Law 293 Exam 1 Review PDF

Chapter 1: Legal and Constitutional Foundations of Business Ideology: Values that people hold, either on their own or together, which guide how they act in response to social expectations. Federalism: A system in which power is divided between the federal and state government Federal government...

Chapter 1: Legal and Constitutional Foundations of Business Ideology: Values that people hold, either on their own or together, which guide how they act in response to social expectations. Federalism: A system in which power is divided between the federal and state government Federal government is granted certain enumerated powers by U.S. Constitution: if a law is deemed unconstitutional it will be void Action in Law: A lawsuit, you can sue someone for money Action in Equity: Asking for immediate relief from the court Substantive Law: the actual law itself Procedural Law: the procedure that have to be followed for the laws State Police Powers: states have more latitude in regulating individuals conduct Stare Decisis/Precedent: “ Let the decision stand” … courts generally follow the decisions of lower courts in similar cases that set a precedent. Bill of Rights applies to government action not private conduct; First 10 amendments to the constitution; protects us from the heavy hand pf government ( What Congress can’t do) Free Speech: individual political speech given the highest protection, then corporate/commercial speech, considerable protection but can be regulated if it there is a substantial govt. interest, it directly advances that interest and goes no further than necessary to accomplish its objective. Commerce Clause: Congress has the authority to regulate commerce Dormant Commerce Clause: restriction on state’s authority to pass laws that substantially affect interstate commerce. Michigan Winery’s: Michigan tried to block certain wines and unfairly so SCOTUS ruled the statute against the other wines was unconstitutional Cases: Dearborn Bakery: Requested and received immediate relief from the court due to a religious baking season after the new baker across the street defamed his name. Heart of Atlanta Motel: A man tried to deny blacks the right to stay at his hotel even after desegregation so he sued congress for telling him how to run his business, SCOTUS ruled that the man must rent to blacks after congress used the commerce clause as justification Compare/Contrast U.S. v Lopez; Granholm v Heald: Lopez limited federal power ruling the congress couldn’t use the commerce clause to regulate local activities such as gun possession in school zones because it did not substantially affect interstate commerce. Granholm restricted state power, ruling that states could not pass laws that discriminated against out of state business, specifically in the context of alcohol sales, because such laws impeded interstate commerce. Chapter 3: Ethics in Business William K. Frankena: Argues in favor of a positive social morality Gandhi’s Seven Deadly Sins: (Commerce without Morality) Corporate Social Responsibility: to act ethically and be accountable to society. Duty Based Ethics: Kant’s Categorical Imperative: what would be the result if everyone acted as you intended to act Outcome Based Ethics ( Utilitarianism): Cost Benefit Analysis; the greatest good for the greatest number of people, the consequences of an action Cases: Pinto: This is an example of Cost – Benefit analysis. In this case the value of human life is weighted against the cost of improving ford gas tanks. Ford ended up paying out even up paying out anyway to save their name. Toyota: Claims the gas pedal gets stuck, it was proven not to but Toyota paid out anyway to save their name. Chapter 2: Courts and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) State and Federal Court Systems Include: Trial Courts, Appellate Courts and Supreme Courts Complaint and Summons: and then an Answer: 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): Deposition (Discovery): someone recording a video of answers Interrogatories (Discovery): written questions and answers under oath Mediation within the trial: (three lawyers advise the judge), Trial if not settled it decides if there is a case. Post – Trial Motions (Judgement NOT withstanding the verdict) Most Lawsuits are dismissed or settled before trial Alternate Dispute Resolution: Difference between mediation and arbitration before a lawsuit is filed. Arbitrator: one who settles controversy between two sides; verdict must be followed Cases: Stella v. McDonalds: involved a 79-year-old woman, Stella Liebeck, who suffered third- degree burns after spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on her lap. The coffee, served at an unusually high temperature of 180–190°F (82–88°C), caused severe injuries. Liebeck initially sought a settlement to cover medical expenses, but after McDonald's offered only a small sum, she sued. The jury awarded her $2.86 million in punitive damages, later reduced to $480,000. The case sparked debate over frivolous lawsuits and the responsibility of corporations in ensuring consumer safety. Chapter 4: Tort Law Reasonable Person Standard: the law’s version of an average person Objective view NOT subjective view: Objective View – Perspective based upon valid viewpoints on a topic free from personal judgement or opinions Elements: Duty, Breach, Harm because of breach: represent the core components of a negligence claim in law, meaning to prove someone is liable for negligence, you must demonstrate that duty of care existed, that this duty was breached, and that the breach directly caused harm to the plaintiff. Burden of proof by a Preponderance: Legal standard