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Articles 1801 - 1830 of 2298

Full-Text Articles in Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law - Impairment Of Contracts - Legislative Regulation Of Deficiency Judgments, Donald H. Larmee Apr 1937

Constitutional Law - Impairment Of Contracts - Legislative Regulation Of Deficiency Judgments, Donald H. Larmee

Michigan Law Review

A North Carolina statute provided that when a mortagee purchases property at his own sale conducted under a power of sale, and then brings action for the deficiency, the debtor may as a matter of defense show that the true value of the property at the time and place of sale exceeded the sale price and thus defeat the deficiency claim in whole or in part. In a recent case the plaintiff, mortagee of an $8,000 mortgage, conducted a sale according to law and bought the land for $3,000. On the plaintiff's subsequent action for the deficiency the defendant pleaded …

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Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Plan - Adequate Protection Of Claims - Due Process, Erwin S. Simon Apr 1937

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Plan - Adequate Protection Of Claims - Due Process, Erwin S. Simon

Michigan Law Review

In proceedings for reorganization under Section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act, the debtor held real property valued at $245,025, while outstanding against the property there were first mortgage bonds of $445,000, second mortgage notes for $40,250 and a third mortgage note for $27,000. The court confirmed a plan which made no provision for junior lienors or stockholders, and to which they had not given their consent. On certiorari, granted by the Supreme Court, it was held, that since there was no equity in the property above the first mortgage, the claims of the junior lienors and stockholders had no …

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Constitutional Law - Anti-Deficiency Judgment Statutes In Foreclosure Actions - Impairment Of Contract, Elbridge D. Phelps Mar 1937

Constitutional Law - Anti-Deficiency Judgment Statutes In Foreclosure Actions - Impairment Of Contract, Elbridge D. Phelps

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff instituted a proceeding on a judgment bond which was secured by a real estate mortgage, both of which had been executed by defendants, caused judgment to be entered on the bond, and procured the issuance of a writ of execution under which the mortgaged premises were sold. Thereafter, under the provisions of the state Mortgage Deficiency Judgment Act, defendants procured a satisfaction of the judgment in toto. After entry of such satisfaction, plaintiff filed a petition upon which the court granted a rule on defendants to show cause why the satisfaction should not be stricken. From an order dismissing …

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Municipal Corporations - Constitutional Home Rule, Charles M. Kneier Mar 1937

Municipal Corporations - Constitutional Home Rule, Charles M. Kneier

Michigan Law Review

The home rule provision of the New York. constitution provides that as to the "property, affairs or government of cities," the legislature may pass special or local laws only on message from the governor declaring that emergency exists, and the concurrent action of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature is necessary in such cases. In 1936 the legislature passed an act providing for the establishment of the three platoon system for fire departments in all cities of over 1,000,000 population. The act provided for a referendum vote on the question in such cities. A mandamus action …

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Constitutional Law - Trial By Jury - Waiver Of Absence Of Part Of Jury And Consent To Continue With Remainder, Malcolm L. Denise Feb 1937

Constitutional Law - Trial By Jury - Waiver Of Absence Of Part Of Jury And Consent To Continue With Remainder, Malcolm L. Denise

Michigan Law Review

The relator in this quo warranto proceeding attacked his previous conviction in a criminal trial on the ground that the verdict was void because rendered by only eleven persons. During that trial, one of the original jurors had been unable to continue, and the relator and the prosecutor had both consented to proceed before the remaining jurors. It was held that the right to be tried by a jury of twelve given an accused by the constitution of the state is a privilege purely for his own protection, and that he could legally waive this, just like any other similar …

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Constitutional Law -- Interstate Commerce -- Validity Of Federal Statute Prohibiting Interstate Shipment Of Prison-Made Goods, Joseph H. Mueller Feb 1937

Constitutional Law -- Interstate Commerce -- Validity Of Federal Statute Prohibiting Interstate Shipment Of Prison-Made Goods, Joseph H. Mueller

Michigan Law Review

The recent decision of the Supreme Court in Kentucky Whip & Collar Co. v. Illinois Central R. R., provides an effective method of circumventing the doctrine of Hammer v. Dagenhart, which held that Congress may not prohibit the interstate transportation of commodities which are harmless except for their economic effect in the state of destination. It is hailed by the advocates of reform as furnishing an avenue of approach to such problems as the regulation of minimum wages and hours and child labor.

