Constitutional Law Commons^™

Zoning Law In Michigan And New Jersey: A Comparative Study, Roger A. Cunningham

Michigan Law Review

It is one thesis of this article that the "lawyer's view" has generally prevailed in Michigan and that the "planner's view" has generally prevailed in New Jersey. Since the zoning law of these two states is thus fairly representative of the opposing judicial attitudes set forth in the preceding paragraph, they are especially suitable for comparative study. This study begins with a look at the constitutional bases and statutory provisions for zoning. It then proceeds to examine judicial attitudes toward zoning determinations in general and continues by focusing on specific current zoning problems. The conclusions to be drawn from these …

The Line Between Federal And State Court Jurisdiction, Leslie A. Anderson

Michigan Law Review

From the beginning of this nation, there have been controversies involving the division of jurisdiction between federal and state courts. Often, these controversies have centered on the diversity of citizenship provision of the federal constitution. Today, however, the more poignant question is whether any division of jurisdiction between the federal and state systems retains logical bases.

Although myriad developments have relevancy with respect to this question, I have here focused upon two of the more important ones: the increasing overlap of subject matter being litigated in federal and state courts and the growing uniformity of standards to be applied in …

The Commerce Clause Held No Limitation To The Jurisdiction Of Federal Courts-Wahl V. Pan American World Airways, Inc., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Three wrongful death actions were brought in a federal district court in New York by United States citizens as survivors of passengers killed in the crash in Turkey of an airplane owned and operated by defendant Middle East Airlines (MEA). MEA is a Lebanese corporation operating in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, whose United States sales are made by its general sales agent, Pan American World Ainvays, Inc. The court held that maintaining a New York office and entering into a general sales agency agreement with Pan American to promote travel on MEA of passengers originating in the United …

Group Legal Services And The Right Of Association, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has recently curtailed the reach of state statutes that prohibit solicitation of legal business. In two unprecedented opinions the Court has held that the soliciting activities of lay organizations fall within the protection of the right of association.

Kauper: Religion And The Constitution, Wilber G. Katz

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Religion and the Constitution. By Paul G. Kauper.

Unconstitutional Racial Classification And De Facto Segregation, Joseph A. Milchen

Michigan Law Review

Classification along racial lines, when involving state action, is unconstitutional. Such classification may violate the due process or equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment or the fifteenth amendment, and it has been held invalid in the fields of education, transportation, voting, recreational facilities, ownership and use of real property, and jury selection.

Freezing Voter Qualifications To Aid Negro Registration, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The literacy test, used by many states in determining the qualifications of voters, has proved to be a major obstacle to the elimination of voter discrimination based on racial characteristics. Under recently enacted statutory provisions, citizens who attempt to register to vote in certain states are faced with test questions of such difficulty that it is virtually impossible to answer them satisfactorily. Where there is permanent voter registration, the effect is to secure a position of political dominance for those registered prior to the institution of the tests. In those states in which individuals had been denied registration by prior …

Commissioner May Examine Taxpayer's Records For Years Barred By Statute Of Limitations Without Proving Reasonable Suspicion Of Fraud--United States V. Powell, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has power to summon witnesses and to examine records in order to ascertain the correctness of a taxpayer's return. If a summons is not obeyed or if the records sought are not produced, the Commissioner may seek enforcement by applying to the proper federal district court. Although the Commissioner's investigative powers are broad, they are not unlimited. In the absence of fraud, he must act within the confines of a three-year statute of limitations. In addition, the Code makes it abundantly clear that taxpayers may not be subjected to unnecessary examinations or investigations and that …

Product Picketing-A New Loophole In Section 8(H) (4) Of The National Labor Relations Act?, Michael A. Warner

Michigan Law Review

Legal writers have been intrigued for years by the challenge of classifying and identifying the resulting incidents of the joint and survivor bank deposit when an attempt is made to use it as a mode of effectuating a donor depositor's intention to confer benefits on a donee co-depositor. Much in their discussions is useful to one who is concerned with the concept that has evolved in Michigan, where a 1909 statute states that some co-depositors are presumed to be joint tenants. Michigan judges and practitioners must determine, however, whether comment about national trends is applicable here, for in many respects …

Constitutional Right To Jury Trial In Criminal Contempt Cases?-United States V. Barnett, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Federal courts historically have had the power to try criminal contempt cases without a jury. There is a virtually uninterrupted 150-year line of cases which holds that contempt is not a "Crime" or "criminal prosecution" within the meaning of article III and the sixth amendment to the Constitution. Superficially, the decision in United States v. Barnett is in accord with these precedents. However, in an important "dictum," footnote number 12, the majority cautioned that "punishment by summary trial without a jury would be constitutionally limited to that penalty provided for petty offenses." Although the Court itself styles this comment a …

