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Review Of The Legal Needs Of The Public, , Richard Lempert

Reviews

Both the title, The Legal, Needs of the Public, and the subtitle, The Final, Report of a National, Survey, of this volume are, quite fortunately, inapt. The report does not seek to quantify the legal needs of the public or to determine whether "needs" are being "met," and we are told by both Barbara Curran in her preface and Spencer Kimball in his foreword that this "final report" signifies the beginning and not the end of data analysis. This study (which I shall call the ABF study) is a joint undertaking of the American Bar Association Special Committee to Survey …

The Law As A Path To The World, Francis A. Allen

Michigan Law Review

Many years ago the late Mr. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes observed: "The law is a small subject (though ... it leads to all things) .... " The comments that follow are an elaboration of Justice Holmes's theme. It will be asserted that one characteristic of legal studies, properly pursued, is that they lead to a fuller understanding of the larger world of which the law and its institutions are a part. Because the law leads to a larger world of persons, events, and ideas, it claims the attention even of those possessing no interest in acquiring professional legal skills. This …

Fornication, Cohabitation, And The Constitution, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note begins with the indisputable assumption that laws prohibiting fornication and cohabitation are nowhere explioitly forbidden by the Constitution. If a right to engage in consensual adult heterosexual activity exists, it will most convincingly be inferred from the Court's cases establishing a right of "privacy." The Note first seeks to discover an adequate definition of privacy which might lead to a decision whether "privacy" encompasses the right .to fornicate or cohabit (a right which, for brevity's sake, we will somewhat imprecisely call the right to, sexual privacy), but it finds no such definition. The Note therefore proceeds to investigate …

Unmarried Couples And Unjust Enrichment: From Status To Contract And Back Again?, Robert C. Casad

Michigan Law Review

In recent years, litigation over property arrangements between unmarried cohabitants has posed some old questions in a new light and has yielded some new answers. One of the most intriguing of these questions is whether a cohabitant has a right, upon dissolution of the relationship, to remuneration for household services rendered during the relationship. A spouse who contributed household services in an actual marriage, of course, may upon divorce receive a share of the property acquired by the other spouse during the marriage or may receive a monetary award as compensation for the contributions made to the other during the …

Negative Attitudes Of Law Students: A Replication Of The Alienation And Dissatisfaction Factors, Paul D. Carrington, James J. Conley

Michigan Law Review

In 1976 we conducted a survey of law students at The University of Michigan. Demographic information; personal goals and values; and attitudes toward the law school, the faculty, and fellow students were surveyed. We factor-analyzed the items relating to attitudes, personal goals, and values. Three major factors were identified and labeled as alienation, dissatisfaction, and sociability. We have recently described the alienation factor extensively and outlined the dissatisfaction and sociability factors. In March 1977, we conducted a second survey designed to replicate the earlier study. Despite the addition of a few new items, the questionnaire was essentially unchanged. The new …

The Evolution Of State Supreme Courts, Robert A. Kagan, Bliss Cartwright, Lawrence M. Friedman, Stanton Wheeler

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this Article describes in broad quantitative terms the changing relationship between the caseload of supreme courts and the population of the states in which these courts sit. Part II examines the various means states used to control supreme court caseloads, the political problems involved, and the types of courts that have resulted. Part III presents evidence that changes in court organization in response to caseload pressure are accompanied by changes in the kinds of cases state supreme courts hear, the style of their opinions, and the results of the cases.

Program From The Twenty-Third William W. Cook Lectures, University Of Michigan Law School

Cook Lecture Materials

The program from the twenty-third William W. Cook lectures, held March 21-23, 1978, at the University of Michigan. The lecture series was "Scientific Research and Public Policy" by Peter Medawar, Richard C. Atkinson, and Jerome B. Wiesner.

Program From The Twenty-Fourth William W. Cook Lectures, University Of Michigan Law School

Cook Lecture Materials

The program from the twenty-fourth William W. Cook lectures, held October 16-19, 1978, at the University of Michigan. The lecture series was "Heroism in Early American Art and Politics" by Garry Wills.

Program From The Twenty-Seventh Thomas M. Cooley Lectures, University Of Michigan Law School

Cooley Lecture Materials

The program from the twenty-seventh Thomas M. Cooley lectures, held April 11-12, 1978, at the University of Michigan Law School. The lecture series was "Science in the Courts" by Harold Leventhal.

The Nonpartisan Freedom Of Expression Of Public Employees, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Governmental activities affect each of us in a myriad of ways. The government's role as employer may pale in comparison with the more glamorous activities of the government as national defender, law enforcer, and allocator of scarce resources. Yet the legal ramifications of public employment-where the public interest in efficient governmental operation often conflicts with the public employee's freedom-have a profound influence upon American society.

