Constitutional Law Commons^™

Civil Rights - Elections - Federal Injunction Against Racial Discrimination, Robert Jillson

Michigan Law Review

In September 1958, in its first complaint under the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the United States sought to enjoin certain election registrars and deputy registrars in Terrell County, Georgia from continuing racially-discriminatory practices in their registration of voters. The defendants, claiming the 1957 statute to be unconstitutional, moved for dismissal. The district court granted defendants' motion, rejecting government arguments that the subsection authorizing suit by the United States was limited to cases, like the case before the Court, of discrimination by the state. On direct appeal to the Supreme Court, held, reversed. Because the alleged racial discrimination by …

Constitutional Law - Substantive Due Process - Statute Prohibiting Use Of Contraceptives, Erik J. Stapper S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A Connecticut statute prohibits the use of contraceptives to prevent conception. Plaintiff-doctor sought a declaratory judgment to have the statute declared unconstitutional as an unreasonable restraint on his right to practice his profession inasmuch as his advice would render him an accessory to a violation of the statute. Three companion cases were also brought, one by a patient to whom another pregnancy would present serious danger, and two by married couples who could not give birth to normal children. The patients claimed that the statute deprived them of the doctor's best medical advice which would relieve them of a dangerous …

Constitutional Law - Due Process And Right Of Confrontation- Jencks Act, Robert J. Margolin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Jencks Act like the rule it purportedly reaffirmed, was designed to insure "justice." Although the stated purpose of the act was to preserve the rights of any defendant under due process of law, the question remains unresolved whether, in articulating the rule in terms of "justice," the Court in Jencks v. United States incorporated it into the requirements of due process. To be sure, the underlying intent of both the Court and Congress is unclear, but of far more concern than the intent is whether the Jencks Act, in fact, violates the constitutional mandates of the Fifth and Sixth …

Civil Rights - Due Process - Action For Civil Conspiracy Based On Section 1983, James B. Blanchard

Michigan Law Review

In an action for damages based on sections 1983 and 1985 of the Civil Rights Act, plaintiff alleged that a county health officer and his deputy, pursuant to a conspiracy, forcibly took plaintiff to a mental hospital and confined him there for a period of two months in willful violation of a state court order requiring plaintiff to be brought before the court for a sanity hearing. Plaintiff also alleged a false return of citation to the court by the officers and an intentional suppression of facts by the officers and the examining physician regarding plaintiff's illegal detention. Plaintiff contended …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Summary Dismissal Of A State Employee Who Invokes Fifth Amendment Before A Congressional Committee, John L. Peschel

Michigan Law Review

While employed as a social worker by the County of Los Angeles, Globe was subpoenaed to appear before a subcommittee of the House Un-American Activities Committee. California law imposed a duty on public employees to appear before certain tribunals and answer questions within specified categories, including an inquiry by a committee of the United States Congress as to past or present membership in the Communist Party. Failure to comply with the statute constituted insubordination, which would result in dismissal "in the manner provided by law." Because Globe had not yet acquired tenure, he was not entitled under civil service rules …

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 …

Meiklejohn: Political Freedom, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Political Freedom. By Alexander Meiklejohn

Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Constitutionality Of The Emergency Strike Provisions, James N. Adler

Michigan Law Review

In an effort to settle a nationwide steel strike the President invoked the "national emergency" provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act. Having made the requisite finding that the strike would "imperil the national health or safety," he appointed a board of inquiry to investigate the dispute. Upon receipt of the board's report the President directed the Attorney General to seek an injunction against the strike. Basing its determination largely upon the strike's hindrance of the national defense program, the district court found the strike would "imperil the national health or safety" and granted the injunction The court of appeals, affirming, rejected …

Constitutional Law - Congressional Investigation Of Political Activity-Watkins V. United States Re-Examined, Avrum M. Gross S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

It is the function of this comment to examine the traditional scope and limitations of congressional investigations, with particular emphasis on these two cases.

