Constitutional Law Commons^™

The Establishment Syndrome And Religious Liberty, John E. Dunsford

Duquesne Law Review

Seventeen years have passed since the Supreme Court chose the establishment clause of the First Amendment as the preferred reed through which to breathe modern relevance into an 18th century formulation of church-state relationships. Prior to 1947 the Court "had seldom undertaken to supply content to that part of the first amendment concerned with separation."' With the Everson decision, a period opened in which the commodious dimensions of the establishment concept invited the legal soul to trace out that grand design which presumably must distinguish and exalt the American understanding of the place of religion in society. Almost to a …

Constitutional Law - Motion Picture Censorship - Artistic Merit Of Film As Whole Not Sufficient To Redeem Obscene Parts, Christopher J. Clark

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Establishment Clause And The Ecumenical Movement, Robert C. Casad

Michigan Law Review

In recent years the Roman Catholic Church has begun to give tentative official support to the view that eventual reconciliation with the Protestants is feasible and desirable. The acceptance of the ecumenical ideal by the Roman Catholic Church removes virtually all doubt that in the ecumenical movement organized Christianity is facing an upheaval of major importance, comparable perhaps to the Reformation. It is not likely to lose force after a few years, as so many minor religious movements do. It is definitely under way, gaining momentum year by year. It is bound to have far-reaching effects and give rise to …

The Worker And Three Phases Of Unionism: Administrative And Judicial Control Of The Worker-Union Relationship, Alfred W. Blumrosen

Michigan Law Review

This article will examine the extent to which, and the methods by which, individual rights are protected in each of these three phases of union activity. We will see that the employee is well protected in his right to oppose political action of the union and has considerable legal protection for his rights to engage in internal union political struggles, but the employee has received little protection for his economic interests in collective bargaining between unions and employers. A recent decision by the NLRB, which will be examined in some detail, suggests that additional protection for individual economic rights in …

Prayer, Public Schools And The Supreme Court, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

A more complete understanding of the case, while doing much to temper the initial outburst of disapproval, did not by any means dispel all criticism of the decision or allay all the apprehensions aroused by it. Believing that the Supreme Court's opinion was premised on a fundamentally erroneous interpretation of the establishment clause of the first amendment, Bishop James A. Pike headed a movement to amend the Constitution so as to restore what he regarded as the true and intended meaning of its pertinent language. In the meantime, the Supreme Court has agreed to review and has heard argument on …

The EngelCase From A Swiss Perspective, F. William O'Brien

Michigan Law Review

On June 25, 1962, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the State of New York, by using its public school system to encourage recitation of a prayer during classroom hours, had adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with that clause of the first amendment, applicable to the states by virtue of the fourteenth amendment, which prohibits laws respecting an establishment of religion. The opinion of the Court, written by Mr. Justice Black for himself and four other Justices, is interesting in that he rests the Court's decision exclusively upon the establishment clause. In previous decisions, the Court had …

Constitutional Law-Relation Of State And Federal Governments-Application Of The Hatch Act To The Political Activity Of A State Official, Rolfe A. Worden S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action to set aside a determination of the United States Civil Service Commission that his political activities while Illinois State Director of Conservation were in violation of the Hatch Act. The district court held that such an application of the Hatch Act would infringe upon the plaintiff's vested rights, and would contravene the constitutional guarantee to the state of a republican form of government. On appeal, held, reversed. Application of the Hatch Act to state employees does not deprive them of any vested rights under the United States Constitution. Palmer v. United States Civil Sero. Comm'n …

Constitutional Separation Of Church And State: The Quest For A Coherent Position, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Paul & Schwartz: Federal Censorship: Obscenity In The Mail, Harry Kalven Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Federal Censorship: Obscenity in the Mail. By James C. N. Paul and Murray L. Schwartz.

