Legislation Commons^™

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.

Reforming The Laws And Practice Of Diplomatic Immunity, Paul F. Roye

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

As a result of public criticism and increasingly strained relations between diplomatic communities and local communities, Congress recently enacted legislation that dramatically changes United States diplomatic immunity law. This legislation eliminates the complete immunity from criminal and civil law proceedings that was afforded most foreign diplomats and their staffs, and establishes the rules of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as the measure of diplomatic immunity in the United States. This article will examine the theoretical justification for diplomatic immunity and its application in the United States. The manner in which the recently enacted legislation alters United States diplomatic immunity …

Tort Claims Under The Present And Proposed Bankruptcy Acts, Stephen Allen Edwards

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Congress may soon enact the first complete revision of the United States bankruptcy laws in almost four decades. Among the numerous changes proposed by the legislature is a major alteration of the provability and dischargeability of tort claims asserted against the bankrupt's estate. This article will discuss the treatment of tort claims in the present Act and the changes to be made by the proposed Act, and will evaluate alternative approaches to compensating victims of bankrupt tortfeasors.

The Clean Air Act Amendments Of 1977 And The National Parklands, Robert Maynard

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This article explores the new legislative scheme as it pertains to national parklands. After outlining the history of the PSD concept, the article considers the PSD provisions and their application to national parklands. Examination of the visibility section, which rounds out the framework for preservation of parkland air resources set up in the PSD section, completes the discussion. The analysis focuses on several potential defects in the regulatory structure of the amendments, including the failure to extend immediate protection under the PSD and visibility sections to a large number of national parkland units, the somewhat unrealistic criteria chosen to define …

Sunset Legislation: Spotlighting Bureaucracy, John M. Quitmeyer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This note suggests that sunset legislation is an appropriate response to these concerns. Section I describes the deficiencies of current methods by which the legislature reviews activities of the executive branch. Section II examines the provisions of sunset legislation, emphasizing the role of evaluation criteria, and suggests that elaborate quantitative techniques are not crucial for adequate evaluation. Evaluation criteria currently incorporated in various sunset statutes can best be classified according to those which apply to entity functioning and those which evaluate an entity's purpose. These criteria are treated in sections III and IV respectively.

Proposed Labor Reform: "Brave New World" Or "Looking Backward"?, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Other Publications

By now it is a commonplace in the labor relations community that there are two significant deficiencies in the administration of the National Labor Relations Act. Neither is a matter of substantive law in the usual sense. The first is the inordinate delay in securing a remedy in contested cases, and the second is the inadequacy of the remedy in certain critical situations. I should like to examine a few key recommendations of the NLRB Task Force, and a few key provisions of the proposed Labor Reform Act, in light of those two central concerns.

In my assessment I shall …

The Bankruptcy Reform Process: Maximizing Judicial Control In Wage Earners' Plans, Marjorie Girth

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This article examines the effort to maximize judicial control over the bankruptcy process and its impact on H.R. 8200's procedural requirements for the nonbusiness bankruptcy option known currently as the wage earners' plan. As background, it describes the present nonbusiness bankruptcy options and the statutory procedures for monitoring confirmed wage earners' plans. Then, using illustrative samples from three years of cases in the Buffalo region of the Western District of New York, it assesses whether present plans are being administered in accordance with the statutory formalities. The economic incentives which affect creditors' behavior in taking advantage of their opportunities to …

State Legislative Responses To The Arab Boycott Of Israel, Maurice Portley

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Arab boycott of Israel confronts the American business community with difficult ethical and political decisions. Six states, led by New York, have quietly enacted anti boycott laws designed to prevent economic trade opportunities with the Middle East from encouraging discrimination within their borders. The laws seek to prohibit the discriminatory effects of the boycott, which indicates that the Arab-Israeli conflict is not limited to military weapons or confined to the nations of the Middle East. More importantly, the states' responses signal a growing awareness that the federal government is unwilling to handle the complex moral, political, economic, and legal …

Marital Agreements In Contemplation Of Divorce, Barbara Klarman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Romantic notions that marriage is forever are beginning to give way to the more realistic assessments that marriages indeed may not last. The pressure has been mounting for ways to provide economic planning to parties in the relatively likely event that their marriages terminate in divorce. The purpose of this article is to focus on one method of obtaining such planning: the marital agreement setting forth the support and property distribution which the parties would follow in the event of divorce. This article will review the law regarding marital agreements in contemplation of divorce as it exists in the United …

Legislative Notes: Metallic Mining And Reclamation In Michigan: Environmental Management As A Gentler Approach, John C. Dernbach

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A great deal has been said and written about the need for meaningful reclamation requirements for the surface mining of coal. Nonetheless, little attention has been given to the large quantity of land disturbed by mining for other minerals. Thirty-eight states have laws dealing directly with reclamation from a wide variety of mining operations . For purposes of this note, reclamation refers to those measures taken concurrently with or after the mining operation to reduce or repair the adverse effects of the operation on disrupted land . Environmental management is a much broader term which encompasses the full range of …

