Legislation Commons^™

Labor Law-Labor-Management Relations Act-Effect Of Affirmative Deauthorization Vote Upon Existing Union-Shop Contract, Richard D. Rohr S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

One month after the employer and the union entered into a two-year contract containing a union-shop provision, a group of employees filed a petition under section 9(e)(1) of the NLRA as amended in 1951 seeking an election to rescind the union's authority to make a union-shop agreement. The union argued (1) that the contract was a bar to the election and (2) that even if an immediate election was ordered and an affirmative deauthorization vote cast, the existing union-shop clause should be held effective during the remainder of the contract term. The Board ruled, 3/2, that section 9(e)(1) as …

Constitutional Law-Due Process-Vague And Indefinite Statute, S. I. Shuman

Michigan Law Review

The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by section 301(f) prohibits a factory operator from refusing to permit entry and inspection as provided by section 704. Violation of section 301(f) is made a misdemeanor by section 303(a). Section 704 authorizes persons "duly designated by the Administrator, after first making request and obtaining permission of the . . . operator" of the factory, "to enter" and "to inspect" at "reasonable times." Defendant was convicted by the district court for violating section 301(f), having refused permission to authorized persons to enter and inspect at a reasonable time. The court of appeals reversed, on …

Constitutional Law-Relation Between State And Federal Governments, J. David Voss

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, employees of a United States Naval Ordnance Plant located in an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction within the State of Kentucky, sued in a state court for a declaratory judgment that a license tax on the privilege of working in the City of Louisville, measured by a percentage of all salaries, wages and commissions earned within the city, was not applicable to them. Defendants' demurrer was overruled, and the collection of the tax enjoined. The Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed, and judgment was entered for the defendants. The court of appeals affirmed. On appeal to the United States Supreme …

Corporations-Power Of Legislature To Revive Corporate Charter, John S. Slavens S.Ed

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a New York corporation, was engaged in operating steamboats for sightseeing purposes below Niagara Falls. Defendant was incorporated in 1892 for a term of fifty years, the maximum then permitted by statute. Through inadvertence the charter was not renewed in 1942. The corporation continued in its regular course of business, and in 1947 when the oversight was discovered, the board of directors, with the approval of three-fourths of the shareholders, immediately revived the corporation under a statutory provision enacted in 1944. Plaintiffs, shareholders of the corporation, claimed that application of the provision was an unconstitutional deprivation of their rights …

Legislation-Invalidity Of Statutes Framed In Vague Terms, Richard W, Pogue S.Ed

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, president of a corporation which processes apples for shipment in interstate commerce, was convicted of violating §301(f) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. That section prohibits "the refusal to permit entry oi inspection as authorized by section 704"; section 704 authorizes federal officers, "after first making request and obtaining permission of the owner, operator or custodian" of the factory "to enter" and "to inspect" the establishment "at reasonable times." Federal authorities requested permission to enter and inspect defendant's factory at reasonable hours, but permission was refused. This refusal was the basis of the conviction. The Court of Appeals …

Obtaining The Gift Tax Exclusion On Gifts In Trust: Drafting And Legislative Suggestions, Zolman Cavitch

Michigan Law Review

The purposes of this article are to outline the "future interest" pitfalls in the use of various conventional trust provisions, to explore remedial drafting possibilities even under the present law, and to suggest a statutory amendment which will eliminate the fundamental defects of the present poorly-drafted law.

Advancements: I, Harold I. Elbert

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this monograph is to consider the afore-mentioned topics and other questions inherent in the doctrine of advancements. Different interpretations in the various states will be discussed. The principal objectives of the work are to make a comparative study of advancement legislation and to state the law as it actually exists as a basis for determining whether it can be improved.

Comparative Negligence, William L. Prosser

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this article to inquire, so far as possible, into the actual operation of the damage apportionment statutes, and to offer some conclusions as to the most desirable form of act for any legislature about to set forth upon these relatively uncharted seas.

Legislation-Michigan Veterans' Re-Employment Act, William Andrew Bain, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A recent Michigan statute provides for the re-employment of former employees of the state or the subdivisions thereof who left their positions, voluntarily or involuntarily, for service in the armed forces of the United States and have been honorably discharged. No opinion as to the interpretation or effect of the statute has been rendered by the Michigan courts or by any official state agency, but an examination of the very similar federal statute, and the litigation which it has fostered, indicates that a number of problems may arise. An insight into some typical problems and their possible solutions may be …

The Steel Seizure Case: Congress, The President And The Supreme Court, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

Questions relating to the legislative authority of Congress and of the several states have given rise to an immense mass of constitutional litigation ever since the time that the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison asserted its power of judicial review. Many of these cases have turned on the division of legislative authority between Congress and the state legislatures under our federal system. Yet within this same span of time relatively few cases have arisen to challenge the assertions of presidential power, and in only a few instances has the Court found occasion to speak at length on the questions …

Taxation-Federal Estate And Gift Taxation-Powers Of Appointment Act Of 1951, William O. Allen S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to trace the history of Congress' treatment of powers of appointment in the past and to examine the latest legislative pronouncement, the Powers of Appointment Act of 1951.

