Legislation Commons^™

Regulation Through The Looking Glass: Hospitals, Blue Cross, And Certificate-Of-Need, Sallyanne Payton, Rhoda M. Powsner

Michigan Law Review

A clear focus on the commitment of the public health and hospital establishments to the large teaching hospital and their belief in rationalizing the health care system through community-based planning allows us to understand the ideas and institutions that have produced our present system of hospital regulation. It can also help us to understand the structure and behavior of the hospital industry and can illuminate current controversies over health care policy.

What follows is a narrative account of the development of regional planning and certificate-of-need legislation. As part of that story, we trace the evolution of the Blue Cross, explain …

Incapacitating The Habitual Criminal: The English Experience, Sir Leon Radzinowicz, Roger Hood

Michigan Law Review

In this Article, Sir Leon Radzinowicz and .Dr. Roger Hood trace 150 years of unsuccessful English efforts to identify, sentence, and reform habitual criminal offenders. The Supreme Court's recent decision in Rummel v. Estelle has publicized habitual offender statutes in the United States. But Rummel primarily addressed the constitutionality, rather than the desirability, of a state habitual offender statute. This Article examines the broader policy questions common to habitual offender programs in both the United Stales and Great Britain. It describes the tension between liberal tradition and the state's desire to incapacitate those who repeatedly threaten life or property.

Incorporation Of State Law Under The Federal Arbitration Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note proposes a solution to this choice-of-law problem. Section I surveys the courts' response to Congress's silence and finds confusion and disarray. Section II argues that courts should apply the state law pertinent to arbitration unless that law places heavier burdens on arbitration contracts than on other contracts; where state law does discriminatorily burden arbitration, the courts should apply the pertinent state rules applicable to "any contract." It concludes that the "grounds . . . for the revocation of any contract," although determined as a matter of federal policy, are to be found in state law rather than in …

The Propriety Of Benefit-Spreading Regulations Under The 10% Lending Limit Of The National Bank Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines whether the ten percent lending limit of the National Bank Act should be used to promote benefit-spreading. Section I evaluates the legislative and judicial history of the lending limit and concludes that Congress never intended the Comptroller to issue regulations to foster benefit-spreading. Section II examines the practical ramifications of the benefit-spreading regulations. It concludes that the lending limit cannot effectively foster benefit-spreading without undermining the risk-reducing function of the statute; that compliance with the benefit-spreading regulations is costly while the penalties for noncompliance are inappropriate and unfair; and that existing statutes better promote benefit-spreading while avoiding …

The Case Against Living Probate, Mary Louise Fellows

Michigan Law Review

This Article presents the case against living probate in hopes of preventing a reform that was appropriately discarded a century ago. Part I describes the various living probate proposals, highlighting their similarities, differences, and procedural complexities, and the benefits they seek to realize. Part II lays out four failings of living probate that call the desirability of this reform into question. Finally, in Part III, I propose an alternative reform which concentrates on the underlying problem inspiring living probate proposals - the expense and uncertainty of a mental capacity requirement for executing a valid will.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Legislating A Judicial Role In National Security Surveillance, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note evaluates the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Section I summarizes the legal history of national security surveillance from 1940 until the passage of the FISA, and briefly discusses the three major circuit court rulings on warrantless foreign intelligence surveillance. Section II describes the provisions of the Act. Section III examines the Act's constitutionality, first considering the scope of congressional authority to regulate the conduct of foreign affairs, then considering whether the political question doctrine prevents judicial scrutiny of executive decisions to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance. The Note concludes that the FISA is an appropriate and constitutional …

Continuing The Erie Debate: A Response To Westen And Lehman, Martin H. Redish

Michigan Law Review

Although the Supreme Court has not spoken in detail on the Erie doctrine since its much-discussed decision in Hanna v. Plumer in 1965, commentary on the doctrine in the literature has undergone something of a "boomlet" in the last several years. Much of it has been stimulated by the groundbreaking article by Professor John Hart Ely in 1974. The latest contribution to the area is the recent article by Professor Peter Westen and Mr. Jeffrey Lehman appearing earlier this year in this journal. Unfortunately, their article does little to advance analysis of the Erie question, and contains numerous fundamental misstatements …

After "Life For Erie--A Reply, Peter Westen

Michigan Law Review

Erie, having "preoccupied the intellectually dominant group of academic lawyers rising to maturity during the 1940's and 1950's," is reported to be losing its "symbolic centrality" for the newest generation of legal scholars. Professor Redish's prompt and excited response to our essay proves one thing: there is at least one scholar in the country who, having come to legal maturity during the last decade, still remains capable of becoming impassioned about Erie RR v. Tompkins.