Constitutional Law- Civil Rights - Union Use Of Dues For Political Action, Paul Hanke

Michigan Law Review

Defendant unions under the authority of section 2, Eleventh of the Railway Labor Act obtained union shop agreements from defendant railroads. Non-union employees sought to enjoin enforcement of the agreements because the unions used periodic dues, fees, and assessments to support political doctrines and candidates opposed by plaintiffs. The trial court dismissed for failure to state a cause of action, but the Supreme Court of Georgia overruled the dismissal and remanded. The lower court then ruled that petitioners were denied constitutional liberties and issued the injunction. On appeal, held, affirmed. Enforcement of union shop contracts requiring employees to pay …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Retroactive Application Of Uniform Principal And Income Act, Thomas E. Kauper S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The trustee of a trust created prior to the 1957 enactment of the Uniform Principal and Income Act petitioned for instructions as to whether a stock dividend received by it subsequent to the passage of the act should be allocated to principal or income. The Uniform Act provides a rule for the treatment of stock dividends contrary to the judicial rule previously adopted in Wisconsin, and is expressly made applicable to trusts existing on its date of enactment. The county court, finding the act could not be constitutionally applied to trusts created prior to its enactment, ordered the allocation of …

The Supreme Court - October 1958 Term, Bernard Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court, reads a famous passage by Bryce, "feels the touch of public opinion. Opinion is stronger in America than anywhere else in the world, and judges are only men. To yield a little may be prudent, for the tree that cannot bend to the blast may be broken."

The history of the highest Court bears constant witness to the truth of Bryce's statement. Supreme Court action which has moved too far in one direction has always ultimately provoked an equivalent reaction in the opposite direction. Even an institution as august as the high tribunal cannot escape the law …

Constitutional Law- Equal Protection - Right To Counsel In Appeal By Indigent Person, Gertrude S. Rosenthal S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Following his conviction for assault with intent to commit rape, defendant gave notice of appeal. Declaring he was indigent but with meritorious grounds for prosecuting an appeal, he petitioned the appellate court for the appointment of counsel to present his case by brief and oral argument. No information concerning the defendant's age, education or experience was given by the petition, nor were specific grounds for review alleged. Appeal is a matter of right in criminal cases in the jurisdiction. Held, petition denied, two judges dissenting. No action will be taken until a transcript of the record is filed. The …

Conflict Of Laws - Custody Decrees - Jurisdiction To Modify And Effect In Sister States, Donald R. Jolliffe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Husband and wife were divorced in Wisconsin in 1956 by a judgment which awarded alimony, custody of the children, and support money to W. The custody decree provided that W be permitted to remove the children to California but that they be allowed to visit H each summer. While H was visiting California in October 1957, he was served in an action commenced by W seeking absolute custody. H returned to Wisconsin and on November 5 asked the Wisconsin court to modify its divorce judgment by awarding custody of the children to him. That court set a hearing and …

Constitutional Law - Due Process- Residence Substituted For Domicile As Basis For Divorce Jurisdiction, Paul Gerding S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff husband brought a divorce action under an Arkansas statute, which granted state courts divorce jurisdiction on the basis of residence of one of the parties within Arkansas for three months, to terminate a marriage performed in another jurisdiction. Defendant wife, domiciled in California, filed a cross complaint for separate maintenance and attacked the court's jurisdiction to grant the divorce. The lower court held the act unconstitutional in eliminating domicile of one of the parties as a jurisdictional requirement in a divorce action, and, finding that the plaintiff was not domiciled in Arkansas, dismissed the suit. On appeal, held, …

Constitutional Law - Import-Export Clause - Power Of State To Tax Foreign Imports Supplying Current Operating Needs, Stevan Uzelac

Michigan Law Review

Appellant imported from five countries iron ore which was stored at its processing plant and drawn upon to fill the current operational needs of the plant. When the ore arrived it was originally stored in stock piles containing a three-month supply. As needed, ores were conveyed from the stock piles to "stock bins," holding one or two days' supply and located in close proximity to the plant, from which the ores were used in the operation of the plant. The State of Ohio collected a personal property tax upon all the imported ore. In a companion case petitioner imported from …