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Constitutional Law - Zoning Ordinances Prohibiting Repair Of Existing Structures, William F. Fratcher Feb 1937

Constitutional Law - Zoning Ordinances Prohibiting Repair Of Existing Structures, William F. Fratcher

Michigan Law Review

The rapid development and expansion of the zoning movement during the last ten years has been directed mainly toward guiding new construction in accordance with modern ideals of city planning. There has been, however, a concomitant attempt to restrict the use and repair of existing structures which, if built after its passage, would not conform to the provisions of the zoning ordinance. This at first glance may seem only an insignificant part of the whole zoning problem. But when it is considered, from the point of view of city planners, that it is nearly impossible to make a high grade. …

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Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization Plan - Fairness And Feasibility, Erwin S. Simon Feb 1937

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization Plan - Fairness And Feasibility, Erwin S. Simon

Michigan Law Review

The corporation, having assets of $295,000 and liabilities of $1,200,000, petitioned for reorganization under Section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act and presented a plan. The district court's dismissal of the debtor's petition was affirmed in the circuit court of appeals on the grounds that the plan offered was incomprehensible, that the appraisal required by the plan was unjust since the value and validity of the bonds had been found in the equity receivership, and that subsection (b)(5) of 77B was unconstitutional, the attempt to bind non-assenting creditors being a denial of due process. Certiorari was granted by the Supreme Court. …

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Constitutional Law-Resale Price Maintenance -Fair Trade Acts, Joseph H. Mueller Feb 1937

Constitutional Law-Resale Price Maintenance -Fair Trade Acts, Joseph H. Mueller

Michigan Law Review

Four cases upholding the validity of the California and Illinois Fair Trade Acts were recently sustained by the United States Supreme Court. All four cases involved a similar set of facts. Plaintiffs, the owners or authorized distributors of certain well known trade-marked articles, entered into a series of contracts with wholesalers and retailers fixing the resale prices of their branded products. When defendants, certain retailers who had refused to enter into such agreements, persisted in reselling the articles below the prices stipulated in the contracts with other retailers, plaintiffs sued to enjoin them under the provisions of the state Fair …

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Constitutional Law - Federal Criminal Procedure - Short Form Indictment, James H. Roberton Jan 1937

Constitutional Law - Federal Criminal Procedure - Short Form Indictment, James H. Roberton

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to discuss the validity under the Federal Constitution of an indictment, drawn in accordance with the proposed code, which would merely accuse the defendant of having committed some kind of "offense," and would leave the particulars of the offense to a bill of particulars.

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Contempt - Suppression Order - Publication Of Contents Of Suppressed File, Milton M. Howard Jan 1937

Contempt - Suppression Order - Publication Of Contents Of Suppressed File, Milton M. Howard

Michigan Law Review

On a bill of complaint being filed in chancery court an injunction was issued against the defendant therein, and the papers in the cause were ordered suppressed by the chancellor, and to that end, sealed in an envelope. The bill alleged misrepresentation on the part of a leading banker in getting stockholders to contribute toward making up the defalcations of other officers in the bank and malfeasance of other officers. Defendant newspaper reporter obtained information relative to the allegations in the bill from sources other than the suppressed file and published the same nine months later. Upon citation for contempt, …

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Constitutional Law-Prohibition Of Advertisement Of Prices By Barbers - Improper Police Regulation - Denial Of Freedom Of Speech, Elbridge D. Phelps Jan 1937

Constitutional Law-Prohibition Of Advertisement Of Prices By Barbers - Improper Police Regulation - Denial Of Freedom Of Speech, Elbridge D. Phelps

