First Amendment Commons^™

The Present Status Of The "Clear And Present Danger Test"--A Brief History And Some Observations, Louis B. Lusk

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Compelling The Testimony Of Political Deviants, O. John Rogge

Michigan Law Review

Besides the two specific problems which the new federal act presents, namely, whether it imposes nonjudicial functions on federal courts, and whether it should, does and can protect against the substantial danger of state prosecution, there is a general objection that one can raise against it, and to other acts of the same type: they relate to the area of belief and opinion, the very area which was involved when the English people, spearheaded by the Puritans, engaged in the struggle with the Crown that finally resulted in the establishment of a right of silence. At least if we are …

Constitutional Law - Freedom Of Religion - Fluoridation Of City Water, John M. Webb S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In its proprietary capacity the City of Bend maintains and operates a water system with the exclusive right to supply water to its inhabitants. In February 1952 the mayor and city commissioners adopted an ordinance providing for the introduction of fluorine into the water supply to reduce dental caries in the teeth of young children. The plaintiff as a resident and taxpayer brought suit to enjoin such action. A demurrer to his complaint was sustained. On appeal, held, affirmed. A city, in the exercise of its police power, may enact reasonable regulations for the protection of the public health, …

State And Local Taxation -- 1956 Tennessee Survey, Paul J. Hartman

Vanderbilt Law Review

As indicative of the growing importance to the bench and bar of state and local taxation, the Tennessee Supreme Court was called upon to decide three significant tax cases during the period covered by this survey article. During this period, objecting taxpayers spear-headed vigorous assaults against various privilege taxes on commerce and due process clause grounds.

Book Reviews, Robert J. Harris, Charles B. Nutting (Reviewer), Daniel Walker (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Book Reviews

American Constitutional Law By Bernard Schwartz Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1955. Pp. xiv, 364. $5.00

reviewer: Robert J. Harris

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The Development of Academic Freedom in the United States By Richard Hofstadter and Walter P. Metzger New York: Columbia University Press, 1955. Pp. xvi, 527. $5.50

Academic Freedom in Our Time By Robert M. MacIver New York:Columbia University Press, 1955. Pp. xiv, 329. $4.00

reviewer: Charles B. Nutting

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Military Justice in the United States

By Robinson 0. Everett

Harrisburg: Military Service Publishing Company, 1956. Pp. 338

reviewer: Daniel Walker

Constitutional Law (Survey Of Virginia Case Law - 1955), Norman A. Crandell

William and Mary Review of Virginia Law

No abstract provided.

Mason: Security Through Freedom. American Political Thought And Practice., William R. Jentes S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Security Through Freedom. American Political Thought and Practice. By Alpheus Thomas Mason.

Church, State, And Freedom: A Review, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court's opinion in the Everson case declaring that the separation-of-church-and-state limitation derived from the First Amendment was equally applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment opened up new vistas on the church-state problems in this country. Opponents of released time programs were quick to seize the opening thus afforded as evidenced by the litigation in the McCollum and Zorach cases. And even before the Everson case reached it, the Supreme Court, thanks almost entirely to the efforts of Jehovah's Witnesses, had been engaged at length with the task of defining the dimensions of religious freedom as secured …

Wills - Religious Conditions In Restraint Of Marriage - Validity At Common Law And Effect Of Shelley V. Kraemer, Jack G. Armstrong S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Testator devised and bequeathed his property to his children, but with a proviso that the gift to any child who should marry a person not born in the Hebrew faith should lapse. Subsequent to the testator's death, the defendant married a woman who had been born a Roman Catholic. The other beneficiaries brought a proceeding to declare that the defendant had lost his rights under the will by reason of his marriage. The probate court granted a decree substantially as sought by the plaintiffs. On appeal, held, affirmed. This partial restraint on marriage is not so unreasonable as to …

Problems In The Removal Of Federal Civil Servants, Ivor L. M. Richardson

Michigan Law Review

The publicity given in the past few years to the loyalty and security program has brought the civil servant of the federal government increasingly before the public eye. At the same time little attention has been paid to the plight of a civil servant who is dismissed from his post for reasons other than those relating to loyalty and security. It is the purpose of this paper to consider different aspects of the removal of civil servants. We shall discuss (1) the government's power to remove civil servants both at common law and under statutes which deal with the exercise …

Public Employees And The Right To Engage In Political Activity, Dalmas H. Nelson

Vanderbilt Law Review

Although the right to freedom of expression has become more narrowly circumscribed for everyone in recent years, the abridgments of this right that the courts have held may constitutionally be imposed on public employees are exceptionally extensive. This has been justified basically in terms of the doctrines that public employment is a privilege which the government may extend or withdraw at will and upon such terms as it chooses, and that denial of public employment does not constitute punishment. The upshot is that in this area the government may act with almost complete arbitrariness, even when basic rights such as …

Constitutional Law - Freedom Of Religion - Judicial Intervention In Disputes Within Independent Church Bodies, Julius B. Poppinga S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to set forth the several principles applied by courts in determining controversies in independent church groups and to consider the constitutional implications of judicial intervention.

