Law and Race Commons^™

Constitutional Law-Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Segregation In Recreational Facilities Furnished By A Municipality, James S. Taylor S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff, a Negro, was denied admission to a municipal golf course under an ordinance setting aside certain public parks for the exclusive use of Negroes, and providing that all other public parks were for the exclusive use of white people. Only the public parks provided for the "whites" had golf courses, though in all other respects the park facilities offered were substantially equal. The plaintiff brought an action in a federal district court for a declaratory judgment as to his civil rights and for an injunction protecting such rights. The injunction was denied on the grounds that the facilities …

A Study Of The Cost Of Providing Substantially Equal Educational Facilities For Segregated Whites And Negro School Children In Arkansas, Edgar Alan Morris

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

An recent years, Negro patrons in several Arkansas school districts have appealed to the courts in efforts to get better educational facilities for their children, and the courts have ordered a substantially equal expenditure for the two races. Other suits of similar intent are now pending and still others are threatened.

From the foregoing it is apparent (1) that inequalities in educational facilities are not new in Arkansas and that the policies of the local school boards must be responsible; and (2) that the problem is centered in the local districts having mixed populations and that the disparity must be …

The Unhappy History Of Civil Rights Legislation, Eugene Gressman

Michigan Law Review

The enforcement by federal legislation of the constitutional right of individuals is a story written largely in terms of confusion, distortion and frustration. Seldom, if ever, have the power and the purposes of legislation been rendered so impotent. Indeed, this story constitutes one of the saddest chapters in the historic struggle to effectuate the American ideal of freedom and equality for all.

The Fourteenth Amendment And The "Separate But Equal" Doctrine, Joseph S. Ransmeier

Michigan Law Review

Recent cases in which the Court has overthrown enforced separation in public higher education on the ground of inequality but without consideration of the merits of the separate but equal rule have been the occasion for an outpouring of law review discussion on the subject. The present paper is a part of this stream. Its purpose is two-fold: first, to set forth the judicial history of the modern separate but equal rule, noting its pre-Fourteenth Amendment origin and the rather uncritical manner in which courts permitted it to infiltrate its way from one area of the law to another; and …

International Law-Effect Of Philippine Independence On Filipino Citizens Resident In The United States, Donald S. Leeper S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant was born in the Philippine Islands in 1910 and lawfully entered the Territory of Hawaii in 1930, where he has resided ever since. In 1949 appellant applied for the issuance of a United States passport. Application was denied on the ground that the appellant became an alien under the Presidential Proclamation of Philippine Independence of July 4, 1946, and hence was not entitled to a passport. Appellant petitioned to have his status declared to be that of a national of the United States. This was resisted on the ground that the intention of the United States Government was to …

Western Union Telegram To Mr. Virgil D. Hawkins, Registrar

Documents

During his struggle to gain entry to the University of Florida College of Law, Mr. Hawkins never applied to Florida A & M for law school. Nevertheless, he was notified, by telegram, that his "application for admission" was approved and he was given instructions to register for classes for the fall semester, 1951.

Constitutional Law-Fourteenth Amendment-Discrimination In Selection Of Grand Jurors, Alan C. Boyd S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant's conviction of murder was affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which rejected defendant's claim that discrimination in selection of the indicting grand jury had violated his constitutional rights. Defendant pointed out that the Negro proportion of grand jurors had uniformly been less than the ratio of Negroes to the total population of the county, and that on the past twenty-one lists the commissioners had consistently limited the number of Negroes to not more than one on each grand jury. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, reversed. Limitation of the number of Negroes on …

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection Clause-County Unit Vote, Charles Myneder S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs brought an action against defendants, Chairman of the Georgia State Democratic Executive Committee and others, to restrain adherence to a state statute providing that the County Unit Vote shall determine the outcome of a primary election. Under the statute each county is alloted a number of unit votes. The candidate receiving the highest popular vote in the county is awarded the unit votes of that county. Plaintiffs, residents of the most populous county in the state, alleged that their votes had on an average but one-tenth the weight of those in the other counties in the state. From a …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Books Received

Availability for Work

By Ralph Altman

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950. Pp. 350. $4.50

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Comparative Law, Cases and Materials

Rudolf B. Schlesinger

Brooklyn:The Foundation Press, Inc., 1950. Pp. 552. $7.50

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Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure, Cases

By Ray Forrester

St. Paul:West Publishing Company, 1950. Pp. 990. $8.50.

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Financial History of Tennessee Since 1870

By James E. Thorogood

State of Tennessee: Department of Finance and Taxation, 1950. Pp. 245.

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International Law, Cases and Materials

By Edwin D. Dickinson

Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1950. Pp. 740. $8.00

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Primer of Procedure

By Delmar Karlen Madison:

Campus …

Sanders: Juvenile Courts In North Carolina, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of JUVENILE COURTS IN NORTH CAROLINA By Wiley B. Sanders.

