Constitutional Law Commons^™

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

RECENT CASES

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW--FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT--REVOCATION OF DRIVER'S LICENSE WITHOUT HEARING

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--ECONOMIC REGULATION--STATE COURT INTERPRETATIONS OF SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--EMINENT DOMAIN FOR SLUM CLEARANCE--EFFECT OF SALE OR LEASE OF PROPERTY TO PRIVATE PERSONS FOR REDEVELOPMENT

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS--STATE SALES TAX ON INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR DEALING WITH FEDERAL AGENCY WHOSE "ACTIVITIES" ARE EXEMPTED

CRIMINAL LAW--EFFECT OF PROOF OF COMPLETED CRIME ON CHARGE OF ATTEMPT--FATAL VARIANCE

FEDERAL JURISDICTION--FORUM NON CONVENIENS--STAY OF FEDERAL ACTION PENDING STATE DECISION

INSANE PERSONS--COMMITMENT PROCEEDINGS--REQUIREMENT OF REASONABLE NOTICE

RIGHT OF PRIVACY--PUBLICATION OF PICTURES AS OFFENSE TO "ORDINARY SENSIBILITIES"--QUESTION OF LAW OR FACT?

TRUSTS--DUALITY OF INTEREST--MERGER OF TITLE …

Limitations On Municipal Indebtedness, John L. Bowers Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

Not a single state has seen fit to leave its cities unrestricted in the amount of indebtedness each might incur.' Assuming that the nature of a proposed expenditure is such that it is recognized as a legitimate municipal expense, the limitations imposed upon total indebtedness may yet prevent extension of a city's credit. Thus, a city may have a particular financing scheme invalidated simply because of the circumstance that its present indebtedness is so close to the limit that the contemplated increase would force the total amount to exceed the maximum allowable.

Three sources of limitation are commonly found today. …

Criminal Law Administration Prior To Trial: Recent Constitutional Developments, Paul H. Sanders

Vanderbilt Law Review

Probably the most pervasive dilemma in human experience is that which poses the choice with respect to the use of normally-condemned means in order to attain what are considered to be desirable ends. The field of criminal law administration offers a particularly apt illustration of the dilemma in modern society. The actual, day-to-day methods of operation of our law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges and other officials concerned with the investigation, trial and punishment of those charged with crime,--all reflect the choice that has been made in fact by our society. We can each judge, within the limits of our experience, …

Legislative Disqualifications As Bills Of Attainder, Francis D. Wormuth

Vanderbilt Law Review

The separation of powers was first introduced into political discussion during the English Civil Wars of the seventeenth century by the political party known as Levellers. The object was to insure that persons be judged by general and prospective rules. If the legislative authority should decide a particular case, it might be tempted through partiality or prejudice to improvise a special rule for the situation. So the separation of powers was intended to achieve that impartiality in government which Aristotle called "the rule of law."

The doctrine of checks and balances was also introduced into political discussion during the Civil …

Foreword: A Symposium On Current Constitutional Problems, John W. Davis

Vanderbilt Law Review

The place of the Constitution in American life nowhere appears more clearly than in the form of our oaths of allegiance. These do not run to any personal sovereign, or to any nation or government by name. They pledge only the support of the Constitution of the United States, to which is sometimes added the promise to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic. It must be and it is something more than a mere document which is sanctified by such oaths. It is the embodiment and symbol of nationhood, of a form of government and of a way …

Recent Constitutional Developments On Eminent Domain, John L. Bowers Jr., J. L. Boren Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

Although the provisions of both state and federal law that cruel and unusual punishments shill not be imposed are considered popularly to relate only to those punishments which exist solely in the books, the provisions are not useless today. Recent cases have shown a tendency to expand the scope of the prohibition, especially with regard to excessive punishment, and to incorporate the proscription within the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. As respect, that which likely will be deemed cruel and unusual, little can be done beyond noting those situations in which the limitation has been applied. If a generalization …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

RECENT CASES

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--INTERSTATE COMMERCE--VALIDITY OF CARRIER REGULATION REQUIRING RACIAL SEGREGATION

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--POLITICAL QUESTIONS--GEORGIA COUNTY UNIT VOTE SYSTEM

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DIVORCE--ALIMONY IN DEFAULT DECREES--POWER OF COURT TOWARD ALIMONY IN ABSENCE OF PRAYER THEREFOR IN COMPLAINT

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EVIDENCE--PROOF OF CORPUS DELICTI--CORROBORATION OF DEFENDANT'S CONFESSION BY HIS OWN SPONTANEOUS STATEMENTS

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FEDERAL COURTS--VENUE--USE OF STATE NONRESIDENT MOTORIST STATUTE TO IMPLY WAIVER