Commentary On Press Photographers And The Courtroom, William F. Swindler

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, Robert J. Harris (Reviewer), E. M. Morgan (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Book Reviews

The Fifth Amendment Today By Erwin N. Griswold Cambridge)Mass.: Harvard University Press. Pp. vi, 82. $0.50

reviewer: Robert J. Harris

Handbook of the Law of Evidence By Charles T, McCormick St.Paul: West Publishing Co., 1954, pp. xxviii, 774.

reviewer: E. M. Morgan

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Validity Of Refusal To Permit The Showing Of A Motion Picture On The Grounds Of Obscenity, Donald F. Oosterhouse S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A Chicago municipal ordinance made it unlawful to exhibit any motion picture without first having secured a permit from the Commissioner of Police. The commissioner is required to issue the permit unless he finds the picture "immoral or obscene. . .. " On these grounds he refused to permit exhibition of "The Miracle." Plaintiffs brought suit to have the ordinance declared unconstitutional and to restrain enforcement of the prohibition on the picture. The trial court granted the relief asked. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded to determine if the motion picture is obscene. A prior restraint on the exhibition …

Constitutional Law - Church And State - Statute Requiring Religion To Be Taken Into Consideration In Adoption, David W. Swanson

Michigan Law Review

ln 1951, a Jewish couple obtained custody of illegitimate twins who were then two weeks old. In 1954, the couple formally sought to adopt the children. Although petitioners were otherwise qualified to act as parents, a Massachusetts statute provides that "in making orders for adoption, the judge when practicable must give custody only to persons of the same religious faith as that of the child." The twins' natural mother was Catholic but had consented in writing to adoption by the petitioners and to rearing of the children in the Jewish faith. The lower court found that several Catholic couples had …

Labor Law - Organizational Picketing In Industries Not Affecting Interstate Commerce, Arne Hovdesven

Michigan Law Review

Representatives of defendant union approached plaintiff, proprietor of a small liquor store, with information that they planned to initiate an organizational campaign to obtain the membership of the store's three clerks, none of whom were members of any union at that time. Subsequent to this meeting, a picket line of two men was established and was maintained without any acts of violence, for over nineteen months until halted by a permanent injunction issued by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division. The union did not make any demands upon plaintiff to sign a contract or to recognize it as bargaining …

Constitutional Law - Federal Regulation Of Lobbying Act - Vague And Indefinite Language As Violation Of First And Fifth Amendment, Arne Hovdesven

Michigan Law Review

Defendants were charged with violation of the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act because of failure to register as lobbyists under provisions of section 308 and to report expenditures as directed by section 305. The lower court found these sections of the statute unconstitutional and dismissed the information. On appeal, held, the act is not so vague and indefinite as to violate the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment; nor does it violate the First Amendment. The penalty provision of section 310(b) is not objectionable as a deprivation of First Amendment rights since it is separable. United States v. …

Labor Law - Arbitration - Right Of Employer Of Discharge Employer Who Refuses To Testify Concerning His Communist Affiliation, Mary Lee Ryan

Michigan Law Review

A member of the United Electrical Workers Union was discharged from the J. H. Day Company because of his refusal to testify concerning his communist affiliation before the Ohio Un-American Activities Committee and because of the unfavorable publicity which had resulted. Under grievance procedure, the union brought the matter before arbitration. Findings, there was no just cause for dismissal. The employee is entitled to back pay and to reinstatement subject to security clearance. J. H. Day Company,. 22 LAB. Aim. RBP. 751 (1954).

