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Michigan Law Review

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Full-Text Articles in State and Local Government Law

Domestic Relations - Statutory Abolition Of Certain Causes Of Action, George A. Rinker S.Ed. Jan 1949

Domestic Relations - Statutory Abolition Of Certain Causes Of Action, George A. Rinker S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

ln response to widespread and vigorous criticism of the abuses practiced through the use of the action at law for breach of promise to marry, and to a lesser extent, the actions for alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and seduction, several states enacted legislation designed to eliminate the evils complained of by abolishing some or all of those causes of action. The purpose of the present discussion is to analyze and compare the various statutes, and to indicate how they have fared in the courts; in short, to survey the whole reform program as it stands twelve years after the …

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Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-State Restrictions In Nominations Of Candidates, David H. Armstrong S.Ed. Jan 1949

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-State Restrictions In Nominations Of Candidates, David H. Armstrong S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Progressive Party, unable to qualify as a political party for purposes of the Illinois primary election, sought to nominate candidates for state and national offices by petition. The Illinois Election Code provides that such nominating petitions shall include the signatures of at least 200 qualified voters from each of at least 50 counties in the state. Of the state's registered voters, 87 per cent reside in the 49 most populous counties. The State Officers Electoral Board found that the petitions were insufficient, and the Illinois Supreme Court denied a motion for leave to file a petition of mandamus to …

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Courts--Process--Nonresident Motorist Service Statute--Service On "Driver" As Within Provision Permitting Service On "Owner", C. C. Grunewald S.Ed. Jan 1949

Courts--Process--Nonresident Motorist Service Statute--Service On "Driver" As Within Provision Permitting Service On "Owner", C. C. Grunewald S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

While in Arkansas, appellee, an Illinois resident, drove a third party's automobile and was involved in a collision in which plaintiff's intestate was killed. Plaintiff instituted a negligence action in an Arkansas court against appellee, who had previously returned to Chicago, by service and notification pursuant to the Arkansas nonresident motorist service statute. Appellee appeared specially and moved to quash the service as ineffective under the statute. On appeal from the lower court's decision sustaining the motion, held, affirmed. The statutory language which permitted service on a nonresident "owner" did not allow service on a nonresident "driver." Kerr v. …

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Labor Law-Compulsory Arbitration Of Labor Disputes, James A. Sprunk S.Ed. Dec 1948

Labor Law-Compulsory Arbitration Of Labor Disputes, James A. Sprunk S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1947, seven states adopted legislation for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in public utilities. Four more provide for seizure of such industries in cases of strikes or lockouts, and one prohibits picketing or interference with the service of a public utility. In addition, procedures for conciliation, mediation, or voluntary arbitration with suspension of the right to strike or lockout during such procedures, are provided by still others. Such legislative activity reflects the growing public concern regarding labor disputes and indicates that many state legislators are convinced that to secure industrial peace more is required than the mere imposition of …

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Courts-Jurisdiction-Constitutionality Of Statute Establishing Jurisdiction Over Nonresident Conducting Business In State Through Resident Agent, David D. Ring Dec 1948

Courts-Jurisdiction-Constitutionality Of Statute Establishing Jurisdiction Over Nonresident Conducting Business In State Through Resident Agent, David D. Ring

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a resident of Utah, sued petitioner, a resident of California, to recover construction costs and contractor's fee for the erection of a building at petitioner's Utah place of business. In accordance with a statute of Utah providing that jurisdiction over a nonresident individual doing business in the state could be obtained in all actions arising out of the conduct of the business by serving process on the resident agent managing the business, summons was served on the petitioner's Utah manager. Petitioner appeared specially and moved to quash the summons for lack of jurisdiction, which motion was denied. He then …

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Constitutional Law - Privileges And Immunities - Commerce Clause-Proprietary Interest Of State In Its Natural Resources, Charles D. Bell Nov 1948