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, …

Legislative Notes: The Education Of All Handicapped Children Act Of 1975, Donald W. Keim

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I reviews the landmark judicial decisions which have established the right of handicapped children to participate in free, public education. The basic provisions of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 are then presented in Part II. The funding provisions are discussed in Part III with particular emphasis upon the tension between the promise of federal largesse and the expense of compliance with statutory and judicial requirements. Part IV reviews prior efforts to obtain judicial recognition of a substantive right to an appropriate education and suggests some ways in which the 1975 Act may alter the framework …

Michigan's Revised Mental Health Code, William David Serwer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This note will evaluate the three chapters of the Michigan Code which present the most significant legislative attempts to safeguard the rights of the mentally ill. Chapter Four of the Code extends several traditional due process guarantees to the civil commitment process. By guaranteeing the right to adequate notice, the right to be present at the hearing, the right to be represented by counsel, and the right to notice of trial by jury, the Code offers better protection from unwarranted commitment. However, due to the difficulty of defining mental illness and accurately identifying those in need of treatment, the possibility …

New York's Revised Nursing Home Legislation, Michael G. Mcgee

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This note undertakes an analysis of the extensive package of nursing home legislation recently enacted in New York. First, specific regulations will be examined in relation to problems they are designed to remedy. Next, the note critically appraises three key, innovative provisions, making recommendations for implementation or revision of each. Finally, the broad changes needed to bring about lasting improvement of nursing care are discussed and a summary of pending legislation is provided.

Juvenile Obscenity Statutes: A Proposal And Analysis, Jerold H. Israel, Rita Ann Burns

Articles

The article that follows is based largely upon a Study Report on juvenile obscenity statutes prepared for the Michigan Law Revision Commission. The objectives of the Report were (1) to analyze the various issues presented in drafting a juvenile obscenity provision, (2) to survey the treatment of those issues in statutes adopted by various states and statutes proposed by several distinguished commissions, and (3) to propose a comprehensive model statute that offers a choice of alternative provisions on key areas of controversy. Certain limitations placed upon the scope of the Report (and this article) should be noted. First, we were …

Law Reform: A Saskatchewan Viewpoint, Brian A. Grosman

Dalhousie Law Journal

The term "law reform" has a positive connotation. It indicates that those engaged in the process are at least optimistic to the extent that law can indeed be reformed and not merely changed. A variety of legislative shapes and administrative forms of law reform agencies has been created in this country over the last ten years. The objectives of law reform have been widely discussed in law review articles and in the daily press. There emerges a sense that reforming the law by way of a permanent law reform commission is a viable endeavour. Yet there is some difference of …

The Role Of The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Under The Commodity Futures, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

After a brief look at the functions of futures markets, the conditions that led to the enactment of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act, and the major provisions of the Act, this note will critically examine the information now available on the major issues left to the Commission to decide, point to additional information that would be useful in making judgments on these issues, and recommend solutions. It will then discuss two problems not considered in the 1974 legislation--export controls and margin oversight--suggesting areas for action by the Commission.

Michigan Motor Vehicle Service And Repair Act Of 1974, A. Russell Localio

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This note will analyze the Michigan Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Act, examining the differences between it and prior Michigan and federal legislation. The new legislation will be compared with similar statutes in other states. Finally, the possible drawbacks of repair shop and mechanic certification programs will be discussed, and suggestions for improvements will be made.

Toward A Uniform Approach To Multilevel Distributorships, Donald Daniels

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The phenomenal growth and eventual collapse of the enterprises of Glenn Wesley Turner and William Penn Patrick during the 1960's should have surprised no one. They were only a recent example of an old and recurrent merchandising scheme, a variant of the chain letter device. Such operations, commonly called pyramid sales schemes, can temporarily succeed where a credulous public, willing to believe that it can get rich quickly for a small monetary investment and little or no expenditure of effort, exists in a legal system lacking a coordinated program for the prevention of such machinations. Pyramid sales schemes have been …

Presidential Pensions And Impeachment: A Proposal For Reform, Patrick E. Mears

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Former Presidents Act grants annual monetary and clerical allowances and free office space to "former Presidents." Under the Act a President is ineligible to receive any retirement benefits if he or she is removed from office by impeachment and conviction in the Congress of the United States. However, a President facing imminent impeachment can retain the benefits by resigning before the impeachment process culminates in his removal from office. Constitutional considerations indicate that the benefits conferred by the Act could not be revoked or reduced by special congressional legislation upon resignation; such action could be challenged as a bill …

Legislative Regulation Of Searches And Seizures: The Michigan Proposals, Jerold H. Israel

Articles

IN March 1971, the Michigan Bar Commissioners appointed a twenty-five-member committee with a directive "to promulgate a recommended revision of the Code of Criminal Procedure codifying existing statutory and case law provisions which, in the judgment of the Committee, should be retained and adding thereto such provisions as the Committee, in its judgment, deems warranted; and to incorporate such recommendations into proposed legislation for submission to the Legislature."' The committee membership included judges, prosecutors, legislators, criminal defense lawyers, law school professors, and representatives of Michigan police and corrections agencies.2 Judge Horace Gilmore served as Chairman, and I served as Reporter.