Constitutional Law - Commerce Clause - Power Of States To Levy Net Income Tax On Businesses Engaged In Soley Interstate Commerce, John C. Peters S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant, an Iowa corporation, maintained a sales office in Minnesota and employed salesmen who solicited orders from dealers within that state, though all of its sales contracts were made at the corporation's home office in Iowa. In accordance with a Minnesota statute, a state net income tax, fairly apportioned to the state's share of the corporation's interstate business, was levied upon appellant. In a suit brought by the state to collect this tax, appellant contended that the statute as applied violated the commerce and due process clauses of the Federal Constitution because it taxed the net proceeds of a business …

"Federal Question" Jurisdiction -- A Snare And A Delusion, Ernest J. London

Michigan Law Review

Poorly defined criteria in the area of jurisdiction are especially wasteful, generating as they often do expensive and protracted litigation over threshold issues, rather than promoting the speedy determination of lawsuits on their merits. One of the most perplexing exercises in American law practice is the effort to define with certainty the original jurisdiction of the lower federal courts in matters where there is no diversity of citizenship. Although this general head of federal jurisdiction has persistently and pervasively been characterized as "federal question" jurisdiction, it is doubtful whether there is, in fact, original jurisdiction in the lower federal courts …

Constitutional Law - Courts - Martial - Power Of Congress To Provide For Military Jurisdiction Over Retired Servicemen, Stephen B. Flood

Michigan Law Review

A retired naval officer was charged with violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice based upon acts of sodomy occurring after his retirement. At arraignment he challenged the jurisdiction of the military tribunal on the ground that Article 2(4) of the U.C.M.J., providing for court-martial jurisdiction over retired servicemen, contravenes the Fifth Amendment. The court-martial and the board of review overruled this objection, and the accused was convicted and sentenced. On appeal, held, while jurisdiction is proper, reversed on other grounds for further proceedings. A retired member of the armed forces who is entitled to pay is a …

Constitutional Law - Search And Seizure - Admissibility In A Federal Court Of Evidence Illegally Obtained By State Officers, Robert J. Paley

Michigan Law Review

In response to a call from a citizen whose suspicions had been aroused by the actions of the defendant and a companion, Maryland police unlawfully arrested the companion and searched the premises occupied by him and the defendant. & a result of this search, money was found which had been stolen in the District of Columbia. Although the search was illegal under Maryland law and in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, this money was used as evidence to convict the defendant of housebreaking and larceny in the District of Columbia federal court. On appeal, held, conviction reversed and remanded …

Labor Law - Labor Management Relations Act - Linking "Employer Free Speech" To No-Solicitation Rule, Barbara Burger

Michigan Law Review

During an organizational campaign the employer prohibited any dissemination of literature on company property and soliciting or campaigning on company time by employees while itself distributing within the plant non-threatening, anti-union literature. General Counsel for the NLRB contended that by this conduct the employer "interfered with, restrained or coerced" employees in their exercise of the right to self-organization. This contention was rejected by the NLRB, but on appeal was accepted by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, reversed, two justices dissenting. Even if an employer could commit …

Constitutional Uniformity And Equality In State Taxation, Wade J. Newhouse

Michigan Legal Studies Series

The method of approach and arrangement of materials are developed during the course of the monograph. Therefore, it is not necessary to repeat them here. The purpose of the study is twofold. First, it should provide background material for constitutional revision. Second, it should aid counsel and court in deciding cases arising under existing constitutional limitations and state legislatures in drafting tax measures in such a way that pitfalls in existing limitations are avoided. The greater part of this monograph was prepared during a two year period from June 1951 to 1953, while I was a Research Assistant with the …

Constitutional Law - Criminal Procedure - Successive State Prosecutions For Same Activity, Robert L. Bombaugh

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner suspected of having robbed five persons on a single occasion. was indicted and tried for the robbery of three of them. His sole defense was alibi and he was acquitted when only one of the five victims identified him as the robber. Petitioner was then tried under an indictment for the robbery of a fourth victim. Petitioner interposed the same defense but was convicted at this second trial. The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, affirmed, three justices dissenting. Neither the successive trials nor the failure of the court to …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Dismissal Of State Employees For Refusal To Answer Questions Concerning Membership In Communist Organizations, Roger W. Findley