Constitutional Law - Privileges And Immunities - Commerce Clause-Proprietary Interest Of State In Its Natural Resources, Charles D. Bell

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, residents of Georgia, sued to enjoin the enforcement of a South Carolina statute imposing on shrimp boats a license fee one-hundred times greater for nonresident owners than for resident owners, and requiring all shrimp to be unloaded, packed, and stamped in South Carolina before shipments into other states. The suit was based on the alleged contravention of the privileges and immunities and commerce clauses of the Constitution of the United States. Plaintiff's petition was dismissed by the trial court. On appeal, held, reversed. The disparity in resident and nonresident license fees constituted discrimination against nonresidents in violation of …

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Federal Courts-Venue-Construction Of Sections 51 And 52 Of Judicial Code, Daniel W. Reddin Iii S.Ed. Nov 1948

Federal Courts-Venue-Construction Of Sections 51 And 52 Of Judicial Code, Daniel W. Reddin Iii S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a resident and citizen of Mississippi, brought a negligence action based upon diversity of citizenship in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, joining as defendants Highways Insurance Underwriters, a Texas corporation qualified to do business in Louisiana, and respondents, Reich Brothers Construction Co., a partnership, and its individual members, residents of the Western District of Louisiana. Respondent, Reich Brothers, moved to dismiss on the ground of improper venue under sections 51 and 52 of the Judicial Code which in effect provide that in diversity cases, suit shall be brought only in the district where either …

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Corwin: Liberty Against Government, Michigan Law Review Nov 1948

Corwin: Liberty Against Government, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of LIBERTY AGAINST GOVERNMENT. By Edward S, Corwin .

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Killingsworth: State Labor Relations Acts, Michigan Law Review Nov 1948

Killingsworth: State Labor Relations Acts, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of STATE LABOR RELATIONS ACTS. By Charles C. Killingsworth.

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Corporations-Redeemable Stock-Fiduciary Duty Of Directors, Leroy H. Redfern S.Ed. Jun 1948

Corporations-Redeemable Stock-Fiduciary Duty Of Directors, Leroy H. Redfern S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A federal district court judge introduced an opinion on the fiduciary obligation of corporate directors by stating that "the doctrine of the fiduciary relation is one of the most confused and entangled subjects in corporation law." In Zahn v. Transamerica Corporation the fiduciary duties of corporate directors were discussed extensively by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The court not only failed to terminate the confusion and clear the entanglement but may well have added to it by using the fiduciary concept in a new field.

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Judges-De Facto Judges, J. R. Swenson S.Ed. Jun 1948

Judges-De Facto Judges, J. R. Swenson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1947, the Arkansas legislature created an additional division in the First Chancery Circuit and provided that the office be filled until the next general election by Ruth F. Hale, the then Master of Chancery in that circuit. In Arkansas, divorce is an equitable proceeding, and from the date of her appointment, Chancellor Hale had granted an estimated 1,750 divorces. Defendant appealed a divorce decree granted by Chancellor Hale alleging it to be void. Held, decree vacated. Three judges dissented. Howell v. Howell, (Ark. 1948) 208 S.W. (2d) 22.

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Some Problems In Special Assessment District Obligations, Irvin Long May 1948

Some Problems In Special Assessment District Obligations, Irvin Long

Michigan Law Review

The question of the jurisdiction of a board or officer authorized to construct a local improvement and levy special assessments therefor has always been troublesome, and is particularly so when bonds or other obligations are issued in anticipation of the collection of such assessments. A vast amount of litigation has occurred in Michigan in recent years over drain district assessments, and bonds which such districts have issued. While this is of primary interest to Michigan lawyers and investors in public securities, many of the questions involved seem to be of such a general nature, so far as special assessment procedure …

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Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Judicial Enforcement Of Race Restrictive Covenant, Charles B. Blackmar S.Ed. May 1948

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. …

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Constitutional Law-Procedural Due Process Denied By Michigan's "One-Man Grand Jury'', Robert J. Nordstrom May 1948