Labor Law-Arbitration-Applicability Of The United States Arbitration Act To Collective Bargaining Agreements, Morris G. Shanker S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action in the federal district court for Pennsylvania against the defendant labor union for damages caused by a strike, allegedly in violation of a written collective bargaining agreement between them. This contract also provided, inter alia, for submission to arbitration of all differences arising between the parties under the contract. However, no arbitration had been had prior to this suit. Defendant moved to stay all proceedings pending arbitration, allegedly as authorized by section 3 of the United States .Arbitration .Act providing for such stays in " . . . any suit or proceeding . . . brought …

Federal Antitrust Legislation: Guideposts To A Revised National Antitrust Policy, S. Chesterfield Oppenheim

Michigan Law Review

The year 1952 finds various currents of controversy in the antitrust field converging toward the necessity for a survey and reappraisal of the body of congressional legislation generally known as the "federal antitrust laws." The foundation stone in the trio of principal antitrust statutes is the Sherman Act of 1890. Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Act of 1914, as amended, are the other two members of this major group of antimonopoly laws. While differing in particulars in its impact upon the American economy, each of these basic statutes is avowedly designed to maintain competition …

Ten Probate Codes, Lewis M. Simes

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this article to summarize some of the most important aspects of these codes for the purpose of indicating legislative trends. For the most part, they will be discussed in the chronological order of their enactment. While some of them deal with many other matters besides the law of decedents' estates, such as guardianships and testamentary trusts, this discussion will be limited to the substantive and procedural law of decedents' estates, exclusive of matters of ancillary administration.

Trends In Modern Corporation Legislation, Kenneth K. Luce

Michigan Law Review

Any discussion of trends and developments in modem corporation legislation must assume some understanding of the historical antecedents of that legislation and the judicial approach to its interpretation. As a practical matter the outline of modern legislation has emerged within the memory of living men, but "in order to know what it is, we must know what it has been, and what it tends to become." The state is less concerned today than long ago about the corporation becoming a state within the state and usurping political power, although such concern could and does evidence itself from time to time. …

Loss: Securities Regulation, Arthur H. Dean

Michigan Law Review

A Review of SECURITIES REGULATION. By Louis Loss.

The Uniform Code Of Military Justice-New Rights And A Means To Enforce Them, John F. Spindler

Michigan Law Review

The Uniform Code of Military Justice, designed to govern the entire military establishment of the United States, was enacted May 5, 1950, replacing the three separate systems of law theretofore applied to the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Pressure for a uniform code was a reflection of the great surge toward unification of the Armed Services which followed World War II. The new Code, however, is not just a revision and consolidation of the prior systems of military law. World War II, with its great increase in the size of the Armed Services and in the percentage of the population …

Bills And Notes-Right Of Maker Of Promissory Note To Set-Off In An Action By A Post-Maturity Transferee, Harold S. Lentz S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In an action upon a promissory note by a holder who was a transferee after maturity, the maker sought to set-off collateral claims which he held against the holder's transferor. Section 58 of the Negotiable Instruments Law provides: ''In the hands of any holder other than a holder in due course a negotiable instrument is subject to the same defenses as if it were non-negotiable." Another statute of the jurisdiction allowed set-off of collateral claims against third persons in actions on negotiable instruments. The lower court refused to allow the set-off. On appeal, held, reversed. Section 58 of the …

Labor Law-Jurisdiction Of Nlrb Under Self-Imposed Limitations, Bernard L. Goodman S.Ed., Robert S. Griggs S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Under the original National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and that act as it stands amended by Title I of the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, Congress has conferred upon the National Labor Relations Board regulatory authority in certain areas of industrial relations, the jurisdictional extent of which is conterminous with the power of the federal government under the commerce clause of the Constitution. At an early date, however, the Board determined that ''budgetary limitations as well as the need to avoid diffusion of its time and energy ... [justified] it in not exerting its jurisdictional authority to the legal …

Federal Procedure-Jurisdiction-Determination Of Amount In Controversy In Class Actions Under Federal Rule 23, James W. Callison

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff owned 50 shares of common stock valued at $950. She brought an action in behalf of herself and all other stockholders to enjoin a sale of unissued stock by the corporation to its president, claiming a violation of her preemptive right. The district court ruled on the merits. On appeal, held, the plaintiff's interest was but a small fraction of the $3,000 required to invoke the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Although the action was representative, the claims of other stockholders in a like situation could not be cumulated. Ames v. Mengel Co., (2d Cir. 1951) 190 …

Legislation-Statutes In Pari Materia-Administrative Board Rulings, Robert B. Krueger