Book Review, Chester J. Antieau

Vanderbilt Law Review

Any book that educates the American community to an under-standing of and an appreciation for the Bill of Rights serves a laudable end. And conceivably any author is entitled to define his own terms. However, Mr. Weinberger indicates his displeasure with the traditional meaning of the term, "Bill of Rights," as embracing the first ten amendments and sets out to include within his comparable term what he calls "Additional Amendments Dealing with Personal Liberty"' thus adding the 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th amendments, as well as "Provisions in the Original Constitution Dealing with Personal Liberty" which he specifies as the …

The Constitution And Contempt Of Court, Ronald Goldfarb

Michigan Law Review

Few legal devices find conflict within the lines of our Constitution with the ubiquity of the contempt power. These conflicts involve issues concerning the governmental power structure such as the separation of powers and the delicate balancing of federal-state relations. In addition, there are civil rights issues attributable to the conflict between the use of the contempt power and such vital procedural protections as the right to trial by jury, freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and indictment-to name only the most recurrent and controversial examples. Aside from these problems, there are other civil liberties issues, such as those involving freedom …

Constitutional Law-Freedom Of The Press-Right Of News Media Personnel To Refuse To Disclose Confidenial Sources Of Information, Francis X. Beytagh Jr., S.Ed

Michigan Law Review

A former personnel director of a local Civil Service Commission instituted an action for reinstatement to that position, alleging that her recent ouster was illegal. In preparing for trial, defendant commission members took the deposition of a reporter for a local newspaper. Appellant reporter stated on direct examination that his suspicions regarding a contemplated attempt to fire plaintiff were in part based on certain information received from a confidential source. On pre-trial cross-examination appellant refused to disclose the source of this information, and plaintiff obtained a court order directing him to do so. On interlocutory appeal, held, order affirmed, …

Constitutional Law-Civil Rights-Threat Of Mob Violence As Justification For Restraint On Exercise Of Right To Travel In Interstate Commerce, Chester A. Skinner

Michigan Law Review

Pursuant to a plan to test for racial segregation in interstate commerce facilities, white and Negro students traveled through Alabama on an interstate bus journey. In Birmingham and Anniston, the students were assaulted by members of the Ku Klux Klan and other conspirators; at or near Anniston one of the buses was destroyed. On arrival at Montgomery, the students were again assaulted and intimidated by members of the Ku Klux Klan and various other individuals. The Montgomery police, with full knowledge of the impending violence, did nothing to protect the personal safety of the interstate travelers. The plaintiff, United States, …

Taxation-Federal Income Tax-Religious Order Not Exempt From Supplment U Tax As A Church, Alan Rothenberg

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a non-profit, membership corporation consists of members of the Christian Brothers Order, and was established to furnish religious and secular education to youth. The Catholic Church considers religious instruction to be the performance of a church function, and property of the Christian Brothers Order is church property according to Roman Catholic canon law. During the taxable years in question plaintiff owned and operated a novitiate, Catholic schools, homes for the Brothers, and a winery and distillery. Plaintiff was assessed and paid $489,800.83 as a Supplement U tax on its unrelated business income realized from the winery and distillery operation. …

Freedom Of Religion: Recent Sunday Closing Laws Cases, John E. Donaldson

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Legacy Of Suppression, James P. Whyte Jr.

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Freedom Of Speech And Press - Prohibitions On The Publication Or Distribution Of Anonymous Campaign Literature, Frank G. Reeder S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was charged under a federal statute' with the publication and distribution of a pamphlet which concerned a candidate for United States Senator in a special senatorial election and which did not contain the name of the person or group responsible for its publication and distribution as required by the statute. The defendant alleged that his occupation as a farmer made him particularly subject to regulation by the federal government, and that he feared coercion or reprisals from the federal representatives with whom he dealt if he complied with the statute's disclosure requirement. On motion to dismiss the information on …

Church And State: Cooperative Separatism, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

Nothing is better calculated to stimulate argument, arouse controversy, excite the emotions and even produce intense visceral reactions than a discussion of church-state relations. Always a subject of lively interest, it has received added attention and emphasis in recent months. Perhaps at no time in at least the modem era of American history have the questions of the proper relationship between religion and government been more thoroughly publicized and explored, and the issues more widely debated, than during the period beginning with the presidential campaign of 1960.

Compulsory Disclosure And The First Amendment - The Scope Of Judicial Review, Robert B. Kent

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Involvement of the Supreme Court of the United States with highly charged public issues understandably occasions fresh debate concerning the proper role of the Court in determining questions of ultimate governmental power, in short, debate over the doctrine of judicial review.

