Constitutional Law Commons^™

The Original And Exclusive Jurisdiction Of The United States Supreme Court, Wencelas J. Wagner

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

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 …

Administrative Agencies And The Court, Frank E. Cooper

Michigan Legal Studies Series

The limits which courts place on the powers of administrative tribunals have particular significance to practicing attorneys and law students. It is largely to the extent that such limits are imposed, that our government remains a government of laws and not a government of men.

The following pages have been written to describe the standards which the courts impose upon administrative agencies, thereby controlling and limiting their powers. More particularly, the writer has sought: (1) to bring together the leading cases in which the courts have laid down the principles that govern frequently litigated questions in contests between the agencies …

Separation Of Powers, Fred L. Fox

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Court Of Claims - Separation Of Powers, Benjamin M. Quigg, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued the United States Government for breach of its contract for construction of a water supply tunnel, and in 1932 recovered judgment in the court of claims for approximately one-seventh of the amount sued for. Motions for new trial were denied and the Supreme Court refused to grant a writ of certiorari. In 1942 plaintiff secured the passage of a special act of Congress conferring jurisdiction on the court of claims to render judgment on plaintiff's claim in accordance with the mode of calculation set forth therein, waiving any defenses which the government might have in respect thereto, and …

Constitutional Law-Agricultural Adjustment Act-The General Welfare Clause And The Tenth Amendment

Michigan Law Review

In what is without question the most important decision rendered in recent years the Supreme Court of the United States has swept away the legal basis of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. The processing tax, an essential part of a plan for the control of production, has been ruled unconstitutional as involving an invasion of the powers reserved to the states. Unlike the case of Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States, in which the National Industrial Recovery Act was held invalid by a unanimous Court, this pillar of the New Deal's vast recovery program was destroyed by a six-to-three decision, …

Constitutional Law - Reinstatement Of Attorney - Constitutionality Of Pardon Statute - Legislative Encroachment On Judicial Power

Michigan Law Review

In proceedings based on the record of his conviction for attempted extortion, the petitioner was disbarred. Having received a full pardon from the governor, he sought reinstatement, relying on a statute which purported to make reinstatement mandatory on the court upon proof of the pardon. Held, the statute is unconstitutional in so far as it directs the court to reinstate a disbarred attorney without a showing of moral rehabilitation. It is an encroachment by the legislature upon the inherent power of the court to admit attorneys to practice and in effect vacates a judicial order by legislative mandate. In …

The Changing Relationship Of The Judicial And Executive Branches, F. R. Aumann

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Equity- Constitutional Law - Power Of Legislature To Change Equitable Doctrines

Michigan Law Review

A Nebraska statute provided that in case of insolvency of a state bank the general depositors, subject to prior liens for taxes, have a first lien on all assets of the bank. A bank converted a note deposited for a special purpose, and indistinguishably mingled the proceeds with the general assets of the bank before insolvency. The deposit was held to have created a trust and the cestui was allowed to recover the amount of the note (trust fund) as a preferred claim upon the general assets of the bank. To the argument that this statute prohibited the imposition of …

Constitutional Law-Partial Unconstitutionality Of Statutes-Effect Of Saving Clause On General Rules Of Construction

Michigan Law Review

In recent legislation it has become fairly common to incorporate so-called "saving" clauses or sections. In effect, these usually state with variations in phraseology, that the adjudication of invalidity of any part of the act shall not affect the validity of the balance or any of the remaining parts of the act and, in some instances in addition, that notwithstanding a portion of the act is declared objectionable, the legislature would have passed the residue of the statute or any of its parts or that the remaining portions or any part thereof shall be enforced without reference to that invalidated.

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.