Legislation Requiring Child To Support Mother In State Asylum Is A Denial Of Equal Protection-Department Of Mental Hygiene V. Kirchner, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The California Department of Mental Hygiene brought suit under section 6650 of the state's Welfare and Institutions Code, a provision commonly known as a relative support statute, against the administratrix to recover 7,500 dollars from the intestate's estate. This amount represented the cost of food, housing, and treatment received by intestate's mother in a state mental hospital during the four years she had been confined there following a civil sanity hearing. Plaintiff was granted judgment on the pleadings. On appeal to the California Supreme Court, held, reversed. Since mental hospitals serve a proper public function, it is a denial …

Ernst & Schwartz: Censorship: The Search For The Obscene, Erwin B. Ellmann

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Censorship: The Search for the Obscene By Morris L. Ernst and Alan U. Schwartz

Giannella: Religion And The Public Order, Rev. Robert F. Drinan S. J.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Religion and the Public Order. An Annual Review of Church and State and of Religion, Law and Society, The Institute of Church and State, Villanova University School of Law. Edited by Donald A. Giannella.

Kamisar, Inbau & Arnold: Criminal Justice In Our Time, Theodore Souris

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Criminal Justice in Our Time by Yale Kamisar, Fred E. Inbau, and Thurman Arnold

Grand Jury Secrecy, Richard M. Calkins

Michigan Law Review

When a leading state such as Illinois enacts "reform" legislation, an impact on the legislatures of other jurisdictions may be anticipated. Accordingly, a need exists for an examination of this legislation in the light of the common-law background of grand jury secrecy and for a further analysis of it in the face of the growing trend toward more liberalized discovery of grand jury minutes in other jurisdictions. It is the contention of the author that such an empirical study will demonstrate that this legislation adopted by Illinois is contrary to all modern judicial thinking and is, in fact, a retrogressive …

Some Comments On The Reapportionment Cases, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

Any appraisal of the Supreme Court's decisions in the legislative reapportionment cases must necessarily distinguish between the basic policy ingredients and social consequences of the decisions on the one hand, and the question whether the results were reached by a proper exercise of judicial power on the other. Respecting the first of these considerations, I have no difficulty identifying the social advantages accruing from these decisions. Because of the stress on the population principle, the decisions will afford a greater voice to urban interests, will make the legislative process more responsive to current needs of particular concern to urban dwellers, …

Court, Congress, And Reapportionment, Robert B. Mckay

Michigan Law Review

In the United States, governmental power is divided vertically between nation and states and horizontally, at the national level, among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The Constitution leaves the lines of demarcation deliberately imprecise. Thus, from the beginning it was easy to predict that among those holders of power there would be tension (at least), conflict (probably), or total collapse (a possibility). The miracle of the American governmental system, with just this complexity and lack of definition, is the fact of its survival. It is not at all surprising that there have been a number of crises, some of …

The Role Of A Trial Jury In Determining The Voluntariness Of A Confession, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States has vigorously implemented the principle that criminal prosecution is an investigative, not an inquisitorial, process. Evidence of guilt must be obtained by methods free from physical or psychological coercion. Protections in the Bill of Rights against illegal search and seizure, self-incrimination, and trial without counsel have been extended to the states through the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. Safeguards against the admissibility of coerced confessions into evidence have also been instituted. Because a confession practically determines the ultimate question of guilt, the critical standards for· admissibility are frequently challenged on appeal. …

Congressional Apportionment: The Unproductive Search For Standards And Remedies, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The increasingly complex problems of elucidating congressional apportionment standards and granting appropriate relief when voting rights have been materially diluted were again brought to the fore in the recent districting decision of Calkins v. Hare. This federal district court decision is illustrative of the uncertainty caused by the Supreme Court's opinion in the landmark case of Wesberry v. Sanders. Although Wesberry resolved two previously contested issues by ruling that congressional apportionment disputes are susceptible of judicial determination and by setting a standard of population equality in delimiting districts, two associated questions were left unanswered. First, even though Wesberry …

Reapportionment In The Supreme Court And Congress: Constitutional Struggle For Fair Representation, Robert G. Dixon Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Fair representation is the ultimate goal. At the time of the Reapportionment Decisions, much change was overdue in some states, and at least some change was overdue in most states. We are a democratic people and our institutions presuppose according population a dominant role in formulas of representation. However, by its exclusive focus on bare numbers, the Court may have transformed one of the most intricate, fascinating, and elusive problems of democracy into a simple exercise of applying elementary arithmetic to census data. In so doing, the Court may have disabled itself from effectively considering the more subtle issues …

The Powers Of The Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Roger C. Cramton

Michigan Law Review

The thesis of this article is that the Attorney General has misread the language and actions of the constitution-makers. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission is an important and powerful agency of government which has substantial tasks to perform. But it does not possess the exclusive powers envisioned by the Attorney General. Other governmental units-the legislature, the executive, the courts, and the local governments-may continue to play a creative and positive role in fashioning a legal order that accords to every human being in society a reasonable opportunity to realize his potentialities.