Michigan Law Review

Lane's application for an annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act to the lower adjudicative branches of the Railroad Retirement Board was denied. Lane, by claiming that a "grievance" had been created by the railroad's insistence that he had voluntarily resigned from its service in 1933, then brought the matter before the National Railroad Adjustment Board, which found that Lane had been an "employee" of the railroad from 1905 to 1937. When Lane's case was subsequently heard before the Retirement Board, the findings of the lower adjudicative branches of the Board were affirmed and the Board held that it was not …

Actions Quasi In Rem Under Section 1655, Title 28, U. S. C., William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

Section 1655 of Title 28, U.S.C. (1948) was originally section 8 of an act of Congress approved March 3, 1875. A somewhat similar statute, limited to equity cases, had been enacted in 1872. Paragraph one of the present section reads:

"In an action in a district court to enforce any lien upon or claim to, or to remove any incumbrance or lien or cloud upon the title to, real or personal property within the district, where any defendant cannot be served within the State, or does not voluntarily appear, the court may order the absent defendant to appear or plead …

Woe Unto You Trade-Mark Owners, Julius R. Lunsford, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

THE new Trade-Mark Act,1 widely heralded as giving added protection to trade-mark owners, has in its nearly four years of operation resulted, in several spectacular instances, in narrowing the rights conferred by the registration and use of trade-marks. Text author Rudolph Callmann remarked after the act's first birthday: "Despite all the efforts of the bar, our courts still cling to the familiar anachronisms."2 Where do trade-mark owners stand today? The Supreme Court has to date failed to answer this question, and the federal courts have refused to consider the import of the new legislation. Many commentators, attorneys and scholars thought …

Constitutional Law-Civil Rights-Discharge Of Teachers For Subversive Activity, William H. Bates

Michigan Law Review

An action was brought seeking a declaratory judgment as to the constitutionality of New York's Feinberg law. The statute provided that the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York should list organizations found to be subversive. Membership in such organizations was made prima facie disqualification for the position of public school teacher. At the time of suit the Board of Regents had made no listing of subversive groups nor had any teacher been discharged under the provisions of this enactment. The supreme court of New York, special term, held the law unconstitutional; the appellate division …

Contracts-Illegality-Effect Of Violation Of Assumed Name Statute, Gordon I. Ginsberg

Michigan Law Review

ln response to a subpoena, petitioner appeared as a witness before a United States district court grand jury. Several questions concerning· her knowledge and association with the Communist Party were put to her. In each case, she refused to answer the questions, claiming the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination. For refusal to answer these same questions when brought before the district court, petitioner was adjudged to be in contempt of court. The court of appeals affirmed the holdings, and certiorari was granted by the Supreme Court. Held, judgment reversed. The Smith Act makes it unlawful to advocate knowingly the desirability …

Federal Procedure-Removal Jurisdiction-Meaning Of "Separate And Independent'' As Used In The United States Judicial Code, Paul Harrison S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The respondent suffered a loss by fire, and being uncertain as to which party was liable to compensate for this loss, joined the petitioner and two others as defendants in a suit asking for alternative relief. The petitioner and one of the defendants were insurance corporations with residence outside the state, while the third defendant's residence was the same as that of the respondent. The corporate defendants secured removal of the case to the federal court, and on a trial of the issues, a judgment was rendered for the respondent against the petitioner in the amount of the insurance claimed …

Conflicts Of Law-Negotiable Instruments-Situs Of Bearer Bonds, Paul M.D. Harrison S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

By a Vesting Order, the Alien Property Custodian vested in the Attorney General property of an enemy alien which consisted of a "certain debt or other obligation" underlying bonds issued by the defendant corporation. The defendant corporation was ordered to cancel the said bonds and deliver the proceeds of the redemption and accrued interest to the Attorney General. Upon the trial of the action brought by the Attorney General to enforce these demands, it appeared in evidence that the bond certificates had last been located in the Russian sector of Berlin, Germany, and were there seized by the occupying authorities. …

Limitations And The Federal Courts, William Wirt Blume, B. J. George Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Though as a practical matter it is difficult to secure passage of uniform legislation in all states, particularly when the subject matter has so long been considered as of local interest only, the need for such legislation in the case of the statute of limitations seems clear. To the extent that such a statute is adopted, the problem of varying limitation periods upon particular causes of action and similar causes of action will be removed. Only by a uniform state treatment of the problem will the conflict among federal districts resulting from the uniformity of result requirement of Erie Railroad …

Smith: Labor Law: Cases And Materials, Harry Shulman

Michigan Law Review

A Review of LABOR LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS. By Russell A. Smith.

The Legislative Status Of An Unconstitutional Statute, Earl T. Crawford

Michigan Law Review

Once a statute has been found to violate some constitutional provision, a legislature is faced with a difficult problem of how to change the statute so as to effect the desired policy and still not violate constitutional principles. The general nature of this problem is suggested by such inquiries as these: Will the subsequent overruling of a previous judicial decision declaring a statute unconstitutional require any legislative action to put the statute into effect? Can a statute, which has been held violative of the constitution, be amended by corrective or curative legislation without complete re-enactment if the statute as amended …