Freedom Of Inquiry Versus Authority: Some Legal Aspects, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

I am to discuss some legal aspects of freedom of inquiry versus authority. It raises the issue of free speech; for inquiry is not free - it is confined and frustrated - if one must keep the fruits of inquiry to one's self. The contest between freedom and authority, even in a democracy, is an unequal contest, with the advantage on the side of authority; for authority has power and power has the drop on freedom. This is why eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Freedom has its dangers. There is no doubt about that. The risk is still …

Constitutional Law - Censorship Of Obscence Literature, Donald M. Wilkinson, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The right to a free expression of ideas, without interference from governmental authorities, is inherent in the very nature of a democracy. On the other hand, it is also clear that the greater interests of the state at large will conflict with certain forms of expression, and in such circumstances obviously the former must prevail. It is the purpose of this comment to discuss the constitutional limitations on the governmental suppression of literature on grounds of obscenity.

Criminal Procedure - Standing Of The Press To Protest Exclusion Of Public From Criminal Trial By Order Of The Trial Judge, M. Fred Mallender, Ii

Michigan Law Review

Defendant judge, believing that great harm to public morals and decency was to be apprehended from the testimony in the vice trial of Minot F. Jelke, exercised his discretion to exclude the general public including plaintiff newspapers from the court room during the state's case. The family and friends of the accused along with officers of the court, witnesses, and jury were not excluded. The plaintiffs applied for a writ of prohibition to restrain the defendant from enforcing his order. The court denied the application on the grounds that the defendant judge had the power to make the exclusion order …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Freedom Of Expression - Motion Picture Censorship, Constantine D. Kasson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The New York Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a license to exhibit the French motion picture "La Ronde'' upon the grounds that it was "immoral'' and "would tend to corrupt morals." Censorship of the picture, which dealt with promiscuous sex relations, was held to be a proper exercise of the police power, since its exhibition would present a clear and present danger to the morals of the community, and the words "immoral" and "tend to corrupt morals" were held sufficiently definite for purposes of due process. In another censorship case, the Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed the rejection …

Motion Picture Censorship - A Constitutional Dilemma - Superior Films, Inc. V. Department Of Education

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Congressional Investigations And First Amendment Restriction On The Compulsion Of Testimony

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Newspapers And The Courts, Marcus D. Gleisser

Cleveland State Law Review

A problem of legal ethics that has been hovering over American courts, lawyers and newspapermen for more than half a century has finally landed in open debate in recent months. It is a problem that thus far has done little more than rouse recriminations and countercharges between two forced each of which, surprisingly enough, claims it avidly seeks what is in essence the same goal - justice. The problem is that of newspaper handling of court trials and their pre-trial developments.

Constitutional Law-Freedom Of Assembly-Equal Protection Of The Law, S. I. Shuman

Michigan Law Review

The ordinance here involved prohibited any person from addressing a political or religious meeting in any public park. At a meeting involving no disturbances or breaches of the peace, plaintiff, a Jehovah's Witness, was arrested when he addressed a meeting in a public park. The state supreme court upheld a conviction under the ordinance. Held, reversed. The principal case is on all fours with Niemotko v. Maryland. The state conceded at oral argument that the meeting was a religious one and that the ordinance as construed and applied did not prohibit church services in the park. Therefore, since …

Clandestine Speech And The First Amendment, Wallace Mendelson

Michigan Law Review

In a comment" written at the conclusion of the Communist leaders' trial Professor Nathanson noted that Judge Medina's instructions required for a verdict of guilty that the jury "find only that the defendants intended to accomplish the overthrow of government 'as speedily as circumstances would permit it to be achieved.' " This, wrote Professor Nathanson, was "inconsistent with the clear-and-present-danger test as formulated by Holmes and Brandeis, unless there were other circumstances in the facts actually presented which made that test inapplicable." A major part of the balance of the comment is an attempt to refute a suggestion that clandestine, …

Book Reviews, Reginald C. Harmon (Reviewer), A. B. Butts (Reviewer), Rollin M. Perkins (Reviewer), Stanley D. Rose (Reviewer), Charles H. Livengood, Jr. (Reviewer), Keith W. Blinn (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Military Justice under the Uniform Code

By James Snedeker

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1953. $15.00.

reviewer: Reginald C. Harmon

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Conscription of Conscience

By Mulford Q. Sibley and Philip E. Jacob

Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1952. Pp. x, 580. $6.50.

reviewer: A. B. Butts

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Theft, Law and Society

By Jerome Hall

Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc. Second Edition, 1952. Pp. xxiv, 398. $10.00.

reviewer: Rollin M. Perkins

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Freedom of the Press in England 1476-1776

By Fredrick S. Siebert

Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1952. Pp. xiv, 411. $7.50.

reviewer: Stanley D. Rose

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Wage-Hour Law: Coverage

By Heiman …

Right Of Privacy Vs. Free Press: Suggested Resolution Of Conflicting Values

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.