Extra-Constitutional Limitations upon Legislative Power

THE appearance of Professor Haines\u27 volume on The Revival ofNatural Law Concepts and the recent decision of the SupremeCourt of Oklahoma in Thomas v. Reid, present anew the issuewhether state legislatures are limited in their powers by restrictionsnot found in the text of written constitutions. In the caseof Thomas v. Reid the court held invalid a legislative act requiringa vote of sixty per cent of the qualified voters to authorizethe sale of a municipally-owned public utility, saying that majorityrule is one of the foundation stones of our government and that the legislature is powerless to take away the right oflocal government existing in the several municipalities at thetime of the adoption of the state constitution

The Constitution-1787 and Today

An Address given before Indianapolis Bar Association, September 6, 1944

The Problems of Appellate Courts

Courts of review have now become highly specialized parts of our justice system. This was not the case in the earlier history of state and federal judicial systems.During the greater part of the period between 1818 and 1848 the SupremeCourt of Illinois was composed of judges who did trial work as well. When Connecticut, in 1806, separated judicial functions from those of the executive and legislative departments, provision was made that the judges of the superior court (the trial court) should constitute the Supreme Court of Errors. During a long period under the federal system, justices of the United States Supreme Court went upon circuit

Notes on Judicial Organization and Procedure

Methods of Jury Selection. Only five years ago, a member ofthe bench was protesting that whereas criticism of our courts hasbecome so common that anyone with a pen or typewriter feels calledupon to add his mite to the subject, still, for some reason, perhapsfor fear of being unpopular, very few have said anything regardingjuries. What a change has taken place! Today, baiting the juryis one of our safest, as well as most popular, pastimes. As statedby Dean Wignore, the issue stands thus: Shall jury trial be abolished?Or shall it only be reformed? No thoughtful person can becontent to leave it as it is. Abolition being beyond the realm ofprobability, the question narrows down to that of the improvement ofthe jury, which is primarily a problem of improving the methods ofits selection

State Constitutional Conventions and State Legislative Power

The State of Tennessee faces a serious problem in that it badly needs changes in its Constitution of 1870 and finds it substantially impossible to make such changes by means of proposed amendments by the two houses of its General Assembly. The requirements (1) that legislative proposal be by a majority of all members of the two houses and that it be agreed to by two thirds of the General Assembly then next chosen, and (2) that approval of a proposed amendment be by a majority of all the citizens of the State, voting for Representatives, \u27 substantially defeat possibility of change, as has been found with respect to such requirements in other states. The further requirement that amendments are not to be proposed oftener than once in six years materially restricts legislative proposals, and such proposal if made has little chance of adoption. In the State of Tennessee there appears to be no possibility that the General Assembly should submit a revised constitution to popular vote as was done in the State of Georgia in 1945