Title Vi, Title Ix, And The Private University: Defining "Recipient" And "Program Or Part Thereof", Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note explores the meaning of "recipient" and "program or part thereof' in title VI and title IX. Section I studies federal court definitions of "recipient" and the legislative history of title VI; it concludes that only organizations that exercise discretion in disbursing federal funds to students are "recipients." Section II explores the "program or part thereof' language as applied to the university by examining legislative history and recent discrimination cases. It argues that, since Congress sought to protect beneficiaries both from discrimination and from overbroad cutoffs, courts and agencies should draw the perimeters of a funds cutoff by balancing …

Standards Of Willfulness Under The Fair Labor Standards Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The statutes of limitations facing plaintiffs who bring actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act [FLSA] vary, depending upon the willfulness of the violation. The Act establishes two limitations: three years for willful violations, and two years for nonwillful violations. It does not, however, define willfulness, and federal courts have interpreted the concept in two very different ways. Under the more prevalent rule, the test is: "Did the employer know the FLSA was in the picture?" But other courts have been more guarded, reserving the longer limitations period for "violations which are intentional, knowing or voluntary as distinguished from accidental." …

Interest Analysis And The Myth Of Legislative Intent, Lea Brilmayer

Michigan Law Review

My critique begins with a brief analysis of the principles underlying the Currie school's calculations of whether a state has an interest in having its law applied; it seeks to expose the unarticulated biases inherent in that calculus. I then argue that Currie's principles cannot be justified as expressions of actual legislative intent regarding a statute's territorial scope. Indeed, the discrepancy between governmental interests and actual legislative intent has been overlooked only because, in the vast majority of cases, legislatures have no actual intent on territorial reach with which to contrast Currie's results.

But without actual legislative endorsement, interest analysis …

Is There Life For Erie After The Death Of Diversity?, Peter Westen, Jeffrey S. Lehman

Michigan Law Review

This Article is essentially an elaboration of these three themes. Section I sets forth the fundamental principles, or "axioms," that determine whether a particular federal rule is pertinent and valid. Once these axioms are understood, it should become apparent that Erie problems, if not easy, are not uniquely difficult either; instead, they are the kinds of "ordinary" problems that are commonplace in other areas of law. Section II applies these axioms to cases in diversity to determine the validity of various kinds of federal rules of decision. Section III examines the validity of federal rules of decision in federal question …

State Control Over The Reclamation Waterhole: Reality Or Mirage, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note assesses how much state law section 8 saves from preemption. Section I reviews the interplay of state and federal water law in the West. It begins with a brief description of appropriation, the system of water rights found in the Western states, outlines the Reclamation Act of 1902, and then traces the Supreme Court's evolving construction of the Act. It culminates in a discussion of California v. United States, the Court's latest gloss on section 8. Section II expands the analysis of the California decision, integrating it with traditional preemption doctrine. It shows that section 8 respects …

Relaxation Of Implementation Plans Under The 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments, David P. Currie

Michigan Law Review

This Article probes the convoluted ameliorative provisions of the 1977 Amendments in three parts. Section I deals with delayed compliance orders - orders granted to stationary sources unable to meet the statutory deadlines for compliance. Section 113( d) is the fountainhead provision, and besides a general provision for delayed compliance, it also contains specific provisions for sources unable to comply due to retirement of present facilities, due to investment in innovative facilities with the promise of greater pollution reduction in the future or due to government orders to convert from cleaner fuels to coal.