In 1968, the Supreme Court in Pickering v. Board of Education formulated a test designed to balance these interests in defining the scope of a public employee's freedom of expression. In examining the nonpartisan free …

Conflicts Of Interest And The Changing Concept Of Marriage: The Congressional Compromise, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The number of women, including married women, seeking prominent positions in American business and government has increased rapidly in recent years, and this development raises serious questions regarding potential conflicts of interest between spouses who work either in related areas of the public and private sectors or solely within the public sector. Specifically, when one spouse is a member of Congress, conflicts of interest can occur if the other spouse occupies a high-level position in private industry or in the executive branch of the government. This Note examines the potential dangers in these employment arrangements of members of Congress and …

Central Problems Of American Criminal Justice, Francis A. Allen

Michigan Law Review

At periodic intervals during the present century the American "crime problem" has aroused agitated public discussion. At these times both publicists and ordinary citizens are likely to assume that the disturbing conditions have suddenly arisen and are wholly unlike anything experienced before. In considering the crime problem, the beginning of wisdom may lie in the discovery that this is a problem with a history. Crime and its control did not suddenly become significant in the late 1960s, at the end of World War II, or even with the launching of the prohibition experiment at the conclusion of the first great …

Men Who Know They Are Watched: Some Benefits And Costs Of Jailing For Nonpayment Of Support, David L. Chambers

Articles

Suppose that by some mysterious process the police in your town received each Monday a list of all the robberies and burglaries committed during the preceding week and the names of the persons who committed them. Suppose further that the list itself was admissible in evidence at trial and generally led to conviction. And suppose finally that persons considering committing offenses knew that the police had such a list and used it, relentlessly tracking down the miscreants named on it. Under such circumstances, one would probably expect that many potential offenders in the town with the magical list would resist …

The Alienation Of Law Students, Paul D. Carrington, James J. Conley

Michigan Law Review

Not many years ago, as much as one-fifth of a first-year class at The University of Michigan Law School did not return for the second year. It was a cause of regret that so much waste and frustration was associated with this non-event. Whether students failed or voluntarily withdrew, their time, money, and opportunity were lost.

Reflections On Public Interest Directors, Alfred F. Conard

Michigan Law Review

The "public interest director" may not yet be an idea whose time has come, but it is an idea that can no longer be ignored. The time has come for responsible lawyers and other opinion leaders to know why, and to what extent, they favor or oppose it.

The Proposed "Science Court", James A. Martin

Michigan Law Review

This article discusses the desirability of establishing some kind of science court. Section I examines arguments in favor of the creation of a science court. Section II compares the truth-seeking devices of the scientific method and the legal system in order to assess their merits in assisting the public policymakers faced with issues involving scientific matters. Section III discusses the various models that have been proposed for a science court. Section IV concentrates on the model proposed by Dr. Arthur Kantrowitz, taking it as the preferred model, and defends it against some criticism while suggesting various refinements. Section V examines …

Judicial Protection Of Minorities, Terrance Sandalow

Articles

In United States v. Carolene Products Co., Justice Stone suggested by indirection that there "may be narrower scope for operation of the presumption of constitutionality" when courts are called upon to determine the validity "of statutes directed at particular religious . . . or national . . . or racial minorities."' In such cases, he explained, "prejudice against discrete and insular minorities may be a special condition, which tends seriously to curtail the operation of those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect minorities, and which may call for a correspondingly more searching judicial inquiry."' Forty years later, …

Laws That Are Made To Be Broken: Adjusting For Anticipated Noncompliance, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note explores and defends a legislative strategy that has neither been clearly articulated by legal theorists nor methodically pursued by practical lawmakers. Most laws are introduced with the expectation that they will sometimes be broken, but it is generally -thought that noncompliance diminishes the utility of laws. It is possible, however, to design laws the utility of which is actually enhanced by a certain amount of noncompliance. As a corollary, it can ·be shown that it is rational, under some circumstances, for a legislature to enact laws that are not just expected but are intended to be broken with …

Program From The Twenty-Sixth Thomas M. Cooley Lectures, University Of Michigan Law School

Cooley Lecture Materials

The program from the twenty-sixth Thomas M. Cooley lectures, held March 21-24, 1977, at the University of Michigan Law School. The lecture series was "Judicial Review and the National Political Process" by Jesse H. Choper.

Program From The Twenty-Second William W. Cook Lectures, University Of Michigan Law School

Cook Lecture Materials

The program from the twenty-second William W. Cook lectures, held April 4-6, 1977, at the University of Michigan. The lecture series was "The Death and Rebirth of Modern Architecture" by Ada Louise Huxtable.

Public Participation In The Adoption Of Interpretive Rules And Policy Statements, Michael Asimow

Michigan Law Review

Section I of this article surveys the practices of a selected group of federal agencies in the adoption of interpretive rules and policy statements. It emphasizes the importance of these rules both to members of the public and to the administrative process. Section II analyzes the cases that have considered the AP A exemption of interpretive rules and policy statements from preadoption notice and comment procedures. These cases are in disarray for several reasons. For one thing, the bright lines traditionally assumed to distinguish interpretive rules and policy statements from legislative rules have become blurred and indistinct. Moreover, the courts …