Deck 4: Business and the Constitution

Question 1

What is the economic impact of the statutes on wineries, both in- and out-of-state? On wholesalers? On consumers?

Answer 1

This case discusses the discriminatory characters of the New York and Michigan system in which they denied out-of-state wineries a direct shipment. The in-state wineries were required to get license only to have a direct shipment but the out-of-state wineries first required to have license, secondly pass their products through in-state wholesalers and retailers, and then reaches to consumers. Due to increase in distribution channels, the cost of the out-of-state wineries was increased. This resulted into a bar for small out-of-state wineries to enter into the market of Michigan and New York. This could be seen as an economic loss.

Question 2

Did Quill Corporation own any property in North Dakota?

Answer 2

1669-5.3-1CQ AID: 1150 | 24/12/2012
RID: 2035 | 28/12/2012
Quill Corporation is one of the biggest retailers of mail-order office supply in the United States. It gets maximum business from North Dakota. Quill does not own any property in North Dakota. It does its business in the region through advertisements in national periodicals, catalogues, and flyers.

Question 3

Were any Quill offices or personnel located in North Dakota? How did Quill come to have customers in North Dakota?

Answer 3

In the mentioned case, Company QC vs State ND , State ND attempted to impose taxes on Company QC upon the property purchased for storing and distributing of the products within the state ND.
Company QC is U.S retailer incorporated in State D. Company QC is one of the largest suppliers of office equipment such as software, safety products, furniture , etc. for business-to-business (B2B) markets. Company QC has no physical offices or personnel located in State ND.
Company QC sells office equipment in State ND through catalogs, flyers, advertisements, and telephonic calls. Company QC delivers its merchandise in State ND customers through the posts, mails, and carrier services.

Question 4

What is the difference between the due-process standard for taxation and the Commerce Clause standard?

Question 5

The O.J. Simpson Best-Sellers
Orenthal James (O. J.) Simpson was charged with murder in June 1994 in the double homicide of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Mr. Simpson was acquitted of the murders. Following his acquittal, prosecutors in the case, Christopher Darden, Marcia Clark, and Hank Goldberg, signed multi-million-dollar book contracts to write about their experiences during the trial. Alan Dershowitz, Johnnie Cochran, and Robert Shapiro, members of the Simpson defense team, signed six-figure contracts to write books about the trial from the defense perspective. Daniel Petrocelli, the lawyer who represented the Goldmans in their civil suit against Mr. Simpson, also wrote a book, Triumph of Justice: The Final Judgment on the Simpson Saga. Mr. Simpson has since written another book, If I Did It, and made a video detailing his side of the story.
Is it ethical to profit from a crime and a trial? Are these contracts a form of making money from the deaths of two people? Many TV stations refused to carry advertisements for Mr. Simpson's video. Would you have declined this advertising revenue?

Question 6

Why is it important to understand the Department of Transportation's position on options for auto manufacturers?

Question 7

Ollie's Barbecue is a family-owned restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, specializing in barbecued meats and homemade pies, with a seating capacity of 220 customers. It is located on a state highway that is 11 blocks from an interstate highway and close to railroad and bus stations. The restaurant caters to a family and white-collar trade, with a takeout service for "Negroes." (Note: The court uses this term in the opinion on the case.)
In the year before Congress passed the Civil Rights Act (which prohibits businesses from refusing to serve customers on the basis of race), the restaurant purchased locally approximately $150,000 worth of food, $69,683 (or 46 percent) of which was meat that it bought from a local supplier who had procured it from outside the state.
Ollie's has refused to "serve Negroes" in its dining accommodations since its opening in 1927, and since July 2, 1964, it has been operating in violation of the Civil Rights Act. A lower court concluded that if Ollie's were required to serve Negroes, it would lose a substantial amount of business.
The lower court found that the Civil Rights Act did not apply because Ollie's was not involved in "interstate commerce." Does the Civil Rights Act apply to Ollie's, or is the restaurant's serving policy unconstitutional? [ Katzenbach v. McClung , 379 U.S. 294 (1964).]

Question 8

Does cost-effectiveness control whether a state tort suit is pre-empted?

Question 9

Gladys Mensing and other patients took the generic version of metoclopramide over a long period a time, something that resulted in serious neurological damage. Ms. Mensing and others filed suit against the generic manufacturers under the Louisiana Products Liability Act. They alleged that despite mounting evidence of the connection between long-term use of metoclopramide and neurological damage, the manufacturers did not change their labels to provide warnings. The generic drug manufacturers argued that federal statutes and FDA regulations require generic manufacturers to use the same safety standards and labeling as their brandname counterparts. They argued that it was impossible to simultaneously comply with both federal law and any state tort-law duty that required them to use a different label. What section of the U.S. Constitution will be used to resolve this issue? How will the court decide whether the manufacturers can be held liable? [ PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing , 131 S.Ct. 2567 (2011).]