Updating The Trust Indenture Act, Howard M. Friedman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Holders of publicly distributed debt securities are, in essence, parties to contracts of adhesion. There is no opportunity for a purchaser of a debt security to negotiate the terms of his loan to the issuer. In addition, because there are a large number of geographically scattered small lenders, each of them is placed in a particularly vulnerable position. While lenders traditionally have numerous methods of protecting their interests, creditor protection is ineffective unless responsibility for enforcement is centralized. Widely scattered security holders find it difficult to police compliance with covenants in the loan agreement and to coordinate legal action in …

Abuse Of Trademarks: A Proposal For Ompulsory Licensing, Mara L. Babin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This article neither deals with the propriety of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) proposed order nor evaluates the effectiveness of compulsory trademark licensing as a remedy for unfair trade practices.8 Rather, the pending cereal industry case is used as a point of departure for an examination of the problem of trademark abuse and the responses of the courts, the Congress, and the FTC to it. Acknowledging the legality of compulsory licensing of trademarks, the article suggests legislation which will incorporate licensing and standards for its application. Such legislation would make licensing an accessible remedy for trademark abuse while accommodating both …

Guidelines For Alleviating Local-Emergency Work Disruptions, Joshua Greene

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The first section of this article summarizes the vast differences between the rights of public and private employees to strike. The second section focuses on likely obstacles to a governmental suit to enjoin shutdowns in the broadest segment of American private industry-the segment in which labor relations are governed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The final section of the article suggests a legislative solution to the problem, fashioned after existing statutory remedies for limiting certain strikes by public employees.

Legislative Note: Michigan's Criminal Sexual Assault Law, Kenneth A. Cobb, Nancy R. Schauer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Under increasing pressure from women's rights groups and other reform organizations, the Michigan legislature has re-evaluated its centenarian rape statute, found it inadequate for the realities of the mid-twentieth century, and enacted a new sexual assault act. While people may refer to the act as "the new rape law," it should be noted at the outset that the statute is intended to prohibit a variety of sexual acts which involve criminal assault. Michigan's new criminal sexual assault law was formulated to distinguish among degrees of violence as motivated by hostility rather than passion; rape, like other crimes, is more heinous …

An Analysis Of Recent Proposals For Reform Of Federal Securities Legislation, William H. Painter

Michigan Law Review

Today the securities industry is in the midst of rapid change. Indeed it has been for at least the past decade, but in recent years the pace of change has increased, and its emphasis has shifted. Legislative and administrative reforms that could not have been anticipated a decade ago are likely in the near future, and it is still impossible to predict accurately the shape of the markets of tomorrow or the rules by which they will be governed. It is the purpose of this Article to focus on these recent developments, to summarize and evaluate various proposals for reform, …

Federal Tax Administration And The Small Taxpayer, L. Hart Wright

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The actual or supposed complexity of substantive federal tax law has generated two unresolved administrative by-products of peculiar importance in the case of small taxpayers. In each of these circumstances the Internal Revenue Service (and in one, the Congress) has tended to default on its programmatic responsibility to facilitate payment by small taxpayers of no less and no more than they owe under the tax law. For too long and to too large an extent, these taxpayers, although completely bewildered and devoid of self-confidence in the conduct of their tax affairs, have had to fend for themselves, both at return …

The Roles Of Architect And Contractor In Construction Management, John E. Lehman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

For the architect and building contractor the most significant aspect of modern commercial construction may not be the design but rather the management, consisting of coordination and administration, of large-scale building projects. Despite the importance of construction management, especially in mammoth and complex projects such as New York's World Trade Center, legislatures have been slow to respond to the needs and practices of the construction industry. Although the skills involved indicate that the role of construction manager is more appropriately assumed by a contractor, the laws of several states provide that only a licensed architect can take responsible charge of …

Substance And Procedure In The Construction Of The National Environmental Policy Act, Lloyd A. Fox

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In 1969 Congress enacted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA or Act) in an effort to deal with the many environmental problems facing the United States. In the three years that the Act has been in force, a large number of suits has been filed by environmental organizations seeking to enforce the standards enunciated in NEPA. The courts hearing these cases generally agree that NEPA imposes only procedural duties on administrative agencies. This implies that the courts will merely determine whether the agency in question has complied with the procedural requirements contained in Section 102 of the Act. This further …