Constitutional Law-Procedural Due Process Denied By Michigan's "One-Man Grand Jury'', Robert J. Nordstrom

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was summoned to appear as a witness before one of Oakland County's judges who was then acting in the capacity of "one-man grand juror." This proceeding was attended only by petitioner, the judge grand juror, and two other circuit judges acting as advisers to the latter. The purpose was to investigate alleged misconduct on the part of law-enforcing officials through the acceptance of bribes in the form of sales of worthless "bonds" on pin-ball machines. Petitioner admitted purchasing these "bonds" but could. not recall just what he had done with them when they had expired. Concluding that the petitioner's …

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Evidence- Statutes - Contradiction Of Legislative Journal Entry To Show Date Of Receipt Of Bill By Governor, Emerson T. Chandler May 1948

Evidence- Statutes - Contradiction Of Legislative Journal Entry To Show Date Of Receipt Of Bill By Governor, Emerson T. Chandler

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a tax assessor, sought to recover salary claims against a county, contending that compensation was payable under an act passed by the General Assembly but vetoed by the governor. An entry in the House journal reported delivery of the bill to the governor on March 5. The Assembly adjourned March 13, and the governor vetoed the bill March 28. An official receipt dated March 10 had been given for the bill by the governor's office. The Arkansas Constitution gives the governor five days within which to approve or disapprove the bill. If he fails to act, the bill becomes …

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Corporations - Certificate Of Amendment Conferring Voting Rights On Outstanding Preferred Stock-Remedy Of Non-Assenting Common Stockholder Under New York Appraisal Statute, Edwin F. Uhl S.Ed. Apr 1948

Corporations - Certificate Of Amendment Conferring Voting Rights On Outstanding Preferred Stock-Remedy Of Non-Assenting Common Stockholder Under New York Appraisal Statute, Edwin F. Uhl S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

By amendment of its certificate of incorporation, defendant conferred upon its outstanding preferred stock voting rights equal to those of the common. This alteration reduced the voting interest of the plaintiff's fifty shares of common stock from an approximately 1/33,000 to 1/36,000 part. Plaintiff, who at all times had opposed adoption of the amendment, instituted proceedings under a provision of the New York Stock Corporation Law awarding to dissenting stockholders the right to an appraisal of and payment for their stock "if the certificate . . . abolishes any voting right of the holders of shares of any class or …

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Mcgowan: Trust Receipts, Michigan Law Review Apr 1948

Mcgowan: Trust Receipts, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of TRUST RECEIPTS. By George B. McGowan.

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Constitutional Law-Tax Exemption Contract, Grétel Schinnerer Mar 1948

Constitutional Law-Tax Exemption Contract, Grétel Schinnerer

Michigan Law Review

A charter granted in 1863 by the State of Georgia to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company provided as follows: "The stock of said company shall be subject to a tax not exceeding ½ per cent per annum on the net proceeds of its investments." In 1931, the Georgia legislature levied a tax of 5½ per cent on corporate net income. The railroad brought an action seeking to have an assignment under this tax declared invalid, on the theory that the tax as applied to the plaintiff railroad violated the contract clause of the federal Constitution. The Georgia Supreme Court …

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Municipal Corporations-Validity Of Juke Box Licensing Ordinance As Exercise Of Police Power, Edward S. Tripp S.Ed. Mar 1948

Municipal Corporations-Validity Of Juke Box Licensing Ordinance As Exercise Of Police Power, Edward S. Tripp S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff owned and operated coin-operated phonographs, commonly known as juke boxes, in the City of New Kensington, Pennsylvania. The city enacted an ordinance making the possession of coin-operated phonographs or music boxes within the city without a license illegal. An annual license fee of $25.00 per machine was imposed and violators were subjected to fine and imprisonment, each day of illegal operation constituting a separate offense. Plaintiff sought to enjoin enforcement of the ordinance, alleging that it would cause him irreparable injury and that it was unconstitutional because beyond the legislative power of the city council. An injunction was granted …