Corporations-Nonprofit Corporations-Expulsion Of Member By Board Of Directors, Paul W. Eaton, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The board of directors of defendant, a nonprofit corporation, passed a resolution that persons should not be denied membership on racial, religious or political grounds. Plaintiff, a branch member of defendant, had enacted by-laws denying Negroes admission to its group. Defendant's board declared plaintiff's by-laws were in conflict with the resolution and threatened to expel plaintiff branch if its by-laws were not amended. Plaintiff brought suit to enjoin defendant from carrying out its threat. Held, injunction granted. No national by-law required admission of all races to membership in branches, nor did the national directors have power to expel a …

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Miscegenation Statute Declared Unconstitutional, Donald D. Davis

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners, a female white and a male Negro, applied to respondent, county clerk of Los Angeles County, for a marriage license. Respondent refused to issue the license, relying on sections 60 and 69 of the California Code. Petitioners brought a mandamus proceeding to compel respondent to issue the license, contending that the statutes relied on by respondent were unconstitutional in that they prohibited the free exercise of their religion. Held, in a four to three decision, the statute is unconstitutional. Three justices of the majority found that the statute violated the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution …

Constitutional Law--Due Process-Federal Restrictions On The Use Of Confessions In State Criminal Proceedings, F. L. Adamson

Michigan Law Review

Undisputed evidence established that petitioner, a negro boy of fifteen, was arrested at about midnight, October 19, 1945 and taken to police headquarters. He was questioned by the police with no friend or counsel present. He was not informed of his right to counsel or of his right to refuse to answer. At about five in the morning, October 20, he confessed. He was then informed of his rights and his statement taken and transcribed. He was photographed by a newspaper photographer, and then placed in jail. On October 23 he was, for the first time, taken before a magistrate …

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Judicial Enforcement Of Race Restrictive Covenant, Charles B. Blackmar S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The highest courts of Missouri and Michigan, and the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, had held that restrictions against occupancy of land by negroes were enforceable by injunction. On certiorari, held, reversed. Enforcement of such restrictions by state courts constitutes a denial of equal protection of the laws. Enforcement by courts of the District violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and also it is contrary to the public policy of the United States to allow a federal court to enforce an agreement which a state court could not constitutionally enforce. Shelley v. Kraemer, (U.S. …

Constitutional Law--Commerce Clause--Foreign Commerce--Validity Of State Statute Prohibiting Racial Discrimination By Carrier, Bruce L. Moore S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant owns and operates two steamships for transportation of its patrons between Detroit and Bois Blanc Island, part of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The island is owned by appellant and operated as an amusement and recreation center for the people of Detroit. For refusal to transport a negro girl, appellant was prosecuted and convicted under the Michigan Civil Rights Act which provides that "All persons within the jurisdiction of this state shall be entitled to full and equal accommodations . . . facilities and privileges . . . of public conveyances on land and water . . . ," …

Constitutional Law--White Primaries--Rice V. Elmore, Irving Slifkin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The right of the negro to vote has constantly been challenged in attempts to destroy or at least to control the exercise of that right. The Fifteenth Amendment secures the right to vote free from interference on a racial basis by the states or the national government. In the states where there is a large negro population varied efforts have been attempted in order to control and nullify the negro vote. These efforts have been manifested in various forms-the grandfather clause, property ownership requirements, the poll tax, character tests, and literacy tests.

Constitutional Law -Equal Protection - California Alien Land Law, J. R. Mackenzie

Michigan Law Review

A Japanese alien paid for some agricultural land in California which was conveyed to his seven-year-old citizen son. All records indicated that the son owned the land, although the father, his guardian, managed it. The California Alien Land Law prohibits ownership of any interest in agricultural land by aliens ineligible for citizenship. Property acquired in violation of the statute escheats as of the date of acquisition as does land transferred "with intent to prevent, evade, or avoid escheat." This intent is presumed prima facie whenever an ineligible alien pays the consideration for a transfer of land to one who may …

Constitutional Law-Fourteenth Amendment-Equal Protection Of The Laws-Racial Segregation In Public Educational Institutions, Neal Seegert S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Segregation of races, particularly separation of white and colored races, has long been condoned by American courts as permissible under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Underlying the traditional view is the idea that the equal protection clause is not violated by segregation so long as equal facilities are provided for both races. On this basic premise a large number of jurisdictions, particularly the southern states, have predicated constitutional provisions and statutory enactments compelling racial segregation, while a number of other states where segregation has not been forbidden by express constitutional or statutory provision have achieved …

Real Property-Unenforceability Of Restrictive Covenants-Methods Of Protecting Plan, Charles B. Blackmar S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The restrictive covenant is a device by which property owners can gain some degree of assurance that neighboring property will not be used in an objectionable way. The restrictions are usually reciprocal and negative, common examples being building restrictions, regulations as to use for business, and prohibitions against occupancy by certain races. By private agreement much greater protection can be had than is afforded by zoning ordinances and nuisance doctrines.

Carr: Federal Protection Of Civil Rights: Quest For A Sword, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of FEDERAL PROTECTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS: QUEST FOR A SWORD. By Robert K. Carr.