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was convicted of violating an ordinance of the City of Long Beach. That ordinance related exclusively to the barber trade and made it a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or imprisonment or both, to advertise prices of services in any publication, handbill, or notice whatsoever, provided, however, that prices might be displayed within a barber shop in such manner as not to be visible from the outside, and provided further that no advertising of prices should be allowed on the windows or on the outside of the shop, or on the adjacent sidewalk or street. Held, the ordinance was …

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Taxation - Constitutionality Of Statute Permitting Rebate On Payment Of Delinquent Taxes Nov 1936

Taxation - Constitutionality Of Statute Permitting Rebate On Payment Of Delinquent Taxes

Michigan Law Review

Defendant county demurred to plaintiff's claim for taxes paid under protest, arguing that ,the statute upon which plaintiff relied, one giving taxpayers the right to pay off delinquent taxes without interest and with a five per cent reduction in principal, was unconstitutional. The demurrer was overruled and defendant appealed. Held, that while the court feels that the law is entirely valid, the county is not entitled to raise an objection to it. Vance Lumber Co. v. King County, 184 Wash. 402, 51 P. (2d) 623 (1935).

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Constitutional Law-Termination Of Treaties Nov 1936

Constitutional Law-Termination Of Treaties

Michigan Law Review

The treaty power clause in the Constitution is more difficult to supplement by construction than most parts of that document because the mechanism set up was an innovation--a compromise between the tradition of executive treaty-making and the Colonial feeling that powers of government should be given to representative assemblies. There was no recognized institution to serve as a guide for interpretation as, for example, in the case of the jury trial clause. Furthermore, the dual nature of a treaty-it is a compact with the foreign power and also part of the municipal law-is a fruitful source of confusion. So it …

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Constitutional Law - Due Process - Bank Receiving Deposits During Insolvency Nov 1936

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Bank Receiving Deposits During Insolvency

Michigan Law Review

An Ohio statute provided that an officer of a bank who received a deposit therein "when he has knowledge that it is insolvent" shall be subject to criminal liability. The defendant, a director of a state bank, was indicted under the statute for receiving deposits therein knowing the bank to be insolvent. The court of appeals reversed a decision of the common pleas court dismissing the defendant. On appeal the defendant contended that the statute violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution in that the use of the word "insolvent," without providing a definition …

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Constitutional Law - Impairment Of Obligation Of Contracts Change In Statutory Regulations For Withdrawal And Payment Of Building And Loan Association Members Nov 1936

Constitutional Law - Impairment Of Obligation Of Contracts Change In Statutory Regulations For Withdrawal And Payment Of Building And Loan Association Members

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff became a member stockholder of the defendant building and loan association under a general Louisiana statute authorizing such corporations. This law provided for withdrawal of members, setting up a fund for payment to be made in order of notice of intent to withdraw. Plaintiff placed his name on the list, but before payment the statute in question was enacted and payment was refused. This statute abolished the liquidation fund and changed the order of withdrawal to a payment of 25 per cent of the claim at the head of the list, the claimant's name to be then placed at …

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Criminal Law And Procedure - Non-Unanimous Verdicts - Constitutionality Nov 1936

Criminal Law And Procedure - Non-Unanimous Verdicts - Constitutionality

Michigan Law Review

An amendment to section 11, article 1 of the constitution of the state of Oregon permitted the concurrence of ten of the twelve jurors to control in criminal trials except in cases of murder in the first degree. It was claimed that this amendment discriminated against persons charged with second degree murder and in favor of those on trial for first degree murder, since in the latter case the jury could recommend life imprisonment which was the punishment prescribed in the former. The court held that there was no violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution. State v. …

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Constitutional Law-Police Power -Validity Of Compulsory Unemployment Insurance Act Jun 1936

Constitutional Law-Police Power -Validity Of Compulsory Unemployment Insurance Act

Michigan Law Review

Complainants asked for a declaratory judgment that the New York Unemployment Insurance Act is unconstitutional. They contended that the law, providing for the payment of limited unemployment benefits out of a fund raised by a uniform payroll tax imposed on all employers, takes property without due process of law. Held, that the law is valid, violating neither the state nor the Federal Constitution. W. H. H. Chamberlain, Inc. v. Andrews, 271 N. Y. 1, 2 N. E. (2d) 22 (1936).