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GIFT TAXES--TRANSFER MADE UNDER DIVORCE DECREE INCORPORATING PREDIVORCE PROPERTY SETTLEMENT--EFFECT OF PROVISION IN SETTLEMENT THAT IT WOULD BE BINDING REGARDLESS OF TERMS OF DIVORCE DECREE

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INSURANCE--NOTICE TO AGENT REPRESENTING TWO INSURERS--ESTOPPEL PREVENTING COMPANY SECONDARILY LIABLE FROM CLAIMING AGAINST COMPANY …

A Modern Supreme Court In A Modern World, Charles F. Curtis

Vanderbilt Law Review

It is all very well, indeed it is very good, to bear down on the fact that the author of the Constitution was, and still is, "We the People of the United States." But there is more sentiment than explanation in it. We think too much about who is the author of the Constitution. Of course it was not the Convention of 1789, nor the First Congress which wrote the Bill of Rights, nor the Thirty-Ninth which wrote the Fourteenth Amendment. It was We the People, but even when we have recognized this, all we have done is recognize that …

The Charter And The Constitution: The Human Rights Provisions In American Law, Oscar Schachter

Vanderbilt Law Review

The United Nations has added new complications to the well-worn subject of treaties and the Constitution. The issues have arisen principally in the field of human rights and, inevitably, constitutional discussions have reflected the political as well as the legal complexities. One consequence has been an apparent shift in legal positions: bar association leaders, long devoted to strict construction, have been inclined recently to stress the broad and expansive character of the treaty power and the supremacy clause ; in contrast, U.S. Government officials normally expected to support federal power have increasingly emphasized constitutional limitations. In political terms, this turnabout …

Current Constitutional Problems In Federal Taxation, Charles L.B. Lowndes

Vanderbilt Law Review

The most significant constitutional problem in federal taxation today is the absence of constitutional problems. The federal income, estate and gift taxes all encountered an extremely critical reception at the hands of the courts and suffered serious constitutional set-backs early in their careers. Today, however, they function in a constitutional climate as benevolent as it was formerly hostile. A microscopic analysis of the present federal tax system may reveal minor irregularities which might conceivably be magnified into major constitutional issues. From a practical point of view, however, the chance of invalidating a federal tax assessment on constitutional grounds is infinitesimal. …

Book Reviews, Carl B. Swisher, Elvin E. Overton (Reviewer), Jay Murphy (Reviewer), Charlotte Williams (Reviewer), Alexander Holtzoff (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Book Reviews

LIONS UNDER THE THRONE

By Charles P. Curtis, Jr.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947. Pp. xviii, 368. $3.50

MR. JUSTICE BLACK: THE MAN AND His OPINIONS

By John P. Frank (Introduction by Charles A. Beard)

New York: Knopf Company, 1949.Pp. xix, 357. $4.00

ON UNDERSTANDING THE SUPREME COURT

By Paul A. Freund

Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1949. Pp. vi, 130. $3.00

MELVILLE VESTON FULLER: CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES, 1888-1919

By Willard L. King

New York: Macmillan Company, 1950. Pp.394. $5.00

CHIEF JUSTICE STONE AND THE SUPREME COURT

By Samuel J. Konefsky (Prefatory Note by Charles A. …

Strikes, Picketing And The Constitution, Archibald Cox

Vanderbilt Law Review

The law's first response to organized labor activities was to attempt to define by judicial decision the ends for which employees might resort to economic weapons against an employer,' the weapons which they might use in pursuit of lawful objectives, and the occasions on which resort to economic weapons would be curtailed, as in the case of a nationwide railroad strike, because of the danger of a public catastrophe. The effort was unsuccessful. The judge-made law was neither a reflection of the enduring sentiment of the community nor a response to its needs. The subsequent reaction, which took its initial …

Recent Constitutional Developments On Personal Jurisdiction Of Courts, Virginia B. Cowan

Vanderbilt Law Review

In strict logic, the concept of the power of courts to deal in personam with controversies is said to be a constant and the extension of jurisdiction merely an appropriation of pre-existing power. More realistically, it is obvious that, as institutions and citizens become increasingly mobile and migratory, the courts are obliged to keep their jurisdictional machinery abreast of the times in order that legal processes may continue to be the effective arbiter of disputes in our society. Regardless of what terms are used to describe the source of the power, it is traditionally conceived to be limited by the …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE--COMPREHENSIVE CLAUSE EXCLUDING MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN--REQUIREMENT THAT EXCLUDED RISK BE SOLE PROXIMATE CAUSE

BAILMENTS--DELIVERY OF POSSESSION--PROPERTY DEPOSITED IN PUBLIC LOCKER

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--INFRINGEMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS BY PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS--CAUSE OF ACTION UNDER FEDERAL STATUTE

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--RIGHT TO JURY TRIAL--ACTION FOR STATUTORY PENALTY UNDER PRICE ..CONTROL ACT