As it is sometimes difficult for the judge to distinguish between what is unconstitutional and what is merely unwise, so it is difficult for the critic to disassociate his reaction to the results reached in a given case from his evaluation of the competence of the particular judicial performance. For some the failure to draw such a line robs …

Constitutional Law- Freedom Of Religion- Tuition Payments To Parochial Schools Violate Fourteenth Amendment, William S. Bach

Michigan Law Review

Because defendant school district did not maintain a high school within the school district, tuition payments were made, as provided by statute, to the high schools attended by pupils residing within the district. The parents of each student selected the high school to be attended. As a result of this program, some tuition payments were made to high schools operated by the Roman Catholic Church. Plaintiff taxpayer sought in a declaratory judgment a determination of the validity of tuition payments made to Catholic high schools under the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Vermont. The court of chancery held …

The Legislative Process And The Rule Of Law: Attempts To Legislate Taste In Moral And Political Beliefs, Samuel D. Estep

Michigan Law Review

In a nutshell, the topic of this paper is "Comstockery and the Bowdlerizing of Ideas." The thesis here asserted is that the Rule of Law is violated when legislatures succumb to modern attempts by the often pathologically-motivated zealot legally to freeze current tastes in moral and political beliefs. The relationship between taste statutes and the seemingly esoteric topic, "The Legislative Process and the Rule of Law," is based on the premise that the maximum possible degree of intellectual freedom for each individual is an essential ingredient in the legal system of a civilized society.

Constitutional Law - Judicial Determination Of Constitutional Questions - The Necessity Of Explicit Authorization Of Administrative Officers To Take Actions Which Limit First Amendment Freedoms, Walter R. Allan

Michigan Law Review

Appellant applied for renewal of his radio operator's license but refused to complete an FCC form relating to past and present affiliations with the Communist Party and other organizations which advocate the violent overthrow of the United States Government. At that time, and later in a hearing granted by the FCC, appellant relied upon the first amendment to justify his refusal. Subsequently the FCC denied his application. On appeal to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, held, affirmed, one judge dissenting. Pursuant to its power to grant licenses in the public interest,1 the FCC may impose …

Comments, Various Editors

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Obscenity - The Evolving Definition Of Obscenity, Michael R. Bradley

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Abstracts Of Recent Cases, M. J. F.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Courts And Bible Reading In The Public Schools, A. G. H.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Speech And Public Order In Britain And The United States, Richard E. Stewart

Vanderbilt Law Review

This paper will not attempt a general comparison of free speech in Britain and the United States. It concentrates on one aspect of the free speech problem. That aspect is speech that does or may lead to a breach of the peace by the audience.'

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--PRE-EMPTION--FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934 DOES NOT INVALIDATE STATE WIRETAPPING STATUTE

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--SCHOOLS--UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF STATUTE REQUIRING BIBLE READING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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CRIMINAL LAW--BRIBERY--OFFER TO GIVE MONEY TO CONGRESSMAN'S POLITICAL PARTY

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CRIMINAL LAW--CONFESSIONS--REQUIREMENT OF CORROBORATION OF EXTRAJUDICIAL CONFESSION

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EVIDENCE--EXPERT TESTIMONY--INADMISSIBILITY OF EXPERT TESTIMONY THAT A NARCOTIC ADDICT IS UNWORTHY OF BELIEF

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FEDERAL RULES CIVIL PROCEDURE--DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS--RIGHT OF COUNTERCLAIMING DEFENDANT TO TRIAL BY JURY

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PROFESSION OF LAW--UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE--CORPORATION MAY ENGAGE IN ACTIVITIES CONSTITUTING PRACTICE OF LAW IF SUCH ACTIVITIES ARE INCIDENTAL TO ITS PRINCIPAL BUSINESS

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STATE AND LOCAL TAXATION--INVALID ASSESSMENTS-JUDICIAL REVIEW AFTER FAILURE TO …

Constitutional Law--Freedom Of Speech And Press--Determination Of Obscenity, J. G. V. M.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Separation Of Church And State - Bible Reading In The Public Schools, Henry B. Pearsall

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, as parents of children in the public school system, sought to enjoin and have declared unconstitutional the practice of reading aloud to students each day ten verses of the Holy Bible as required by a Pennsylvania statute. The plaintiffs contended that this practice constituted an establishment of religion and a prohibition of the free exercise thereof and was therefore a violation of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. By a three-judge district court, held, for plaintiffs. The statute violated the United States Constitution because the Bible is essentially a religious book and the …