Supreme Court of the United States Commons^™

Legislation - Requirement Of Definiteness In Statutory Standards, Robert B. Krueger S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

While it is universally recognized that definiteness in statutory standards is a condition prerequisite to the application of a statute, there is no agreement among either the courts or the writers as to the theory behind this requirement. However, common elements in each of the two prevalent theories indicate certain factors which may well be decisive on the question of definiteness in any given case. The purpose of this comment is to explore the practical implications of the interplay of these various factors and theories.

Product Competition In The Relevant Market Under The Sherman Act, David Macdonald

Michigan Law Review

The correct delimitation of the relevant market is the problem to be examined here. First the legal development of market concepts will be traced. Then, with the objective of coalescing the legal and economic concepts of .the market, a test will be proposed with which to measure the correct market in any given case.

Release Time And Religious Liberty: A Reply, Leo Pfeffer

Michigan Law Review

In his generous article-review of this writer's book, Church, State, and Freedom, Paul G. Kauper justified the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Zorach v. Clauson on the basis of its prior decision in Pierce v. Society of Sisters. In the Pierce case, it will be remembered, the Supreme Court invalidated an Oregon statute whose purpose it was to require attendance of all children at public schools. In Zorach v. Clauson, the Court upheld the validity of a New York statute that permitted public schools to release children for one hour weekly to receive religious …

Arbitration-Enforceability Of Arbitration Agreement In Action By Investor Under The Securities Act Of 1933, Rinaldo L. Bianchi

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sustained a severe loss in the resale of securities bought from the defendant. Alleging fraud he sued under section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, which provides for liability when prospectuses or oral communications sent through channels of interstate commerce falsely state or omit a material fact so as to render the statement misleading. Pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, defendant moved for an order staying proceedings until arbitration had been had in accordance with an agreement between the parties. The district court denied the order, saying that the non-waiver clause of the Securities Act voided a waiver …

Conflict Of Laws - Full Faith And Credit - Foreign Custody Decrees, Theodore J. St. Antoine S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Husband and wife were domiciled in Wisconsin. When marital troubles developed, the parties agreed that the wife should. take their children to Ohio and. there decide on her future action. Shortly afterward the wife informed the husband. she was not returning. The husband secured. a divorce in Wisconsin, with the decree purporting to award. him custody of the children subject to visitation rights in the wife. Service on the wife was · obtained by publication, but she made no appearance in the Wisconsin proceedings. After one of the visits of the children, the wife refused. to return them and. the …

Federal Control Of Health And Safety Standards In Peacetime Private Atomic Energy Activities, Samuel D. Estep

Michigan Law Review

This article is directed to the question of the power of Congress to provide for such regulation of those who handle radioactive materials in private industry and not to the policy question of whether Congress ought to attempt such regulation.

Evidence - Wiretapping And The Congress, Richard W. Pogue S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The familiar cry that "there ought to be a law" is frequently raised concerning the practice which Justice Holmes long ago characterized as "dirty business" - the tapping of telephone wires. Although existing legislation on both federal and state levels deals with interception of telephone messages, the almost universal conclusion of commentators on the subject has been that many of the present day statutes are inadequate. It is particularly apparent that the famous section 605 of the Federal Communications Act of 1934 has long been in need of replacement or thorough revision. The purpose of this comment is to examine …

In Suport Of The Thayer Theory Of Presumptions, Charles V. Laughlin

Michigan Law Review

A learned judge once said to a young lawyer, "If you are ever a trial court judge, never give reasons for your decisions. Your rulings will probably be right, but your reasons will likely be wrong." That statement may aptly apply to judicial pronouncements relating to the subject of presumptions. Decisions are largely free from criticism so far as concerns the results reached, but the reasoning processes by which they are reached appear to be in hopeless confusion. It is believed that a theory can be presented which will both reconcile these confusions of judicial techniques and explain the general …

Constitutional Law - Equal Protection - Damage Action For Breach Of Racial Restrictive Covenant, Raymond R. Trombadore S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners sued at law for breach of a racial restrictive covenant, alleging that respondent violated the covenant by conveying restricted realty without incorporating restrictions in the deed, and by permitting non-Caucasians to enter and occupy the premises. The trial court sustained a demurrer to the complaint, the California court of appeals affirmed, and hearing was denied by the state supreme court. On certiorari the United States Supreme Court held, affirmed, Chief Justice Vinson dissenting. An award of damages by a state court for breach of racial restrictive covenants would constitute state action which would deprive the excluded class of …

