Courts Commons^™

Federal Courts-Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure-Duty Of Court In Non-Jury Action On Motion To Dismiss Under Rule 41 (B), Merrill N. Johnson

Michigan Law Review

The federal government brought an action to restrain the United States Gypsum Company and thirteen other corporate and individual defendants from alleged violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Most of the government's evidence came from defendant's officers, employees, and documents with the result that evidence favorable to both the plaintiff and defendants was presented. The government's case required over five months to present and 10,000 pages to record. The defendants then moved to dismiss the complaint with prejudice under Rule 41 (b). In the hearing on this motion, the government contended that the sole question presented was one of law, …

Model Probate Code And Monographs On Probate Law: A Review, Russell Denison Niles

Michigan Law Review

The current volume in the Michigan Legal Studies, Problems in Probate Law: Model Probate Code, is an outstanding example of what can be achieved by the cooperation of a professional association and a well-financed and forward-looking law school. The Probate Division of the Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law of the American Bar Association initiated the project of preparing a model probate code and sponsored the project through to completion. The code is the Probate Division's proudest achievement. But the code would not have been possible without the Herculean labors of Professor Lewis M. Simes, Director of …

States-Waiver Of State Immunity To Suit With Special Reference To Suits In Federal Courts, Richard C. Scatterday S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Although deriving its force and effect from the medieval period, the doctrine of sovereign immunity retains much of its original influence. Historically, the doctrine is based upon the rule that no suit may be brought against the King without his consent. This concept found its way into international law, and from this source was derived the freedom from suit that our individual states enjoy in their own courts. With the development of the federal union, new problems arose and many were resolved by the adoption of the Eleventh Amendment, which forbids suit against a state in a federal court by …

Constitutional Law-Due Process Of Law-Freedom Of The Press To Criticize The Judiciary-Clear And Present Danger Test, Merrill N. Johnson

Michigan Law Review

The editor and publisher of the Miami Herald published two editorials and a cartoon which inaccurately portrayed the local circuit court as willing to "accept, even go out to find, every possible technicality of the law to protect the defendant, to block, thwart, hinder, embarass and nullify prosecution" in certain criminal cases then before the court. They were cited in contempt of the circuit court for tending to obstruct and interfere with the impartial administration of justice. Found guilty of the charges, the petitioners appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, which affirmed the decision declaring that the object of the …

Historic Origins Of Admiralty Jurisdiction In England, Lionel H. Laing

Michigan Law Review

The process of the common law courts when resorted to by foreigners appears to have failed entirely to give redress. Arbitration and other treaties were tried without satisfaction. Finally, in 1337, Edward III found himself obliged to pay out of his own pocket for spoils committed upon Flemish, Genoese and Venetian merchants by his own subjects. This was no international gesture, for it was dictated by necessity, since the English monarch, engaged in a struggle with France, wished to retain the aid of his allies. It thus became urgent to suppress piracy, which was the plague of the Channel.

Administrative Law-Prior Resort Doctrine-Resort To The Railroad Adjustment Board Before Court Action, William H. Buchanan

Michigan Law Review

The decision in a recent case to the effect that a dispute concerning the construction of a contract of employment between a labor union and a railroad may be adjusted by carrying it before the Railroad Adjustment Board, or by carrying it directly to the courts makes this an apt time to examine the applicability of the doctrine of prior resort to disputes. covered by the Railway Labor Act. Such an examination seems especially necessary in view of the fact that in such cases the courts have not even mentioned the doctrine.

Attorney And Client-Criticism Of Court As Ground For Disciplinary Action, Howard Jacobs

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, an attorney, while candidate for nomination to the office of Justice of the Supreme Court of Wyoming, wrote and circulated a pamphlet making false, contemptuous and scandalous charges against the court. He admitted in the pamphlet that he became a candidate for the sole purpose of attacking the court. Held, preparing and circulating such a pamphlet amounted to willful violation of defendant's duties as an attorney of the State of Wyoming, and constituted a legal cause for his suspension from practice for six months. State Board of Law Examiners v. Spriggs, (Wyo. 1945) 155 P. (2d) 285.