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Interstate Commerce-Freight-Rate Discrimination-Action By The Interstate Commerce Commission And The Supreme Court, John F. Buchman, Iii Feb 1948

Interstate Commerce-Freight-Rate Discrimination-Action By The Interstate Commerce Commission And The Supreme Court, John F. Buchman, Iii

Michigan Law Review

The attack upon alleged discrimination against industrial development of the South, Southwest, and West by the maintenance of higher freight-rates on shipments from those sections to the greater markets of the North and East has followed two plans: (1) complaint to the Interstate Commerce Commission to remedy the discrimination by the exercise of its power over the rates themselves; (2) anti-trust action against the agencies through which the rates are initiated. The second plan of attack is illustrated by prosecutions brought by the Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division against forty-seven western railroads for illegal conspiracy to set unfair freight-rates, and …

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Community Property-Constitutionality Of The Pennsylvania Community Property Act, Richard J. Archer Jan 1948

Community Property-Constitutionality Of The Pennsylvania Community Property Act, Richard J. Archer

Michigan Law Review

After the effective date of the Pennsylvania Community Property Act the husband used income from his separate property to pay part of an advance installment on a life insurance policy acquired before the act. He afterward assigned the policy to the plaintiff. The insurance company refused to recognize the validity of the assignment without the wife's consent on the basis that the income from separate property became community property so as to give the wife an interest in the policy. The Pennsylvania Community Property Act provided, inter alia, that: (1) the separate property of each spouse shall consist of that …

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Corporations-Derivative Suits-Who Is A Shareholder Under Federal Rule 23 (B), Kent Chandler, Jr. Jan 1948

Corporations-Derivative Suits-Who Is A Shareholder Under Federal Rule 23 (B), Kent Chandler, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought suit in a federal district court to enforce the rights of defendant, an Illinois corporation, to monies allegedly embezzled by its president and to certain shares of stock allegedly issued to him illegally. The complaint alleged that plaintiff, a Delaware corporation, "is now and has been at all times hereinafter complained of the owner of 6538 shares of the common stock of . . . defendant herein." Defendant, showing by affidavit that plaintiff had never been a shareholder of record, moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to meet the requirements of federal rule 23 (b). The court …

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Jury-Determination Of Damages By Appellate Court As Denial Of Right To Trial By Jury Given By Federal Law, William B. Harvey Dec 1947

Jury-Determination Of Damages By Appellate Court As Denial Of Right To Trial By Jury Given By Federal Law, William B. Harvey

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's cause of action arose under the federal Merchant Marine Act, which grants a right to trial by jury. Plaintiff recovered judgment and on appeal defendant asked the court to determine the damages pursuant to provision in the Oregon Constitution vesting in the supreme court the power to determine from the evidence the extent of a plaintiff's damages and to direct the entry of a final judgment for the amount thereof, on appeal from a jury's verdict awarding damages claimed by the defendant to be excessive. Held, the provision is inapplicable in cases arising under the federal Merchant Marine …

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Powers-Execution By A General Residuary Clause, John E. Grosboll S.Ed. Dec 1947

Powers-Execution By A General Residuary Clause, John E. Grosboll S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Testatrix was given a general testamentary power of appointment over the corpus of a trust by her deceased husband's will. His will further directed that "a general residuary clause in her will shall not be deemed to be an exercise of said power of appointment." Plaintiff was named as a taker in default of appointment. The testatrix died eight years later leaving a will which expressly provided that it was exercising the power of appointment. One paragraph of her will gave several specific bequests from the said trust estate; the paragraph following provided: "All the rest, residue and remainder of …

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Some Income Tax Aspects Of Community Property Law, Paul R. Trigg, Jr. Nov 1947