Mr. Justice William Johnson, Jurist In Limine: The Judge As Historian And Maker Of History, A. J. Levin

Michigan Law Review

In the year 1822 A. E. Miller of No. 4 Broad-street, near the Bay, Charleston, South Carolina, "Printed for the Author" the Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathanael Greene, Major General of The Armies of The United States, In The War of The Revolution. The fly-leaf announced that the work was "Compiled Chiefly from Original Materials" and that it was in "Two Volumes" by William Johnson of Charleston, South Carolina. It was, indeed, a substantial publication "grown to a bulk . . . never anticipated" of some nine hundred thirty-eight pages exclusive of numerous pages in small …

Constitutional Aspects Of Federal Anti-Poll Tax Legislation, Joseph E. Kallenbach

Michigan Law Review

The proposal to abolish by national law the requirement now prevailing in seven Southern states that voters shall have paid a poll tax in order to vote in any national election involves a constitutional issue of the first magnitude. In the decade immediately following the Civil War the constitutional division of authority between the national and state governments in dealing with the question of Negro suffrage became a point of bitter controversy in Congress. Out of this struggle came the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, with certain supporting legislation, the aim of which was to prohibit disfranchisement of …

Constitutional Law-State Court Enforcement Of Race Restrictive Covenants As State Action Within Scope Of Fourteenth Amendment, John A. Huston S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The current housing shortage with the overcrowded living conditions and substandard accommodations which it imposes on the most numerous classes of society has made particularly significant in the competition for housing areas the discriminations generally enforced against negroes and other racial minority groups. Both normal population growth and the suspension of new construction during the great depression and the late war have contributed to an emergency in which the circumstances of our negro population are materially worse than those of any other group. Aggravating this result has been the shift in negro population occasioned by the wartime demand for industrial …

Constitutional Law-Interstate Commerce-Carriers-Validity Of State Statute Requiring Racial Segregation Of Passengers, George Brody S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant, a passenger on a motor common carrier, was traveling from Virginia to Baltimore. Pursuant to a Virginia statute requiring all passenger motor carrier vehicles to "separate without discrimination the white and colored passengers in their motor busses so that contiguous seats will not be occupied by persons of different races at the same time" the driver of the carrier upon which appellant was traveling requested her to vacate her seat so that it could be used by a white passenger. She refused and was arrested and convicted under authority of a statute punishing such refusal. The Virginia Supreme Court …

Constitutional Law-Protection Of Civil Liberties-Federal Criminal Prosecution Of State Police Officers-Constitutionality And Construction Of Section 20 Of Criminal Code, George Brody

Michigan Law Review

In United States v. Classic the Civil Liberties Unit of the Department of Justice resurrected the long dormant section 20 of the United States criminal code to prosecute successfully election officials in Louisiana for altering and falsely counting ballots cast in a Louisiana primary for representatives to Congress. Although the acts of the defendants were also in violation of state law the court asserted that "misuse of power possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with authority of state law, is action taken under color of state law" and therefore within 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.

Labor Unions-Closed Shop And Arbitrarily Closed Or Partially Closed Union-Injunction, John S. Dobson

Michigan Law Review

The defendants appealed from an order of the lower court awarding a preliminary injunction which restrained the defendants from discharging or causing the discharge of the plaintiff and other Negro employees because they were not members of a labor union with which their employer has a closed shop agreement, but which will not grant Negroes full membership privileges. The defendants were: the plaintiff's employer; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers of America which is a labor union; and certain officials of the aforementioned union. There was a written contract between the employer and the International Brotherhood containing …

Apportionment Of Representation In The Legislature: A Study Of State Constitutions, Elizabeth Durfee

Michigan Law Review

This paper is concerned with the rules found in our state constitutions for apportionment of representation in the state legislature. It does not attempt to solve the problems of high-tension politics that are involved in the making and remaking of such rules; it goes no deeper than an exposition of existing rules. Even on this level it is not exhaustive. Since the constitutions exhibit manifold variations, from simple directions which are scarcely more than a declaration of policy to complex rules for the formation of districts, no attempt will be made to classify all the different types of provisions. With …

Covenants-Restrictions Upon The Use Of Land-Negroes

Michigan Law Review

Many years ago a subdivision in Detroit was platted, with recorded building restrictions. When ready for the sale of lots, the intended high character of the subdivision and its desirability for expensive residences was much advertised. An association, an informal organization of some of the owners of houses in the subdivision, assumed the right to pass upon the desirability of prospective lot purchasers, and there was some indication that the person who advertised and marketed most of the lots verbally agreed to submit to the association the names of prospective purchasers and assured some intending purchasers that colored persons would …

Constitutional Law-Congressional Primaries-Voting Rights Of Negroes, Everett S. Brown

Michigan Law Review

The petitioner, Lonnie E. Smith, a Negro citizen of Harris County, Texas, brought suit for damages against election judges who refused to give him a ballot or to permit him to cast a ballot in the primary election of July 27, 1940, for the nomination of Democratic candidates for federal and state officers. The refusal was alleged to have been solely because of Smith's race and color and consequently violated sections 31 and 43 of title 8 of the United States Code by depriving Smith of rights secured under provisions of the Federal Constitution. The District Court of the United …