Berman, Anne U.

English

St. John's University School of Law

St. John's Law Review Volume 12 Number 1 Volume 12, November 1937, Number 1 Article 41 May 2014 Cases on Domestic Relations (Book Note) Anne U. Berman Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview Recommended Citation Berman, Anne U. (1937) "Cases on Domestic Relations (Book Note)," St. John's Law Review: Vol. 12 : No. 1 , Article 41. Available at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview/vol12/iss1/41 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in St. John's Law Review by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact selbyc@stjohns.edu. 190 ST. JOHN'S LAW REVIEW [VOL. 12has apparently outgrown its usefulness. Whether the doctrine has ever beenof any great value in preserving the status quo of the states in the federalsystem is doubtful, although it is certain that Chief Justice Marshall did notintend that it should be used to extend immunity from all national revenue lawsto state and local agencies. Professor Charles J. Bullock has asserted that'when Chief Justice Marshall said that the power of taxation involved thepower to destroy he forged a thunderbolt and hurled it at a mosquito. If taxesare levied for revenue, (such a doctrine) is absolutely false. Taxes levied forrevenue cannot be levied for more than one year, or a few years, on a basisthat destroys. Governments have got to let taxable ability and taxable businessand the objects of taxation live. It is the power to levy a discriminating taxthat destroys, and it was that kind of tax Chief Justice Marshall had beforehim. * * * ""* * * It is again emphasized, therefore, that the Supreme Court shouldlay aside the rule of stare decisis and reconsider the whole question of tax-immunity of governmental agencies, both state and federal. * * *1 4B. H.CASES ON DomEsTic REIA'roxs. By Frederick L. Kane. St. Paul: WestPublishing Co., 1936, pp. x, 572.The author, long a distinguished member of Fordham University'sSchool of Law, has produced a casebook, which for many years will undoubt-edly remain a standard work on the subject of Domestic Relations. Thisbranch of the law has been changed so radically in the past few years bystatutes, and the judicial decisions of the various states have been in such utterconflict, that we cannot fail to recognize that Professor Kane has performedan exceedingly difficult task in a most scholarly fashion.Within the space of less than five hundred pages, he has presented to us ina clear and orderly fashion, the most important decisions in this field, dividingthem both as to chronological sequence and the standard subdivisions of thesubject.' He has, however, "definitely omitted cases on Insane Persons, Aliens,and Master and Servant which formerly were included as part of the law ofDomestic Relations," but which the author no longer considers "appropriate".It is difficult for this reviewer to understand why Professor Kane considersthese subdivisions inappropriate. On the other hand, he has diverted very littlefrom the traditional division and sequence of the field and has included caseson Dower, Curtesy, the Rights of a Surviving Spouse, Infant's Contracts andJurisdiction in Divorce. Thus we have lost very little for the sake of brevity.The cases are selected from various jurisdictions such as New York, Massachu-" P. 147.'Marriage and Divorce, Husband and Wife, Parent and Child, with alltheir various subdivisions.1937] BOOK NOTES 191setts, Connecticut and New Jersey, and tend to construe the fundamental prin-ciples of each jurisdiction rather than to point out the technique of prosecution.The provocative notes and comments at the end of each case are particularlyinteresting and helpful to both student and practitioner. They comprise supple-mental cases either for review, comparison or similarity of the main case; theparticular sections of the Domestic Relations Law and the Civil Practice Actrelating to the principle involved; and last but not least, the latest concept of theprinciple as understood and set down by the Restatement Committee of the Amer-ican Law Institute. As a general rule, the author has attempted to emphasizeand clarify the New York rulings on each particular principle involved. In hisefforts to bring some order out of the confusion which permeates the subjectof Domestic Relations, he has made skilled reference to the sections of theDomestic Relations Law designed to cure the common law and the inconsis-tencies found in numerous rulings.The student, in particular, will find very helpful the inclusion in this bookof the statutes of the Domestic Relations Law and those subdivisions of theCivil Practice Act which relate to this branch of the law, as it will save muchvaluable time. Teachers will appreciate this book for the cases have all beenbrought down to date. The reviewer expects this work to be universallyreceived with enthusiasm for it should have general appeal to student, teacherand general practitioner.A. U. B.The initials signed to the booknotes are those of Frederick A. Whitney,Edward J. O'Toole, Benjamin Harrow and Anne U. Berman.

Cases on Domestic Relations (Book Note)

https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5723&amp;context=lawreview

Cases on Domestic Relations (Book Note)

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

St. John's University School of Law