To Confront Federal Polluters, Corinne Beckwith Yates

Michigan Law Review

This Note considers whether civil penalties that states impose on federal agencies for violations of NPDES permits arise under federal law and thus are covered by the Clean Water Act's waiver of sovereign immunity - an issue the Supreme Court is scheduled to address during the 1991 term. Part I outlines the history of the Clean Water Act, discussing Supreme Court decisions and statutory amendments that affect the sovereign immunity provision. Part II explains the mechanics of the NPDES state permit process and examines, through analysis of statutory provisions, the degree of control retained by the EPA over individual states …


Sovereign Immunity And Nonstatutory Review Of Federal Administrative Action: Some Conclusions From The Public-Lands Cases, Antonin Scalia Apr 1970

Sovereign Immunity And Nonstatutory Review Of Federal Administrative Action: Some Conclusions From The Public-Lands Cases, Antonin Scalia

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of the present Article is not to propose yet another route toward logical reconciliation of the sovereign-immunity cases; but, on the contrary, to urge general acceptance of the fact that such reconciliation is, and will probably remain, unattainable; to explain why this is so; and to suggest why it is not so bad. This modest goal will be attempted through a detailed examination of two recent Supreme Court cases and their most pertinent antecedents.


Nonstatutory Review Of Federal Administrative Action: The Need For Statutory Reform Of Sovereign Immunity, Subject Matter Jurisdiction, And Parties Defendant, Roger C. Cramton Jan 1970

Nonstatutory Review Of Federal Administrative Action: The Need For Statutory Reform Of Sovereign Immunity, Subject Matter Jurisdiction, And Parties Defendant, Roger C. Cramton

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this Article is to generate support for three legislative proposals that will rectify the problems exemplified by the Gnotta case and hosts of other cases: (1) The elimination of the doctrine of sovereign immunity as a barrier to judicial review of federal administrative action; (2) a modest expansion of the subject matter jurisdiction of United States district courts to accommodate such review and, in addition, to provide a remedy against the United States for the resolution of property disputes; and (3) the total elimination of the remaining technicalities concerning the identification, naming, capacity, and joinder of parties …


International Law-Sovereign Immunity-State Court Authority To Determine Title To Property Under Its Jurisdiction Despite A Department Of State Suggestion Of Immunity, John A. Krsul Jr., S.Ed. Dec 1962

International Law-Sovereign Immunity-State Court Authority To Determine Title To Property Under Its Jurisdiction Despite A Department Of State Suggestion Of Immunity, John A. Krsul Jr., S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1952 plaintiff brought a creditor's action for the appointment of a permanent receiver for the assets of the defendant located in New York. Defendant, Zivnostenska Banka, was a Czechoslovak corporation that had at one time been engaged in banking activities in New York. Plaintiff succeeded in having a receiver appointed upon proving that defendant had been nationalized, contrary to New York policy and law, by a 1950 decree of the Czechoslovak Government which had merged the defendant and its assets with the State Bank of Czechoslovakia. The instant controversy arose when the receiver attempted to set aside, as a …


International Law-Soverign Immunity-The First Decade Of The Tate Letter Policy, John M. Niehuss S.Ed. Jun 1962

International Law-Soverign Immunity-The First Decade Of The Tate Letter Policy, John M. Niehuss S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

On May 19, 1952, the State Department announced in the Tate Letter a new policy with regard to the filing of suggestions of immunity in suits against foreign sovereigns. The letter indicated that the Department would begin to follow a restrictive theory of sovereign immunity. This meant that it would file a suggestion of immunity if the case arose from acts of the foreign government or its agents which were of a purely governmental character (jure imperii), but would deny immunity in instances where the acts engaged in were of a commercial or proprietary nature which could be …


Municipal Corporations-Liability In Tort-Prospective Judicial Abrogation Of The Sovereign Immunity Concept, Donald E. Vacin Jan 1962

Municipal Corporations-Liability In Tort-Prospective Judicial Abrogation Of The Sovereign Immunity Concept, Donald E. Vacin

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's decedent was killed by a fall down the elevator shaft of a building owned and maintained by the City of Detroit. Plaintiff alleged that defendant city negligently failed to protect and enclose the shaft, in violation of its own ordinances, and that such failure was the proximate cause of her husband's death. The city moved to dismiss, claiming that it was engaged in a governmental function and therefore was immune from tort liability. On appeal from an order dismissing the complaint, held, affirmed by an evenly divided court. However, a majority of the court prospectively overruled the judicial …


Soverign Immunity - Suit For Specific Relief Against Federal Officers - United States Not A Necessary Part, Steven P. Davis Jun 1961

Soverign Immunity - Suit For Specific Relief Against Federal Officers - United States Not A Necessary Part, Steven P. Davis

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, claiming right to possession, brought an ejection action in a Georgia court against both the government officer in possession of the land and the United States. Defendants removed the case to a United States district court and moved for dismissal. The district court granted defendants' motion to dismiss, holding that the court had no jurisdiction over the claim because the suit in substance and effect was against the United States and the United States had neither consented to be sued nor waived its immunity from suit. On appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, held, …


Municipal Corporations - Tort Liability - Duty To Protect Police Informer, Cyril Moscow May 1956

Municipal Corporations - Tort Liability - Duty To Protect Police Informer, Cyril Moscow

Michigan Law Review

Decedent furnished information leading to the arrest of the notorious "Willie the Actor" Sutton. The police, after being notified of anonymous threats to decedent's person, furnished protection, which was later withdrawn. Soon afterwards, decedent was murdered by unknown assailants. Decedent's administrator brought this action to recover damages for his death, claiming that there was a failure to provide adequate police protection. The trial court dismissed the action. On appeal, held, affirmed per curiam, one justice dissenting. As a member of the general public, no duty of special protection was owed the decedent. Even assuming such a duty existed, it …


International Law - Sovereign Immunity - Act Of State, Arthur M. Wisehart S.Ed. Dec 1954

International Law - Sovereign Immunity - Act Of State, Arthur M. Wisehart S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1953 the government of Peru authorized the issuance of scrip certificates to holders of certain of its bonds. Plaintiffs were members of a class of former bondholders who were not among the distributees of the scrip under the terms of the Peruvian enabling act. They alleged that they were entitled to share in the scrip by reason of contracts with the government of Peru and that defendants tortiously had induced Peru to breach these contracts by excluding the plaintiffs from the terms of the legislative enactment. The defense interposed was that litigation of the cause would make it necessary …


States-Waiver Of State Immunity To Suit With Special Reference To Suits In Federal Courts, Richard C. Scatterday S.Ed. Jan 1947

States-Waiver Of State Immunity To Suit With Special Reference To Suits In Federal Courts, Richard C. Scatterday S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Although deriving its force and effect from the medieval period, the doctrine of sovereign immunity retains much of its original influence. Historically, the doctrine is based upon the rule that no suit may be brought against the King without his consent. This concept found its way into international law, and from this source was derived the freedom from suit that our individual states enjoy in their own courts. With the development of the federal union, new problems arose and many were resolved by the adoption of the Eleventh Amendment, which forbids suit against a state in a federal court by …