Public Control Of Private Sectarian Institutions Receiving Public Funds, Richard B. Rogers

Michigan Law Review

This comment will examine the recent judicial and legislative developments which could result in federal controls limiting religious practices in private sectarian educational and welfare institutions.

Appointment Of Non-Lawyer Counsel In Courts-Martial Does Not Violate The Fifth Or Sixth Amendment--United States V. Culp, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a Marine Corps private, was charged with larceny, and naval officers who were not lawyers were appointed as trial and defense counsel. The accused pleaded guilty to six specifications of larceny, and, upon trial by a special court-martial, was given a bad conduct discharge from the service. The board of review, on its own motion, held the guilty plea improvident and stated that, under the sixth amendment, the accused was entitled to counsel qualified in the law unless he had intelligently waived this right. Upon certification by the Judge Advocate General of the Navy to the Court of Military …

Federal Civil Procedure-Existence Of Federal Cause Of Action For Abuse Of Federal Process, Laurence D. Connor

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was served with a subpoena ordering him to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He subsequently brought an action in federal district court asking for damages and injunctive relief and praying that the subpoena be declared void and of no effect. He alleged it had been signed in blank by the Committee chairman and that respondent, an investigator for the Committee without delegated subpoena power, had filled in petitioner's name without authorization and caused it to be served on him at his place of employment. Petitioner also alleged that respondent intended to subject him to public shame …

State Action, State Law, And The Private Hospital, Mary Mandana Long

Michigan Law Review

On March 2, 1964, the United States Supreme Court denied a petition to review by certiorari the decision in Simkins v. Moses H. Cone Memorial Hosp. By declining to review the case the Supreme Court left unaffected the holding of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that two private hospitals which had participated in the Hill-Burton program of federal hospital assistance were sufficiently involved with governmental action, both state and federal, to bring their conduct within the fifth and fourteenth amendment prohibitions against racial discrimination. This decision will probably affect all of the 3,346 private, non-profit hospitals in …

Constitutional Law-Search And Seizure-Retrospective Application Of Mapp V. Ohio, Timothy D. Wittlinger

Michigan Law Review

On February 15, 1960, the Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed petitioner's conviction for simple burglary. The conviction was obtained through the use of evidence unlawfully seized from petitioner in violation of the fourth amendment of the United States Constitution. In December 1961 the District Court for the Parish of West Feliciana denied petitioner's writ of habeas corpus filed after the Supreme Court decision of Mapp v. Ohio, which forbade introduction at state trials of evidence seized by state officers in violation of the fourth amendment. The denial of the writ was affirmed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, and certiorari was …

Constitutional Law-Federal Criminal Procedure-Right To Counsel Under Section 2255 Of The Judicial Code, Gerald J. Laba

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, seeking to attack a conviction for illegal possession of narcotics, was granted leave to sue in form a pauperis under 28 U.S.C. section 2255, but his request that counsel be appointed for him was denied. Petitioner's section 2255 motion to vacate judgment was denied. Petitioner then entered a second section 2255 petition alleging basically the same errors but adding that the court had erred in not appointing counsel for his first petition. The second motion was denied without a hearing on the ground that it was "the second or successive motion for similar relief .... " Petitioner appealed in …

Constitutional Law-Elections-Jurisdiction Of State Courts To Entertain Actions Arising Out Of Congressional Elections, C. Douglas Kranwinkle

Michigan Law Review

Relator was the losing candidate in an election for the office of Representative to the United States Congress. He commenced proceedings in the House, pursuant to statute, contesting the seating of his opponent, and petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court to enjoin and restrain the Minnesota Secretary of State from issuing a certificate of election until the contest was finally determined. Relator based his petition on a Minnesota statute which provides that the Secretary of State may not issue a certificate of election in case of a contest until it has been determined by the proper court. A temporary injunction and …

Child Custody In A Federal System, Leonard G. Ratner

Michigan Law Review

Among the most difficult of judicial functions is the determination of a child's custody after its parents have separated. The difficulties are acute enough when all the parties remain in the same place; when the parties are in different states, an additional perplexing problem arises as to which state should have authority to make the custody decision. This broad question can be resolved into three distinct though interrelated issues: (1) what state may initially determine custody; (2) what state may later modify that determination; (3) to what extent is such a determination binding on other states.

Federal Criminal Procedure-Collateral Relief Under 28 U.S.C. Section 2255- Discretion Of Sentencing Court To Dismiss Successive Application Without Hearing, Richard B. Rogers

Michigan Law Review

Prisoner, sentenced by a United States district court, filed two successive motions to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. section 2255, which provides for a compulsory motion procedure for federal prisoners in lieu of habeas corpus. Under this section, a prisoner is required to petition the court which sentenced him in order to test the legality of his detention. The motion must be given a prompt hearing, "unless the motion and the files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief. .. " If a successive motion is filed for "similar relief" the …