Michigan Law Review

In companion cases state employees of Pennsylvania and New York were dismissed on grounds of "incompetency" and "doubtful trust and reliability" for refusing to answer questions by superiors concerning membership in communist organizations. Petitioner Beilan also invoked the Fifth Amendment at a hearing by a congressional investigating committee between the time he refused to answer his superior and the time he was dismissed. Appellant Lerner had invoked the Fifth Amendment when he refused to answer the questions asked by city officials. The highest courts of the states upheld the dismissals, making it clear that they were based on refusal to …

Constitutional Law - Freedom Of Press - Validity Of Motion Picture Licensing Statute, Dean L. Berry S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The distributor of the motion picture "Lady Chatterley's Lover" applied to the Motion Picture Division of the New York State Education Department for a license, required by New York law, for public presentation of the film. The application was denied on the ground the film was "immoral" within the meaning of the licensing statute. On review, the Board of Regents approved this determination, but on appeal the state supreme court reversed the Board. A divided court of appeals reversed the supreme court, holding that the contents of the film met the statutory definition of "immoral." On appeal to the Supreme …

Constitutional Law - Right To Jury Trial In Indirect Criminal Contempts In Federal Courts, Denis T. Rice S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Should constitutional provisions for jury trial apply to contempts committed outside the physical presence of a federal court? The United States Supreme Court, in the recent case of Green v. United States, reviewed this long disputed question. The case involved two Communist Party leaders who had been convicted of Smith Act violations and then had "jumped bail" when they disappeared in violation of surrender orders requiring their presence in court for sentencing. After four and a half years as fugitives they surrendered in 1956 and were charged with criminal contempt of court. Following a so-called "summary" hearing (without the …

Civil Procedure - Jurisdiction - Service Of Process On Foreign Television Corporation, Arnold Henson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a West Virginia corporation, operated a television station in Huntington, West Virginia. Its telecasts regularly reached into Boyd County, Kentucky, where part of its customary viewing audience was located. During a twelve-month period in 1954-1955 the corporation derived $71,310.30 in advertising revenue from Kentucky firms, although the contracts for this advertising were made outside Kentucky. In the course of a newscast defendant published an alleged libel against plaintiff, and suit was brought in Boyd County Court. Substituted service of process was made on the Secretary of State in accordance with the Kentucky "doing business" statute, and defendant then removed …

Constitutional Law - State Action - Imposing Criminal Penalties To Enforce Private Discrimination, Melvyn I. Mozinski S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, Negroes, entered a section of a private restaurant designated to be for "White" patrons only. Although they were denied service, they refused to comply with the proprietor's request to leave. Defendants were subsequently arrested by a police officer after declining his offer not to arrest if they would depart, and were tried for violation of the state's criminal trespass statutes. They were found guilty of a misdemeanor. On appeal, held, sustained. Defendants have no constitutionally protected right not to be discriminated against by an operator of a private enterprise. State v. Clyburn, 247 N.C. 455, 101 S.E. …

Constitutional Law - Right To Travel - Authority Of Secretary Of State To Deny Passports, Arnold Henson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner's application for a passport was denied under §51.135 of the Passport Regulations promulgated by the Secretary of State on the grounds that he was a Communist and that he had a record of consistent and prolonged adherence to the Communist Party line. The letter of denial stated that before a passport would be issued, a non-communist affidavit as provided for in the Regulations would be required. Following petitioner's refusal to file the affidavit the State Department informed him that until one was filed his application would receive no further consideration. Petitioner thereupon brought an action for declaratory relief in …

Scientific Investigation And Defendants' Rights, B. J. George Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Advances in science, medicine and industry have made much of the world a more pleasant place in which to live. In general more men are living a physically more satisfying life in more comfortable surroundings than preceding generations. But with this has come a parallel increase in criminality to the point that the term "crime wave" is heard with increasing frequency. Many crimes are facilitated in their commission by adaption or application of new scientific discoveries by criminal elements. A natural consequence is that already overburdened police departments turn as quickly as is financially possible to new scientific techniques in …