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--UNITED NATIONS CHARTER--APPLICATION AS TREATY TO RENDER STATE LAW INVALID

CONTRACTS--CONSIDERATION--NEW AGREEMENT TO PAY LESS THAN ORIGINAL CONTRACT PRICE

CONTRACTS--DEFINITION OF TERMS--EFFECT OF PART PERFORMANCE IN MAKING TERMS CERTAIN

COPYRIGHT--ARTIST'S RIGHTS IN PRODUCTION AFTER SALE--"MORAL RIGHT" TO PREVENT DESTRUCTION

CRIMINAL LAW--SEARCHES AND SEIZURES--EFFECTS OF VIOLATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT ON JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS

JOINT …

Remarks On The Theory Of Appellate Decision And The Rules Or Canons About How Statutes Are To Be Construed, Karl N. Llewellyn

Vanderbilt Law Review

If a statute is to make sense, it must be read in the light of some assumed purpose. A statute merely declaring a rule, with no purpose or objective, is nonsense. If a statute is to be merged into a going system of law, moreover, the court must do the merging, and must in so doing take account of the policy of the statute-or else substitute its own version of such policy. Creative re- shaping of the net result is thus inevitable. But the policy of a statute is of two wholly different kinds-each kind somewhat limited in effect by …

Book Reviews, Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr., W. Raymond Denny (Reviewer), Robert G. Storey (Reviewer), W. W. Berry (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

BOOK REVIEWS

The Power in the People

By Felix Morley

New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 1949. Pp. xii, 293. $3.50

reviewer: Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr.

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Men and Measures in the Law

By Arthur T. Vanderbilt

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949. Pp. xxii, 156. $3.00

reviewer: W. Raymond Denny

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The Case of General Yamashita

By A. Frank Reel

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949. Pp. v, 324. $4.00

reviewer: Robert G. Storey

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Tax Planning for Estates

By William j. Bowe

Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1949. Pp. 93. $2.00

reviewer: W. W. Berry

The Tidewater Case And Limited Jurisdiction Of Federal "Constitutional" Courts, Joe H. Foy

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the recent case of National Mutual Insurance Ca. v. Tidewater Transfer Co.,' the Act of April 20, 1940, allowing citizens of the District of Columbia and of the territories to sue and be sued in the district courts on the basis of diverse citizenship, was held constitutional insofar as it applies to citizens of the District of Columbia. The practical effect of the decision, in allowing Congress to remove a basic inequality among citizens of the United States, is perhaps commendable. However, there are broad theoretical implications in this holding, emphasized by sharp debate among the justices, which could …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CONFLICT OF LAWS--DOMICIL FOR PURPOSES OF INCOME TAXATION--ABSENCE OF FIXED INTENT TO REMAIN IN RESIDENCE OR TO RETURN TO DOMICIL OF ORIGIN

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--INTERSTATE COMMERCE--VALIDITY OF STATE TAX UPON GROSS RECEIPTS OF SEGMENT OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--PEACEFUL PICKETING--POWER OF STATE COURT TO ENJOIN

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--POWER OF COURT TO PUNISH FOR DIRECT CONTEMPT--OPPORTUNITY TO OBTAIN COUNSEL

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EVIDENCE--ADMISSIBILITY OF SCIENTIFIC TESTS--HARGER DRUNKOMETER TEST TO DETERMINE INTOXICATION

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FEDERAL JURISDICTION--REQUIREMENT THAT FEDERAL QUESTION APPEAR ON FACE OF COMPLAINT--APPLICATION TO DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION

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INCOME TAXES--DEDUCTION OF BUSINESS EXPENSES--DEDUCTIBILITY OF PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF PRICE REGULATIONS

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INSURANCE--"COMPREHENSIVE" COVERAGE …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Bills and Notes--Fictitious Payee Known only to Fraudulent Employee of Drawer--Negotiable Instruments Law v. Fictitious Payee Act

Constitutional Law--Amendment and Revision--Power to Call Constitutional Convention Limited to Consideration of Specific Topics

Constitutional Law--Interstate Commerce--Dental of License to Ship Milk Held Invalid

Constitutional Law--Separation of Powers--Legislative Control over Admission to the Bar

Contracts--Recited Cash Consideration--Effect of Non-payment

Contracts--Statute of Frauds--Letterhead as a Signature

Criminal Procedure--Communication between Judge and Jury--Effect of Inquiry as to Pronounced Majority

Criminal Procedure--Constitutional Right to Public Trial--Power of Court to Order Courtroom Cleared of Spectators

Estates--Disability of Life Tenant to Purchase Tax Title to Exclusion …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

ADJOINING LAN DOWNERS--OVERHANGING BRANCHES--INJUNCTION AGAINST MAINTENANCE REFUSED

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW--ZONING BOARD--RIGHT OF BOARD TO APPEAL FROM ADVERSE DECISION OF LOWER COURT