Some Income Tax Aspects Of Community Property Law, Paul R. Trigg, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The recent enactment of community property law in Michigan and other states has created new problems for lawyers. Not the least of these is the question of the income tax consequences which flow from the existence of a community between the spouses. Nor is this the type of problem which can be shrugged off by reference to tax counsel. Local community property law and federal .income tax law are too closely enmeshed to be intelligently divided. No authority is needed for the statement that recently enacted community property laws are a product of high surtaxes. At the same time, these …

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Judgments--Criteria Of Finality Of State Court Decrees For The Purpose Of Federal Review, John M. Veale S.Ed. Nov 1947

Judgments--Criteria Of Finality Of State Court Decrees For The Purpose Of Federal Review, John M. Veale S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

At the suit of the plaintiff, an incorporated religious organization, a permanent injunction issued from a lower state court enjoining the enforcement of certain ordinances of the defendant City of Los Angeles on the ground that they violated the plaintiff's religious liberty under the Constitutions of California and the United States. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of California which sustained the ordinances as Constitutional and entered a judgment which provided " . . . the Judgment . . . in the above cause . . . is hereby reversed." On plaintiff's appeal, defendant questioned the jurisdiction of …

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Municipal Corporations-Validity Of "Piecemeal" Zoning As Applied To Building Under Construction, Robert J. Walsh S.Ed. Nov 1947

Municipal Corporations-Validity Of "Piecemeal" Zoning As Applied To Building Under Construction, Robert J. Walsh S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Shortly after plaintiff obtained a building permit and commenced work on the excavation for a laundry and dry-cleaning plant in an unzoned section of the City of Huntsville, the city adopted a new zoning ordinance which limited to residential uses an area of approximately two blocks in which plaintiff's property was situated. On appeal from a decree dismissing a bill to enjoin enforcement of the new zoning ordinance, held, reversed. Since the enabling statute required that zoning regulations should be adopted in accordance with a comprehensive plan, an ordinance which did not zone the whole municipality was void. Johnson …

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Constitutional Law-Establishment Of Religion, Due Process, And Equal Protection-Public Aid To Parochial Schools, P. F. Westbrook, Jr. S.Ed. Jun 1947

Constitutional Law-Establishment Of Religion, Due Process, And Equal Protection-Public Aid To Parochial Schools, P. F. Westbrook, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to examine the validity of conclusions reached on the facts of the Everson case. But what was said in the majority opinion and in the two dissenting opinions in the Everson case may also forecast developments in the future. Consequently, there will be occasion to comment upon the broader implications of the decision. First, however, it will be helpful to trace the development of the case law dealing with state and federal constitutional provisions bearing on public aid to parochial schools.

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Constitutional Law-A Federal Commercial Code-Some Possibilities Under The Constitution, Merrill N. Johnson Jun 1947

Constitutional Law-A Federal Commercial Code-Some Possibilities Under The Constitution, Merrill N. Johnson

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to examine various possibilities of federal action which would help to bring about unification, simplification and clarification in the field of commercial law. The term "commercial law" has no commonly accepted connotation; it is taken here to ·include the law of transfers of personal property by commercial methods, of negotiable instruments, of chattel securities, of agency and of business associations; in short, all those fields of law which a Continental lawyer would term "private commercial law."

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Evidence-Uncontradicted Testimony, Robert L. Cardon S.Ed. Jun 1947

Evidence-Uncontradicted Testimony, Robert L. Cardon S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The great majority of jurisdictions in the United States recognize the rule that in civil cases "clear, positive, direct and undisputed testimony, not improbable or contradictory, given by an unimpeached witness, cannot be rejected or disregarded by either court or jury, unless the evidence discloses facts and circumstances which furnish a reasonable ground for so doing." It is the purpose of this comment to discuss (1) the reasons underlying this rule, and the extent to which it is recognized, rejected or limited in various jurisdictions; (2) the application of the rule to fact situations in jurisdictions where it is recognized.

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