Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Color Blindess But Not Myopia: A New Look At State Action, Equal Protection, And "Private" Racial Discrimination, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Michigan Law Review

Mr. Justice Frankfurter has remarked: "In law also the right answer usually depends on putting the right question." For nearly one hundred years now the courts have been putting certain key questions whenever confronted by the claim that a person was being deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment of the federal constitution. From the time the "separate-but-equal" doctrine was enunciated in Plessy v. Ferguson until it was repudiated in the School Segregation Cases two principal questions were likely to be asked about any classification based on racial grounds: (I) Did the classification result, …

Constitutional Law - Civil Rights - Recent New York City Ordinance Bans Discrimination In Certain Private Housing Facilities, W. Stanley Walch

Michigan Law Review

A recent New York City ordinance is the first anti-discrimination legislation affecting the sale and rental of privately-owned housing to minority groups. The ordinance contains three principal provisions: It (1) forbids racial or religious discrimination by private owners in the selection of tenants or buyers for any "housing accommodation which is located in a multiple dwelling," (2) bans discrimination in the selection of purchasers by a seller of ten or more contiguous housing units, and (3) prohibits the owner or lessor of housing accommodations covered by the ordinance from discriminating because of race or religion in setting the terms of …

Constitutional Law - Executive Powers - Use Of Troops To Enforce Federal Laws, Robert H. Elliott Jr., S.Ed., Richard I. Singer S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The recent use of federal troops in Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce the order of a federal district court requiring school integration has occasioned widespread controversy throughout the nation. It is the purpose of this comment to examine the constitutionality of such action and to consider its broader implications with respect to federal-state and congressional-executive relationships.

Constitutional Law- Zoning - Private High Schools Excluded From Zone In Which Public High Schools Permitted, William D. Keeler S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Among the uses permitted in the "A" residence zone by the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin zoning ordinance were "(e) Public Schools and Private Elementary Schools." The city building inspector denied to plaintiff, a private, non-profit religious corporation, a permit for the construction of a private high school in that zone. Plaintiff brought an action in mandamus to compel the issuance of such a permit, alleging that the ordinance deprived plaintiff of property without due process of law, and denied to it the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The lower court granted the writ. On appeal, held, …

Constitutional Law-Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Segregation In Recreational Facilities Furnished By A Municipality, James S. Taylor S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff, a Negro, was denied admission to a municipal golf course under an ordinance setting aside certain public parks for the exclusive use of Negroes, and providing that all other public parks were for the exclusive use of white people. Only the public parks provided for the "whites" had golf courses, though in all other respects the park facilities offered were substantially equal. The plaintiff brought an action in a federal district court for a declaratory judgment as to his civil rights and for an injunction protecting such rights. The injunction was denied on the grounds that the facilities …

Constitutionality Of Residential Segregation Ordinances, James S. Kostas

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Miscegenation Statute Declared Unconstitutional, Donald D. Davis

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners, a female white and a male Negro, applied to respondent, county clerk of Los Angeles County, for a marriage license. Respondent refused to issue the license, relying on sections 60 and 69 of the California Code. Petitioners brought a mandamus proceeding to compel respondent to issue the license, contending that the statutes relied on by respondent were unconstitutional in that they prohibited the free exercise of their religion. Held, in a four to three decision, the statute is unconstitutional. Three justices of the majority found that the statute violated the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution …

Constitutional Law--Anti-Lynching Legislation, William B. Harvey S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Despite progress in recent years toward the elimination of lynching, the demand for adequate federal legislation to cope with the problem is unabated. For almost three decades Congress has considered a succession of anti-lynching bills, most of which have been favorably reported by committees. None has become law. Legislators and others opposing the enactment of a federal anti-lynching act have placed primary reliance on an asserted lack of constitutionality. It is argued that lynching is merely local crime within the scope of the power and responsibility of the states to enforce their own criminal law. The purpose of this comment …

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Judicial Enforcement Of Race Restrictive Covenant, Charles B. Blackmar S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The highest courts of Missouri and Michigan, and the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, had held that restrictions against occupancy of land by negroes were enforceable by injunction. On certiorari, held, reversed. Enforcement of such restrictions by state courts constitutes a denial of equal protection of the laws. Enforcement by courts of the District violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and also it is contrary to the public policy of the United States to allow a federal court to enforce an agreement which a state court could not constitutionally enforce. Shelley v. Kraemer, (U.S. …

Torts-Right Of Privacy-Invasion Of Privacy Through Fictional Works, Ira M. Price, Ii

Michigan Law Review

The New York Civil Rights Law prohibits the use of a person's name, portrait, or picture without his consent in writing, for advertising or trade purposes, under penalty of civil and criminal liability. Plaintiff, senior civil affairs officer of the American Military Government in the town of Licata, Sicily, during its occupation by Allied Armies of World War II, brought suit under the statute against the author of the book "A Bell for Adana," and others, alleging that he occupied the position of the book's and play's principal character, "Major Victor Jappolo" in the fictitiously named town of Adano; and …

Constitutional Law-Protection Of Civil Liberties-Federal Criminal Prosecution Of State Police Officers-Constitutionality And Construction Of Section 20 Of Criminal Code, George Brody