Section II analyzes two specific relief …

The Politics Of Abortion In The House Of Representatives In 1976, Maris A. Vinovskis

Michigan Law Review

The battle over federal funds for abortions and the attempts to pass a constitutional amendment to prohibit all abortions have become annual events that most members of Congress privately dread but publicly welcome. As "pro-life" and "pro-choice" constituents descend upon their elected officials each year, representatives are forced to face an issue that has no easy legislative solution. Despite the intensity and disruptiveness of these confrontations, there have been no thorough and independent analyses of this phenomenon. Instead, most information on the abortion controversy in Congress has come from the understandably biased pens of the activists on both sides. Representatives …

The Haitian Vacation: The Applicability Of Sham Doctrine To Year-End Divorces, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines the propriety of applying the sham doctrine to tax-motivated divorces. Section I outlines the evolution of the sham doctrine from its exposition in Gregory v. Helvering through its expression in two different tests for commercial transactions. Section II then studies the relationship between state divorce law and the marital status provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to demonstrate the clear congressional preference for incorporating state law by reference rather than creating an independent federal law of marriage. It also examines the history of the 1969 Tax Reform Act in a vain effort to discern a congressional desire …

Computer Programs As Goods Under The U.C.C., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note addresses the requirements for governing computer program contracts by article 2 of the U.C.C.: that the several methods of selling programs be "transactions in goods" and that the goods not be merely incidental to accompanying services. This Note concludes that contracts for program copies are, in most contexts, transactions within the scope of article 2.

From Feres To Stencel: Should Military Personnel Have Access To Ftca Recovery, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note reevaluates the Feres doctrine in light of legal developments of the past three decades. It concludes that the FTCA should be extended to military claims. It discusses the arguments that military claims will burden vital government functions and shows that the exception to liability under the present FTCA, particularly the exception for "discretionary actions" by government employees, would adequately protect all legitimate military interests.

Limitation Borrowing In Federal Courts, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note studies limitations on federal actions in light of Occidental Life. Part I discusses the reasons for limiting actions and presents a short history ·of the limitation of actions. Part II analyzes the alternatives for the federal courts when no statute of limitations applies directly. Finally, the Note suggests a solution that will achieve a result most nearly consistent with both the reasons for limiting actions and the proper role of the judiciary. It suggests, notwithstanding Occidental Life, that in some situations courts should borrow specific federal statutes of limitations and that in the remainder they should …

Regulating Carcinogens In Food: A Legislator's Guide To The Food Safety Provisions Of The Federal Food, Drug, And Cosmetic Act, Richard A. Merrill

Michigan Law Review

On March 9, 1977, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that a study in laboratory rats conducted by the Canadian government confirmed that saccharin is an animal carcinogen. For this reason, the agency stated, the sweetener must be banned from human food.

The studies which Congress mandated, to be accompanied by the recommendations of the Secretary of HEW, are likely to generate a fundamental reexamination of the nation's current food safety policies. This Article attempts to aid this inquiry by explaining the requirements of the present law. The Article describes the several statutory provisions that govern the regulation of …

Living Probate: The Conservatorship Model, John H. Langbein

Michigan Law Review

The main purpose of the present Article is to suggest a somewhat different theoretical and practical approach to structuring the living probate procedure. I shall characterize the procedure called for in the North Dakota act and in similar proposals as the Contest Model of living probate, in distinction to a Conservatorship Model that I shall advocate to be the better way. Part I of this Article reviews briefly the problem to which living probate is addressed and the alternatives that can presently be employed to forestall post-mortem capacity litigation in the absence of a living probate system. In Part TI …

The Conservatorship Model: A Modification, Gregory S. Alexander

Michigan Law Review

Reform-minded probate lawyers have discussed the idea of ante-mortem probate for many years. Yet, owing to several seemingly unavoidable defects, it has never attracted widespread support · and only recently has been implemented anywhere in the United States. In his article, Living Probate: The Conservatorship Model, Professor John Langbein has eliminated many of those defects and has made the idea much more feasible. In doing so, he has contributed to the development of simple, convenient, and efficient systems of probate. However, his proposal introduces new flaws that threaten the practical working of his procedural model.