Question 10

What will be the impact of allowing state tort suits for the lack of a rear shoulder-lap belt for all passengers?

Question 11

For the past 62 years, Pacific Gas Electric (PG E) has distributed a newsletter in its monthly billing envelopes. The newsletter, called Progress, reaches more than 3 million customers and contains tips on conservation, utility billing information, public interest information, and political editorials. A group called TURN (Toward Utility Rate Normalization) asked the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of California to declare that the envelope space belonged to the ratepayers and that TURN was entitled to use the Progress space four times each year. The PUC ordered TURN's request, and PG E appealed the order to the California Supreme Court. When the California Supreme Court denied review, PG E appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, alleging a violation of its First Amendment rights. Is PG E correct? [ Pacific Gas Electric v Public Utility Commission of California , 475 U.S. 1 (1986)]

Question 12

List the reasons Vermont gives as justifications for the regulation of this information and its distribution.

Question 13

Amazon.com has now begun collecting sales tax on sales to residents of New York. New York is the first state to pass a law requiring retailers, even those without a physical presence in the state, to collect sales tax from residents of New York. Both Amazon and Overstock.com have filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the New York statute. Amazon has collected taxes only in states where it has a physical presence and uses partners within states for purposes of selling and shipping merchandise. With revenue shortfalls in most states for 2010 and 2011, online sales revenue is an untouched pot of money that state legislators and treasurers would like to get their hands on.
What would be the argument against the constitutionality of the tax? What would be the argument upholding its constitutionality? What is Amazon's standard for determining which states it pays taxes in? Why that standard?

Question 14

Why does the court use the examples of a state requiring two years for approval of a demonstration permit? the requirement of the removal of a " 'Whites Only' " sign?

Question 15

Salvatore Gravano (also known as "Sammy the Bull") and others were arrested and charged in Maricopa County, Arizona with state crimes related to distribution of MDMA, a dangerous drug known as "Ecstasy." Gravano was no stranger to the criminal justice system; in 1991, he pled guilty in New York federal court to one count of violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). That conviction resulted from Mr. Gravano's activities with the Gambino organized crime family, including murder and extortion. As a result of his plea agreement, under which he cooperated with law enforcement in the prosecution of others involved in organized crime, Gravano was sentenced to five years in prison and placed in the federal witness protection program.
Arizona brought an action to recover property from Mr. Gravano that included a request for forfeiture of all of his rights "to payment, royalties, receipt of the beneficial interest of any trust, and receipt of any benefit by any means present or future" in connection with Peter Maas's book, published by Harper Collins (UK), Inc., about Mr. Gravano's life entitled Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia. Mr. Gravano argued that his Ecstasy crimes were committed after the book was published and did not pertain to his Arizona crimes and that Arizona should not collect royalties from the sale of the book. How should the court decide this case in light of the Simon Schuster decision you read about in this chapter? [Napolitano v. Gravano, 60 P.3d 246 (Az. 2002).]

Question 16

What general principles can you develop about the use of marketing information and databases and their protection under the First Amendment? How does the court deal with the issue of the need for consumer protection?

Question 17

What did Congress do to establish the connection of VAWA to commerce?

Question 18

Why does the court uphold the provisions of the BCRA that require disclosure of funding for ads?

Question 19

What does the majority opinion say the test for the constitutionality of federal regulation under the Commerce Clause is?

Question 20

What issues are raised about controls on the funding of political ads?

Question 21

What rights does Ms. Brzonkala have other than those afforded by VAWA?

Question 22

What are the concerns of the court in making political speech criminal?

Question 23

In Florida v. U.S. Dept. of Health Human Services, 716 F.Supp.2d 1120 (N.D. Fla. 2010), a federal judge declared the federal health care law (Obama care) unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause because its requirement that citizens purchase health insurance regulated economic "inactivity," something not permitted under the Constitution.1 How could this case be used by the Supreme Court on the appeal of this case, which has been granted certiorari?

Question 24

What is the difference between this case and a case in which property is taken for a freeway?

Question 25

What do the Michigan and New York statutes require?

Question 26

What is the concern of the dissent about the decision?

Question 27

Why did the U.S. Supreme Court grant certiorari in the cases? Why do you think the court heard and decided the two cases together?

Question 28

Why does the majority state that the courts should be reluctant to get involved in eminent domain activities of local government?