Abstracts, Mary Jane Plumer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Contempt-Right Of Court To Dismiss Attorney From Trial-Hardship On Client, John Dobson

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner asked for a writ of mandamus to have himself reinstated as counsel in a trial. The petitioner had represented two defendants in a criminal action, up until the time the judge presiding in the trial, respondent here, ordered him dismissed from the court as the attorney of record for the defendants. The respondent had called on the various counsel in the case to explain a certain matter, which seemed, "prima facie at least," to show contempt of court. When the petitioner was called on he did not confine himself to the matter in question, but proceeded to attack the …

Trial Procedure-Note Taking By Jurors-Misconduct Of Court In Instructing Jury To Take Notes Over Objections Of Litigants, Craig E. Davids S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff suffered injuries by stepping into a hole on the sidewalk of defendant city. After a jury had been impaneled and sworn in the trial of the cause, the court, without the request of either litigant and over their objections, suggested to the jurors that they might take notes on the evidence presented, furnishing them with the necessary materials and instructing them as to how they should be kept during the progress of the trial. The trial court awarded judgment for defendant. The court of appeals, however, reversed the decision of the lower court and granted a new trial, holding …

Abstracts, Mary Jane Plumer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

The Venue Of Probate And Administration Proceedings, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

With the division of each state into counties or districts and the creation in each such subdivision of some court for the probate of wills and the administration of estates, it became necessary to designate which of such courts should undertake these functions in a particular estate. It is not the purpose of this study to consider problems arising out of conflicts of jurisdiction as between states insofar as independent determinations of domicile of a decedent may be made. That a decedent died a resident of the state undertaking an administration upon his estate will be assumed; or, if he …

Abstracts, Mary Jane Plumer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

The Organization Of The Probate Court In America: Ii, Lewis M. Simes, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of the discussion which follows to consider how far the court organization in typical jurisdictions is adapted to a differentiation between contentious and noncontentious business. The sharp differentiation in English law will first be pointed out. Then the probate judicial organizations of various typical states will be considered in connection with the questions: How far have they retained the distinction between contentious and noncontentious business emphasized in the English system which served as their model? How far have they developed a basis of differentiation unlike the English model? The answer to these questions will involve some …

The Organization Of The Probate Court In America: I, Lewis M. Simes, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

This is a study of contemporary American legislation concerning probate courts, with particular reference to their jurisdiction over the probate of wills and the administration of estates of deceased persons.

By the term "probate courts" is meant all judicial tribunals which exercise such jurisdiction. As will subsequently appear, they are otherwise variously designated as surrogates' courts, orphans' courts, prerogative courts, courts of ordinary and county courts. In one state all the functions of probate and administration are exercised by courts of chancery. In other states, chancery has concurrent jurisdiction over many of these functions. Sometimes the register of probate exercises …

Abstracts, Mary Jane Plumer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Criminal Justice In Germany, Hans Julius Wolff

Michigan Law Review

Criminal law and procedure, perhaps even more than civil, reflect the underlying conceptions of the political system with which they are connected. The ideological structure of criminal procedure in Germany, as well as in other continental European states, rests on the historical development through which constitutional institutions in those countries have passed since the French Revolution. It mirrors the transformation of the all-powerful state of the period of absolutism into the liberal state with its guaranteed freedoms and rights of the individual and strict legal limits to the power of the authorities (Rechtsstaat); and in recent years it has adapted …

Judges-Disqualification -Doctrine Of Necessity, W. Theodore Markwood

Michigan Law Review

An original action in quo warranto was brought in the name of the state on the relation of the Attorney General who later became a justice of the Supreme Court and participated in the final decision. It was argued on motion for a rehearing that this justice was disqualified by his prior connection with the case and that his participation in the final decision made it erroneous. Held, he was not disqualified, but if he had been, he was nevertheless under a duty to act with the court when it appeared that without his participation no decision could be …