Bribery And Brokerage: An Analysis Of Bribery In Domestic And Foreign Commerce Under Section 2 ( C ) Of The Robinson-Patman Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note first analyzes the substantive and jurisdictional criteria of section 2(c) to evaluate the possible and the desirable scope of its applicability to commercial bribery. The Note next asks whether this statute reaches bribery of domestic and foreign government officials and concludes that where the requirements of section 2(c) are otherwise met and where the person accepting the bribe is acting administratively rather than politically, the statute could be applied to bribery of agents of domestic governments. However, a wholesale application of section 2( c) to bribery of foreign government agents would leave American competitors in foreign commerce defenseless …

Sexual Harassment And Title Vii: The Foundation For The Elimination Of Sexual Cooperation As An Employment Condition, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Ten years after the enactment of Title VII, the federal judiciary confronted its first Title VII case in which sexual harassment was the primary allegation. In the next three-and-one-half years, six more claims of sexual harassment reached federal district courts, 4 and three federal circuit courts of appeal reviewed lower court holdings.

Neither these cases nor the considerable journalistic and academic attention they received reveals a consensus regarding the appropriate application of Title VII to cases of sexual harassment. This Note, therefore, examines the application of Title VII to the problem of sexual harassment and suggests a coherent framework for …

Applicability Of Federal Antidiscrimination Legislation To The Selection Of A Law Partner, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The decision by the members of a law partnership to invite an associate of the firm to become a partner involves careful consideration of the associate's qualifications. Recently some associates who have been denied advancement to partnership have alleged improper consideration of religion, national origin, or sex in the partner selection process. There are, of course, practical difficulties in proving discrimination in the subjective context of partnership selection. Assuming clear evidence of such discrimination, this Note addresses the question whether an associate may invoke the protection of federal antidiscrimination legislation.

Carter's Projected "Zero-Based" Review Of The Internal Revenue Code: Is Our Tax Code To Be "Born Again"?, L. Hart Wright

Michigan Law Review

The evolution of today's Internal Revenue Code, which began with the mere embryo that Congress created in 1913, has absorbed over the ensuing sixty-four years more creative energy on the part of more co-authors than any other law in history. Despite this unstinted expenditure of "blood, sweat, and tears," the resulting document--were it possessed of human senses--would recognize that, for a foreseeable period, its life will be anything but serene. The plight in which it would find itself could even be compared to that early morning scene observed one hundred years ago by General Custer, when hostile forces were massed …

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 …

The Ftc's Injunctive Authority Against False Advertising Of Food And Drugs, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Two judicial decisions in the early 1950s construing the FTC's section 13 (a) power produced a conflict that has not been resolved either by later courts or by the amendments to section 13 enacted in 1973. The dispute basically concerns the depth of the courts' inquiry into whether an advertisement violates- section 12 and the applicability of traditional equitable concepts in the context of the statutory injunction procedure. This Note contends that the legislative history of pertinent provisions of the Act suggests an appropriate resolution of the conflict through a two-step approach that would relax the scrutiny ordinarily accorded petitions …

Intra-Enterprise Conspiracy Under Section 1 Of The Sherman Act: A Suggested Standard, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Section I of this Note analyzes the cases in which the Supreme Court has implied a doctrine of intra-enterprise conspiracy. Section II then sets forth the theoretical and practical difficulties that such a doctrine entails. Section III, in turn, considers previous proposals for limiting the scope of the intra-enterprise conspiracy doctrine and examines their deficiencies. Finally, section IV presents an alternative analysis of the intra-enterprise conspiracy issue and proposes a standard for determining when application of section 1 of the Sherman Act to parent-subsidiary relations is inappropriate.

Proprietary Duties Of The Federal Government Under The Public Land Trust, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines one mechanism by which the courts might supervise public land administration: the common-law public land trust. It contends that by implementing this trust, which is a means of enforcing the government's responsibility for property held in a proprietary capacity, the courts can rectify their neglect of the public lands without overstepping the boundaries of permissible judicial involvement. The trust doctrine is particularly valuable in this context because it is a source of substantive standards in situations where statutes provide little guidance. Vitalization of the public land trust, which is distinct from the more commonly known public trust, …