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Constitutional Law - Bituminous Coal Conservation Act Of 1935 - Congressional Power Under The Commerce Clause To Regulate Labor Conditions In Local Industry And Fix The Price Of Sales In Interstate Commerce Jun 1936

Constitutional Law - Bituminous Coal Conservation Act Of 1935 - Congressional Power Under The Commerce Clause To Regulate Labor Conditions In Local Industry And Fix The Price Of Sales In Interstate Commerce

Michigan Law Review

By its sweeping decision invalidating the Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935, the Supreme Court precluded any future use of the commerce clause by Congress as a basis for federal regulation of labor conditions in local industry, whether on the theory that production is interstate commerce or that labor conditions directly affect interstate commerce.

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Constitutional Law - Franchise Tax - Burden Upon Interstate And Foreign Commerce - Due Process - Equal Protection Of The Laws Jun 1936

Constitutional Law - Franchise Tax - Burden Upon Interstate And Foreign Commerce - Due Process - Equal Protection Of The Laws

Michigan Law Review

The state of California adopted a franchise tax which was based upon the corporations' net income apportioned according to "that portion which is derived from business done within the State." When this was construed to include not merely the income from intrastate business alone, but rather the income from both this and from all interstate and foreign business attributable to California, its enforcement was resisted upon the grounds that (1) so construed it was repugnant to the commerce clause upon the theory that it burdened interstate and foreign commerce, (2) it violated the due process clause upon the theory that …

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Constitutional Law - Interstate Commerce - State Occupation Tax On Operation Of Radio Broadcasting Station Jun 1936

Constitutional Law - Interstate Commerce - State Occupation Tax On Operation Of Radio Broadcasting Station

Michigan Law Review

A domestic corporation, owning and operating two radio stations, both broadcasting well beyond the state's borders, sought to enjoin the enforcement of an annual occupation tax equal to one per cent of gross income from business within the state. It was admitted that while a state might impose a property tax on a business engaged only in interstate commerce or a tax solely to support regulation in the exercise of the state's police power, an unapportioned gross income tax on a business engaged in intrastate and interstate commerce would be an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce, although a net income …

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Constitutional Law-Trade Regulation-Fair Trade Act Jun 1936

Constitutional Law-Trade Regulation-Fair Trade Act

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, owner of the exclusive right to sell certain popular trade-marked cosmetics in California, entered into a large number of contracts with wholesalers and retailers of that state, fixing the price at which those branded articles were to resell. Thereafter, pursuant to the provisions of the state Fair Trade Act, he brought suit to enjoin defendant, a retail druggist who had refused to make any such agreements and who, from sources unknown, had acquired such trade-marked articles, from reselling at less than the price stipulated in the contracts with others. A demurrer to the complaint was sustained, but on appeal …

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Constitutional Law-Validity Of State Statute Forbidding Sale Of Prison-Made Goods Manufactured In Other States-Validity Of Federal Statute Permitting State Control Of Goods In Interstate Commerce Jun 1936

Constitutional Law-Validity Of State Statute Forbidding Sale Of Prison-Made Goods Manufactured In Other States-Validity Of Federal Statute Permitting State Control Of Goods In Interstate Commerce

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was prosecuted in an Ohio court for selling in original packages goods shipped to him from an Alabama prison in which they were manufactured. The prosecution was under an Ohio statute prohibiting sale on the open market of goods, wares, or merchandise manufactured or mined wholly or in part in any other state by convicts or prisoners except those on parole or probation. Other Ohio statutes impose a like prohibition on the sale of convict-made goods manufactured in Ohio. The federal Hawes-Cooper Act provides that all goods, wares, and merchandise manufactured, produced, or mined wholly or in part by …

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Public Utilities - Charging Companies With Expense Of Investigation - Constitutionality Jun 1936

Public Utilities - Charging Companies With Expense Of Investigation - Constitutionality