Constitutional Law - State Action - Trade Union's Authority Is Not Derived From The State, S. I. Shuman S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs claimed that defendant union and defendant company conspired to discriminate against Negro cab driver employees by means of a working regulation intended to compel plaintiffs to pick up passengers only in wards inhabited primarily by Negroes. Two bases for original jurisdiction in federal court were advanced. First, it was contended that the cause of action involved more than $3,000 and arose under the laws of the United States because the bargaining power of the union was conferred upon it by the National Labor Relations Act. Second, it was maintained that the Civil Rights Act vested jurisdiction, on the ground …

Constitutional Law-Review Of State Court Determination-Supreme Court's Vacation Of State Court Judgment Without Giving Grounds For Reversal, Marcus A. Rowden S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States granted plaintiff's petition for certiorari to review a decision of the Supreme Court of California summarily denying plaintiff's application for habeas corpus. Previously the cause had been continued to enable petitioner to secure a determination of the California Supreme Court as to whether its judgment was intended to rest on an adequate independent state ground. It was later held that a letter from the clerk of that court was not a sufficient determination of that question, and petitioner was still unable to obtain that determination. Held, judgment of the Supreme Court of …

Civil Procedure-Abatement-Status Of Suit Nominally Against Government Official When Official Leaves Office, Alan C. Boyd S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Often an action brought against an official of the sovereign is actually against the sovereign itself, nominally represented by the official. The status of such a suit when the official leaves office is even today not satisfactorily settled. The so-called representative suit, while at one time serving a purpose, has always been somewhat anomalous and today is antiquated and useless.

King: Melville Weston Fuller, Chief Justice Of The United States 1888-1910., Louis P. Haller

Michigan Law Review

A Review of MELVILLE WESTON FULLER, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES 1888-1910. By Willard L. King.

Habeas Corpus-Exhaustion Of State Remedies-Denial Of Certiorari By Supreme Court As Condition To Obtaining Original Writ In Federal District Court, B. J. George, Jr. S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The expanded concept of due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment during the past thirty years has brought increased inquiry by the federal courts into state criminal procedure. A common method of bringing such matters to the Supreme Court's attention has been the use of habeas corpus, particularly following confinement. But this increased vigilance over state criminal procedure has wrought an increasingly tender conscience on the part of the federal courts over resulting interference with state court systems. The theoretical problem has been further amplified on the practical level by the flood of petitions, largely frivolous or perjured, by …

Appeal And Error-Significance Of Denial Of Certiorari As Precedent By United States Supreme Court, Edward W. Rothe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Respondents were found guilty of contempt of court for broadcasting dispatches concerning a person about to be tried on a charge of murder. The convictions were reversed on constitutional grounds by the Court of Appeals of Maryland, relying upon certain decisions of the United States Supreme Court. The state sought a writ of certiorari on the ground that the Maryland court had misconceived the rulings of the Supreme Court. Although the application for certiorari was denied, Justice Frankfurter took occasion to write an opinion stating that the denial of the writ meant only that fewer than four members of the …

Administrative Law-Federal Administrative Procedure Act-The Supreme Court Gives The Act Its First Interpretation, Fred W. Freeman S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Federal Administrative Procedure Act received its first thorough consideration by the Supreme Court in the recent case of Wong Yang Sung v. McGrath. The Court held that deportation proceedings must conform to section 5, which provides for notice, opportunity for a hearing, separation of prosecution and quasi-judicial functions, and the issuance of declaratory orders by the agency, and to section 11, which prescribes an independent status for presiding officers. The scope of section 5 is limited to administrative adjudications "required by statute to be determined on the record after opportunity for an agency hearing." There is no specific requirement …

De Toledano And Lasky: Seeds Of Treason, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of SEEDS OF TREASON. By Ralph de Toledano and Victor Lasky.

Freund: On Understanding The Supreme Court., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of ON UNDERSTANDING THE SUPREME COURT. By Paul A. Freund.