that means proving something is more likely true than not. Its standard used in civil trials. Intentional Torts: deliberate acts intended to cause individual harm Assault and Battery (Immediate harm): Assault – threat or attempt to injure; reasonable immediate fear or apprehension is believed. Battery – an unconsented offensive touching False Imprisonment: Defamation: Act of harming or ruining another’s reputation; you are entitled to a good reputation if you have one. Slander: Spoken; Libel: written Truth is a defense Negligence: 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 if the negligent act had not occurred ( your harm must me proximally caused by someone else) (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. The defendant’s conduct is a factual cause of the harm when the harm would not have occurred absent the conduct; “but for the breach this person would not be harmed” Negligence Defense:  Assumption of Risk: Defense in which the defendant shows that the plaintiff knew pf the risk involved in an activity and still took the chance of being injured Open and Obvious: legal principle that protected business owners from liability caused by obvious hazard on their property Comparative Negligence: Compare the acts of the parties Contributory Negligence: if plaintiff is at all responsible, even just a bit, plaintiff gets nothing. Res Ipsa Loquitor ( “the thing speaks for itself”) – the facts or evidence are so clear that they don’t need further explanation. Its often used to support that the circumstances or actions themselves clearly show that someone was negligent or responsible for harm without needing extra proof Cases: Bricklayer: case demonstrating negligence; In this case, a barrel of flour fell from a warehouse window and hit a man, Mr. Bryne, causing him injury. The man sued the warehouse owner, Mr. Boadle, claiming negligence, but the warehouse owner didn’t explain why the barrel fell. The court decided that it was clear the barrel didn’t just fall on its own, so it must have been due to someone’s carelessness. They applied the legal principle Res Ipsa Loquitor, which means that sometimes, the facts of the accident are so obvious that they prove negligence without needing extra evidence Jenny Jones: a tragic event that happened in 1995. A man named Scott Amedure appeared on the Jenny Jones show and revealed he had a crush on another man, Jonathan Schmitz. After the show aired, Jonathan felt embarrassed and upset. A few days later, he shot and killed Scott. Scott’s family sued Jenny Jones producers, claiming the show caused the  show caused emotional harm and led to Scott’s death. The court found the producers partially responsible for the incident, stating they should have been more careful in handling such sensitive topics, and awarded Scott’s family $25 million in damages. This case highlighted the risk of sensationalizing people’s personal live on TV. Pothole Case: In tort law, the “pothole case” typically refers to a situation where someone is injured due to a pothole or defect in the road, and they sue the government or another responsible party for negligence. The injured person claims that the party responsible for maintaining the road (like a city or local government) failed to repair the pothole, even though they knew about it or should have known. The main issue in these cases is whether the responsible party was careless in not fixing the pothole, leading to the injury. The case involves premises liability, where property owners ( or governments in this case) must keep their property safe for others. If they don’t, they can be held liable for any harm that occurs. Chapter 7: Reasonable Person Standard: used to determine if someone’s actions were careless or negligent. Burden of Proof, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt a much higher standard: the standard that must be met by the prosecutions evidence in a criminal case: that there is no other logical explanation, based on the facts, expect that the defendant committed the crime Overcriminalization: is when too many actions or behaviors are made illegal, even if they don’t really harm anyone. It happens when laws punish minor or less serious things that shouldn’t be considered crimes, leading to too many people being punished for things that don’t seem to need criminal response. Misdemeanor punishment up to a year in jail Felony over a year in prison Bill of Rights safeguards over individual rights against government action: Amendments 4,5,6, and 8 Tim Boomer Case: the difference between vague and overboard laws. A vague law is one that is unclear, leaving people unsure about what actions are legal or illegal. In the case a law may have been too vague, making it hard for Tim Boomer to know what conduct was prohibited. On the other hand, an overboard law applies too broadly, covering more situations then necessary including those that shouldn’t be limited. The Tim Boomer case highlights know both types of laws can be problematic because they fail to provide clear guidelines or unfairly punish individuals for conduct that doesn’t harm other or shouldn’t be neglected. 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 Cases: Officer Gary Davis and the speeding: Police Officer Gary Davis was tragically killed in a crash while transporting a drunk suspect back to the station. At 3:30 am, his portal car was hit by another drunk driver while officer Davis was turning on I-75. Officer Davis died, and both the suspect and the other driver were seriously injured. The drunk driver, who had a past DUI conviction, was charged with multiple offenses but was acquitted of murder and convicted of two misdemeanors.