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--FREEDOM OF RELIGION--STATUTE OUTLAWING SNAKE-HANDLING

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--STATE CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING TO "UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN" THE CONSTITUTION--EFFECT OF DISCRIMINATORY ADMINISTRATION AGAINST NEGROES

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CONTRACTS--OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE--EFFECT OF ATTEMPTED REVOCATION OF UNILATERAL OFFER AFTER PART PERFORMANCE

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CRIMINAL LAW--DOUBLE JEOPARDY--CONVICTION OF HIGHER OFFENSE ON RETRIAL

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CRIMINAL LAW--LARCENY--SINGLE ACT CONSTITUTING SEPARATE OFFENSES

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FEDERAL JURISDICTION--AMOUNT IN CONTROVERSY--DEGREE OF EVIDENCE REQUIRED

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INSURANCE--INCONTESTABLE CLAUSE--EFFECT ON ACTION BY INSURER TO REFORM POLICY

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LOTTERIES--SLOT MACHINES--FREE GAMES AS PROPERTY OF …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW--RADIO LICENSES--FCC CONTROL OF RADIO PROGRAMMING

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--CORPORATIONS--STATUTE REQUIRING SECURITY FOR COSTS IN STOCKHOLDER'S DERIVATIVE SUIT

CONSTRUCTIVE TRUSTS--TAX SALES--RIGHT OF REMAINDERMAN TO PURCHASE AT TAX SALE TO THE EXCLUSION OF LIFE TENANT

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE--EVIDENCE--EXCLUSION OF VOLUNTARY CONFESSION OBTAINED DURING ILLEGAL DETENTION

DOMESTIC RELATIONS--ALIMONY-POWER OF COURT TO MODIFY OR REMIT PAST DUE INSTALLMENTS

EMINENT DOMAIN--REMOVAL COSTS WHEN PART OF A LEASE IS TAKEN--EFFECT OF RENEWAL OF OPTION TAKING ALL OF LEASE

EVIDENCE--CHARACTER WITNESS FOR ACCUSED--CROSS-EXAMINATION AS TO KNOWLEDGE OF ARREST MANY YEARS PREVIOUSLY

FEDERAL PROCEDURE--FOREIGN CORPORATIONS--WAIVER OF VENUE BY DESIGNATION OF AGENT FOR SERVICE OF PROCESS

FULL FAITH AND CREDIT--SUIT …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Assault and Battery--Injury Sustained in Prize Fig

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Constitutional Law--Elections--Voting Rights of Residents of Federal Enclave where Polling Places are on Land under Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction

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Constitutional Law--Miscegenation Statutes--Statutory Prohibitions against Inter-Racial Marriages held Unconstitutional

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Criminal Law--Evidence--Admissibility of Sound Motion Pictures of Re-Enactment of Crime by Defendants

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Criminal Procedure--Use of Jury Primer Prior to Trial

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Estate Planning--Mistake as to Tax Consequences of a Gift--Requirements for Rescission

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Evidence--Impeachment of Witnesses--Warning Question on Examination as to Prior Testimony

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Interstate Commerce--Sherman Act--Applicability to Organized Baseball

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Labor Law--Constitutional Law--Validity of Prohibition on Contributions and Expenditures of Labor …

Constitutionality Of Additional Assessments Necessitated By The Delinquency Of Some Land Owners In A Special Assessment District, Thomas A. Thomas

Vanderbilt Law Review

Most states have constitutional provisions requiring expressly or in effect, equality and uniformity of taxation. Under these constitutional requirements, it is usually held that the legislatures acting under their general taxing power, are not prohibited from making geographical classifications for purposes of taxation so long as they are reasonable and based upon a substantial distinction. However, the equality and uniformity provisions do require that all members of the same class be taxed alike. This limitation does not require meticulous adjustments to avoid incidental hardships upon some member of the same class, but requires only substantial uniformity. Since special assessments are …

The Tennessee Retailers' Sales Tax Act, Stanely D. Rose

Vanderbilt Law Review

The primary consideration in the adoption of a tax by a state is the constitutional framework into which it is to be fitted. Probable litigation is a factor of importance in the choice of a tax. If there are no complicating factors, a simple tax on sales seems to be one of the forms of excise tax most easily sustainable under the Tennessee Constitution. Indeed, Tennessee at an early date had a sales tax which apparently met with court approval.

The most inclusive authority upon which to base an excise tax in Tennessee is the clause which states that "the …

Cases Noted, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

bankruptcy--unclaimed dividends--distribution to creditors who have not been paid in full

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constitutional law--prohibition of practice of naturopathy as a separate branch of the healing arts

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constitutional law--unAmerican activities committee held valid exercise of congressional power

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criminal law--evidence--admission of confession