Jury Selection Analyzed: Proposed Revision Of Federal System, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

It is proposed, and bills to carry out the proposal are now pending in Congress, that the federal system of jury selection be substantially revised, chiefly by establishing "uniform qualifications" for jurors who serve in the federal courts. An examination of these bills reveals that the proposed revision not only contemplates the elimination of conformity with state statutes insofar as they prescribe qualifications for, and exemptions from, jury service, but also contemplates a startling increase in the discretionary powers of the federal judges with respect to the whole process of jury selection. As an aid to a consideration of the …

Abstracts, Mary Jane Plumer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Civil Justice In Germany, Burke Shartel, Hans Julius Wolff

Michigan Law Review

Our aim in preparing this paper is to develop for American lawyers a picture of the functioning of German civil justice. This aim, as well as the paper itself, is an outgrowth of a series of lectures on the German legal system delivered by the authors as background in the law of military occupation for the Judge Advocate General's School of the United States Army in Ann Arbor. That part of these lectures which concerns the operation of German civil justice seems to us of sufficient intrinsic interest to warrant publication.

Proposed Rules Of Federal Criminal Procedure: Final Draft, Albert J. Harno

Michigan Law Review

In February 1941, the Supreme Court appointed an advisory committee to prepare a draft of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. That committee has made its report to the Court and has presented a final draft of the rules. The adoption of these rules would be a landmark in criminal law administration. The importance of the draft does not lie in the fact that it projects matters that are novel or new, but rather in that it presents in successive provisions, stated in simple language, the best practices in criminal law procedure that have been evolved through experience. Of equal, or …

Abstracts, Benjamin M. Quigg, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Evidence-Judicial Notice By Appellate Courts Of Facts And Foreign Laws, Not Brought To The Attention Of The Trial Court, Hobart Taylor, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The general problem to be discussed in this comment is the process and supporting reasons used by appellate courts in their determination of the propriety of taking official cognizance of facts not brought to the attention of the trial court. This necessarily removes that great and complex body of case and statutory law dealing with situations where a court is called upon to take judicial notice of local statutes, municipal ordinances, and other similar matters of law. Also specifically excluded from discussion are the cases where error is alleged because the trial court refused to take notice of a fact …

The Scope Of A Civil Action, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

In the last fifty years the rules which deal with what Professor Millar happily has called "The Compass of the Cause" have shown "conspicuous advance." This advance is clearly reflected in the Rules of Civil Procedure of the District Courts of the United States, effective in 1938. It is the purpose of this paper, first, to present a complete analysis of the concept: scope of a civil action; second, to show the weaknesses of the codes in dealing with this concept; and, third, to indicate to what extent these, weaknesses have been remedied by the new …

Courts - Federal Courts - Diversity Of Citizenship Requirement - Persons Evacuated To Other States By Government Order, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs were United States citizens of Japanese ancestry domiciled in California. By order of the Western Defense Command, United States Army, they were removed to the Gila River Relocation Center, Arizona. Defendants were residents of California. After their relocation plaintiffs brought this action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California "to terminate trust, for an accounting, and for appointment of a receiver," and jurisdiction of the federal court was based solely on allegations of diversity of citizenship. Held, action dismissed for want of jurisdiction. A person moving under legal or physical compulsion, from his …

Unreported Michigan Supreme Court Opinions, 1836-1843, Clark F. Norton

Michigan Law Review

It is a commonly known fact that, although Michigan was admitted to the Union in 1837 (many of her citizens had claimed statehood for more than a year prior to her formal admission), few opinions of the state supreme court written before 1843 have ever been published. Why a period of almost ten years should have elapsed before the first volume of state reports was issued in 1846 ( with the exception of two volumes of chancery reports), or why the early reporters seem, from a casual examination, to have neglected decisions of the court before 1843, or what happened …

Abstracts, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Abstracts, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Abstracts, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.