State Taxation Of Interstate Commerce--What Now?, Robert C. Brown

Michigan Law Review

Perennial indeed have been the problems of state taxation affecting interstate commerce and the problems of intergovernmental taxation as between state and federal governments. The two problems are quite similar except that the intergovernmental problem is mutual while the interstate problem affects only state taxing power. But both are alike in that the restrictions on the taxing power are entirely judicial, and that while some restrictions are desirable they must themselves be limited lest we have not regulation but destruction of taxing power.

The intergovernmental problem is virtually settled with the allowance of non-discriminatory taxation on both sides, except as …

Constitutional Law-Exports-Immunity From State Taxation, Paul E. Anderson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Article 1, section 10 of the Constitution provides, "No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports . . . . " This clause places a limitation on state taxing power. The basic problem is to determine at what point goods in the process of being manufactured and prepared for foreign shipment become exports. If the goods are found to be exports, they are immune to state taxation. Two recent Supreme Court decisions have dealt with this question in an attempt to lay down a general rule applicable to future situations. Because …

Mr. Justice Murphy, Fred M. Vinson

Michigan Law Review

I count it a rare privilege to have known Frank Murphy. Gentle, kindly, and amiable of temperament, yet he had a strength of character and tenacity of purpose that enabled him to uphold the right, as God gave him to see the right, no matter what the pressures and constraints. His untimely death deeply touched the hearts of all who knew him, while the poor, the underprivileged, the accused, and minorities of many different shades of belief mourned the passing of one who had been their protagonist.

Mr. Justice Murphy, Hugo L. Black

Michigan Law Review

Frank Murphy's extensive public service is discussed by others in this issue. I write of him as an associate, and as a friend. Our friendship began when we first met in 1936, and grew stronger with the years. No one associated with him could fail to be attracted by his human warmth and his passion for justice.

Mr. Justice Murphy -A Note Of Appreciation, John H. Pickering, Eugene Gressman, T. L. Tolan Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Justice Murphy would have observed his tenth anniversary on the Supreme Court on February 5, 1950. Just as some of us who were privileged to serve as his law clerks were beginning to think of plans to honor him on that occasion, the news of his death came to stun us. So instead we pay homage to his memory by relating some of the manifold aspects of the character of this most noble man.

The Rule Of Clear And Present Danger: Scope Of Its Applicability, Chester James Antieau

Michigan Law Review

The rule of clear and present danger originated in 1919 in an attempt by Mr. Justice Holmes to formulate a principle for the limitation of liberty with a conscious, intelligent weighing of the opposed societal interests. In the Schenck case, the societal and individual interest in freedom of expression clashed with the societal interest in defense of the state. In conflicts of this kind the criterion has had its most frequent application. The societal interest in preservation of the state was adequately protected by application of the test in prosecutions arising under the Espionage Act of 1917, although Mr. Justice …

Wendell: Relations Between The Federal And State Courts, Glenn R. Winters

Michigan Law Review

A Review of RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FEDERAL AND STATE COURTS. By Mitchell Wendell.

Mr. Justice Murphy, Ira W. Jayne

Michigan Law Review

When Justice Frank Murphy took his seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, I was asked to make a public statement about the appointment.

Origin And Development Of The Directed Verdict, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

Recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States have aroused a new interest in the familiar motion for a directed verdict. In this discussion the writer will undertake a brief examination of the antecedents of the motion, and then will trace its short but significant history.

Freedom From Uncertainty In Income Tax Exemptions, Maurice Finkelstein

Michigan Law Review

Exemptions from obligations to government are as old as Scripture. It is not strange, therefore, that the public interest in humane government should dictate numerous exemptions from the income tax levy, particularly when one considers that the income tax has long ceased to be simply a revenue producing vehicle. The regulation of inflation or deflation, the control of corporate financial structures, the distribution of wealth, all these and many other concern of government have entered into the formula of our income tax laws. The selection of those who are to be benefited by the tax exemption is, of course, made …

Regulation Of Business-Antitrust Law As Affected By Standard Oil Company Of California V. United States, William R. Worth S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In Standard Oil Company of California v. United States, the Supreme Court of the United States has given what appears to be a final and definitive answer to this question, although differing from what had formerly been thought to be the "final and definite answer." This comment will be centered on that case and its implications.

Reel: The Case Of General Yamashita, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of THE CASE OF GENERAL YAMASHITA By A. Frank Reel.