Michigan Law Review

A Washington statute provides that whenever the public service commission shall deem it necessary in the performance of its duties to make any investigation or valuation of a public service company, the public service company shall pay the expenses reasonably attributable thereto. The statute provides that the commission, after giving an opportunity to be heard, "shall render a bill therefor or for such part thereof as it may find necessary and reasonable." In an appeal by certain public service companies from an assessment made by the commission, held, the statute was unconstitutional because of denial of equal protection of …

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Taxation - State Income Tax On Interstate Railway - Constitutionality Jun 1936

Taxation - State Income Tax On Interstate Railway - Constitutionality

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff railway, doing local and interstate business, brought suit to recover payment made under a state net income tax measured by the difference between gross operating revenues for the whole business proportioned by the ratio of track mileage within and outside the state and operating expenses similarly proportioned. Held, such a formula for taxing the local income of a concern doing both intrastate and interstate business was not on its face invalid and the mere showing that the plaintiff's local costs were higher than the system average without also showing that intrastate revenues were not correspondingly greater did …

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Constitutional Law - Minimum Wage Decision - Future Of Legislation By States Jun 1936

Constitutional Law - Minimum Wage Decision - Future Of Legislation By States

Michigan Law Review

The shadow of a thirteen-year old decision which many had hoped was laid forever again fell upon the field of minimum wage legislation as the Supreme Court invalidated the New York minimum wage law for women. With this holding, which came as a surprise to many, the issue of the constitutionality of minimum wage legislation was again thrust into the limelight, and with the two great political parties wrestling with the problem of party programs, the decision may have political repercussions, of a force as yet incalculable. Before considering the future of minimum wage legislation, let us take a brief …

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Constitutional Law-Due Process--Nonresident Motorist Statute Jun 1936

Constitutional Law-Due Process--Nonresident Motorist Statute

Michigan Law Review

Petition for writ of prohibition on the ground that the notice provided by the Arkansas nonresident motorist statute did not meet the requirements of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The statute required that service of process be had on the secretary of state and that the plaintiff send notice of such service to the nonresident defendant at his last known address by registered letter, and required that the defendant's return receipt or the affidavit of the plaintiff of compliance with the statute be filed in the office of the clerk of court. Held, the statute is …

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Constitutional Law-Separation Of Powers-Legislative Right To Delegate Initiative Power To Public Jun 1936

Constitutional Law-Separation Of Powers-Legislative Right To Delegate Initiative Power To Public

Michigan Law Review

The act creating the Maryland Milk Commission provided: "The Commission, when requested by a substantial proportion of the producers and/or consumers and/or distributors in any marketing area, shall have power" to do a number of things pertaining to sanitary and trade conditions within the milk industry. Plaintiffs sought to enjoin the Commission from utilizing any power derived from such an act upon the ground that it contained an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power. Held, an invalid attempt to delegate legislative authority. The legislature, when acting in its law-making capacity, exercised a power conferred upon it by the people which …

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Federal Gross Estate Tax-Constitutionality-Revocable Transfers By Way Of Trust May 1936

Federal Gross Estate Tax-Constitutionality-Revocable Transfers By Way Of Trust

Michigan Law Review

Five recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court, together with a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, have considerably changed some of the currently accepted theories regarding the taxability under the Federal Estate Tax of transfers reserving various degrees of control to donors, both with respect to what may be considered to be a sufficient reserved control and what the constitutional limits on the taxing power may be. Some perplexing questions have been settled by these decisions while others quite as vexing seem to have been raised and left for future determination.

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Municipal Corporations-Fencing Ordinances May 1936

Municipal Corporations-Fencing Ordinances

Michigan Law Review

Defendant city passed an ordinance which prohibited the erection of fences that exceeded four feet in height, or which were composed wholly or in part of barbed wire. Plaintiff was refused permission to build a woven wire fence, six feet high with barbed wire attached to arms extending inward at the top. Plaintiff thereupon sued to enjoin defendant city from enforcing this ordinance, claiming that it deprived her of property without "due process." Held, by the court, that the right to fence one's land is a right of property that cannot be unreasonably interfered with. The ordinance in question …

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