Michigan Law Review

In United States v. Classic the Civil Liberties Unit of the Department of Justice resurrected the long dormant section 20 of the United States criminal code to prosecute successfully election officials in Louisiana for altering and falsely counting ballots cast in a Louisiana primary for representatives to Congress. Although the acts of the defendants were also in violation of state law the court asserted that "misuse of power possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with authority of state law, is action taken under color of state law" and therefore within the …

Apportionment Of Representation In The Legislature: A Study Of State Constitutions, Elizabeth Durfee

Michigan Law Review

This paper is concerned with the rules found in our state constitutions for apportionment of representation in the state legislature. It does not attempt to solve the problems of high-tension politics that are involved in the making and remaking of such rules; it goes no deeper than an exposition of existing rules. Even on this level it is not exhaustive. Since the constitutions exhibit manifold variations, from simple directions which are scarcely more than a declaration of policy to complex rules for the formation of districts, no attempt will be made to classify all the different types of provisions. With …

Race Segregation In Cities, Major Gardner

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Municipal Corporations - Official Misconduct As Ground For Removal Of Officer, Leonard D. Verdier Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a member of the council of the city of Highland Park, Michigan, was removed by the council, as provided in the charter because of membership in the Black Legion. The Black Legion was a secret society founded on principles of racial, religious, and political discrimination. Its members took an oath to further these purposes by any means ordered by the officers of the organization, including violence and terrorism. Members were forbidden to expose the organization under penalty of death, and membership was supposedly permanent. The council found that membership in such a society rendered Wilson incompetent to perform the …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Bills and Notes--Fictitious or Non-Existing Payee--Knowledge of Maker--English and American Views; Bills and Notes--Holder in Due Course; Carriers--Exemption from Liability for Negligence Under Special Contract; Colleges--Entrance Discriminations--Mandamus Not Remedy for Refusing Admission; Constitutional law--Aliens--Keeping for Immoral Purposes; Constitutional Law--Class Legislation--Licensing Itinerant Vendors; Constitutional Law--Legislative Power--Intoxicating Liquors--License System; Constitutional Law--Police Power--Intoxicating Liquors; Constitutional Law--Police Power--Ordinance Absolutely Prohibiting Billboards; Corporations--Ultra Vires--Organizing Another Corporation--Dissenting Stockholder; Deeds--Cancellation for Fraud--False Representations as to Intention; Deeds--Description--Parol Evidence to Explain Ambiguity; Deeds--Effect of Statute Abolishing the Use of Private Seals; Divorce--Adultery--Consent of Plaintiff; Elections--Qualification of Voters--Payment of Taxes--Payment by Unauthorized Person; Evidence--Privileged Communications--Professional Nurse and Patient; Health--Offering …

A Treatise On The Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon The Legislative Power Of The States Of The American Union, Thomas M. Cooley, Victor H. Lane

Books

“At the request of the late Judge Cooley I have undertaken the preparation of this edition of the Constitutional Limitations. It seemed desirable, in view of all the circumstances, that the text of the last edition should stand as the text for this, and the work of the present editor has been confined to the bringing of the book down to date, by the addition of such matter to the notes as will fairly present the development of this branch of the law since the publication of the last edition.” --Preface to the Seventh Edition, Victor H. Lane, Ann Arbor, …

Ho Ah Kow V. Matthew Nuan, Thomas M. Cooley

Articles

"An ordinance of San Francisco, that every male person imprisoned in the county jail, under any judgment of the any court having jurisdiction in criminal cases in the city and county, should immediately upon his arrival at the jail, have the hair of his head 'cut or clipped to an uniform length of one inch from the scalp thereof,' and made it the duty of the sheriff to have this provision enforced, is invalid, being in excess of the authority of the municipal body....

The ordinance being directed against the Chinese only, imposing on them a degrading and cruel punishment, …

A Treatise On The Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon The Legislative Power Of The States Of The American Union, Thomas M. Cooley

Books

In the Preface to the first edition of this work. the author stated its purpose to be, to furnish to the practitioner and the student of the law such a presentation of elementary constitutional principles as should serve, with the aid of its references to judicial decisions, legal treatises, and historical events, as a convenient guide in the examination of questions respecting the constitutional limitations which rest upon the power of the several State legislatures. …

Preface to the 4th Edition: "New topics in State Constitutional Law are not numerous; but such as are suggested by recent decisions have been …

A Treatise On The Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon The Legislative Power Of The States Of The American Union, Thomas M. Cooley

Books

In the Preface to the first edition of this work. the author stated its purpose to be, to furnish to the practitioner and the student of the law such a presentation of elementary constitutional principles as should serve, with the aid of its references to judicial decisions, legal treatises, and historical events, as a convenient guide in the examination of questions respecting the constitutional limitations which rest upon the power of the several State ·legislatures. In the accomplishment of that purpose, the author further stated that he had faithfully endeavored to give the law as it had been settled by …

A Treatise On The Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon The Legislative Power Of The States Of The American Union, Thomas M. Cooley

Books

“In these pages the author has faithfully endeavored to state the law as it has been settled by the authorities, rather than to present his own views. At the same time he will not attempt to deny -- what will probably be sufficiently apparent -- that he has written in full sympathy with all those restraints which the caution of the fathers has imposed upon the exercise of the powers of government, and with greater faith in the checks and balances of our republican system, and in correct conclusions by the general public sentiment, than in a judicious, prudent, and …