Law and Legal Systems: Key Concepts

• Values that people hold that guide how they act in response to social expectations are known as ideology.
• Federalism is a system where power is divided between the federal and state government
• The U.S. Constitution grants the federal government certain enumerated powers.
• A law deemed unconstitutional becomes void.
• An action in Law is a lawsuit, enabling someone to sue for money.
• An action in Equity involves seeking immediate relief from the court.
• The actual law itself is known as Substantive Law
• Procedural Law defines the procedures that must be followed for laws.
• State Police Powers allow states greater latitude in regulating individual conduct.
• Stare Decisis/Precedent means "Let the decision stand," such that courts generally follow lower court decisions in similar cases that set a precedent.
• The Bill of Rights applies to government action, not private conduct, and the first 10 amendments to the constitution protect from potential governmental overreach.
• Individual political speech receives the highest protection, followed by corporate/commercial speech, which has considerable protection but can be regulated if a substantial government interest directly advances its objective.
• The Commerce Clause grants Congress the authority to regulate commerce.

Dormant Commerce Clause & Michigan Winery's

• The Dormant Commerce Clause restricts state authority from passing laws that substantially affect interstate commerce.
• Michigan Winery's case: SCOTUS ruled Michigan's statute against other wines unconstitutional because Michigan tried to unfairly block certain wines

Cases

• Dearborn Bakery: Received immediate relief from the court due to a religious baking season after a new baker across the street defamed its name.
• Heart of Atlanta Motel: SCOTUS ruled that the motel must rent to blacks after Congress used the commerce clause as justification, following the denial of black patrons' rights to stay at the hotel.
• U.S. v Lopez; Granholm v Heald: Compared, Lopez limited federal power, preventing Congress from using the commerce clause to regulate local activities, whereas Granholm restricted state power, preventing states from discriminating against out of state business

Ethics in Business

• William K. Frankena argues in favor of a positive social morality.
• Gandhi's Seven Deadly Sins includes commerce without morality.
• Corporate Social Responsibility involves acting ethically and with accountability to society.
• Duty Based Ethics: Kant's Categorical Imperative is to consider the result if everyone acted as you intended.
• Outcome Based Ethics (Utilitarianism): Cost-Benefit Analysis; which advocates for aiming for the greatest good for the greatest number of people, and considering the consequences of an action.

Pinto & Toyota cases

• Pinto: Ford ended up paying out even up paying out anyway to save their name, in this example of Cost – Benefit analysis where the value of human life is weighted against the cost of improving ford gas tanks
• Toyota: Toyota paid out anyway to save their name, even though claims that the gas pedal gets stuck it was proven not to

Courts and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

• State and Federal Court Systems include Trial Courts, Appellate Courts, and Supreme Courts.
• Complaint and Summons, followed by an Answer, means you must answer a complaint in a certain period and if you don't, a judgement will be entered in plaintiff's favor
• Pre – trial Discovery (Deposition and Interrogatories): Includes Deposition (Discovery), which involves someone recording a video of answers, and Interrogatories (Discovery), which involve written questions and answers under oath.
• Mediation within the trial involves three lawyers advising the judge; a Trial occurs if it is not settled.
• Post – Trial Motions include Judgement NOT withstanding the verdict.
• Most Lawsuits are dismissed or settled before trial

Alternate Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

• Alternate Dispute Resolution is the difference between mediation and arbitration before a lawsuit is filed.
• An Arbitrator is one who settles controversy between two sides; verdict must be followed.
• Stella v. McDonalds, where a 79-year-old woman suffered third-degree burns and later awarded $2.86 million in punitive damages (reduced to $480,000), sparked debate over frivolous lawsuits and corporate responsibility.

Torts

• The Reasonable Person Standard is the law's version of an average person
• Objective View – Perspective is based upon valid viewpoints on a topic free from personal judgement or opinions
• Elements: Duty, Breach, Harm because of breach are the core components of a negligence claim.
• Burden of proof by a Preponderance: Legal standard means proving something is more likely true than not, and is the standard used in civil trials.
• Intentional Torts include deliberate acts intended to cause individual harm.
• Assault and Battery (Immediate harm): Assault is a threat or attempt to injure, whereas Battery is an unconsented offensive touching
• Defamation is the act of harming or ruining another's reputation.

Slander, Libel & Negligence

• Slander: Spoken, Libel: Written.
• Truth is a defense.
• Negligence means you are responsible for any foreseeable harm
• Proximal Cause: a legal concept of causation that asks whether the injury or other event would have occurred if the negligent act had not occurred.
• (Person has a) Duty of care; (that person) Breached of that Duty; because of the breach (but for test) the party would not have been harmed.
• (if) plaintiff is at all responsible, even just a bit, the plaintiff gets nothing via Contributory Negligence

Defenses

• Assumption of Risk: Defense in which the defendant shows that the plaintiff knew of the risk involved in an activity and still took the chance of being injured
• Comparative Negligence: which compare the acts of the parties
• Open and Obvious: legal principle that protected business owners from liability caused by obvious hazard on their property
• Res Ipsa Loquitor ( “the thing speaks for itself”) – the facts or evidence are so clear that they don't need further explanation and can be used to support that the circumstances or actions themselves clearly show that someone was negligent or responsible for harm

Cases

• Bricklayer: case demonstrating negligence. A barrel of flour fell from a warehouse window and injured a man, and the court applied Res Ipsa Loquitor
• Jenny Jones: a tragic event where a man killed another after being revealed to have a crush on him on the show, which then led to the family of the deceased to sue the show

Potholes & Tort Law

• Pothole Case typically refers to someone who gets injured by a pothole, where they then sue the government for negligence under premises liability.
• Reasonable Person Standard is used to determine if someone's actions were careless or negligent.
• Burden of Proof, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt is the standard that must be met by the prosecutions evidence in a criminal case.
• Overcriminalization is when too many actions or behaviors are made illegal, even if they don't really harm anyone.
• Misdemeanor punishment is up to a year in jail.
• Felony punishment is over a year in prison.
• The Bill of Rights safeguards individual rights against government action (Amendments 4,5,6, and 8).

Tim Boomer Case, Miranda Rule & Exclusionary Rule

• Tim Boomer Case demonstrates the difference between vague and overboard laws, where the case highlights the limitations of each when applying to a case
• Miranda Rule: the constitutional rights which police must read to a suspect before questioning can occur.
• Exclusionary Rule: improperly gathered evidence may not be introduced in a criminal trial.
• Officer Gary Davis and the speeding: Police Officer Gary Davis was fatally hit by a drunk driver while transporting a drunk suspect, which then led to the drunk driver to be acquitted of murder and convicted of two misdemeanors