Legal Environment Chapter 1/2 Introduction to legal system - Key terms Alan Davis CHINESE !"#E!

$% Tell me, I ll forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me and I ll understand. &ll students should come prepared to all classes, but, especially the assistants for today who are Abby Chronister, Brandon Bugler, Megan Clayton, Leo Speno, Dan Laffoon, Emma Chen Answer the five
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questions about ethics

E"plain the main point or ob#ect of those who use utilitarianism as an ethical theory$ Ma"imi%ing pleasure and happiness over pain and unhappiness Benefit the ma#ority $entham ' argued that the moral decision was to ma"imi%e the greatest pleasure over pain for everyone (ill ' was similar but argued that we should ma"imi%e happiness over unhappiness

&! 'hat is the main point of difference between act and rule utilitarianism$ act is based on each individual moral decision, rule is adopting a broad rule for multiple decisions &ct )tilitarian ' who wants us to ma"imi%e for each moral decision !ule utilitarian ' who wants us to adopt broad based rules for a broad number of moral decisions

(! )ow would a deontological *rights! theory generally differ from utilitarian theory$ +he deontological rights theory is based on certain rules that need to be followed, the utilitarian theory is a broader view based on moral decisions that achieve happiness or pleasure, +he utilitarian theory is largely based on how a person interprets what ma-es them happy or brings them pain, whereas the deontological theory is a specific set of

rules that needs to be followed, li-e the ten commandments ., 'hat is the main characteristic of being an ob#ectivist in regard moral rules$ +here are certain perceptions that are -nown, therefore they can perceive others as wrong, there is truth, and we can -now it /, 0ive three e"amples of people whose interests are served by sta-eholder theory$ Employees, customers, sta-eholders, shareholders, unions, government, creditors, community in which the business operates

Answer the following true1false 2uestions3 ! A person who believes in the moral sub#ectivism believes in universal truth that can agreed to by all, false &! +he problem with a utilitarianism theory is primarily a problem of measurement, true (! An act utilitarian will li-ely develop a code of conduct so that she does not have to thinabout each individual act, false .! 4awls argued that all should have e2ual rights, true /! 5o%ic- basically agreed with 4awls in theory but argued all that government should be doing is to guarantee a 6level playing field7, true Much of the homewor- for these two chapters is definitional, 8 see no point to include these definitions in the notes as 8 would simply be repeating the definitions that in the te"tboo-, So, reading the chapters is essential, $asic *erminology ' +uestion o, la- 9 is when the law is in dispute, +uestion o, ,act 9 is when the facts are in dispute, Most of the time, it is clear which is which, Sometimes it is more difficult to determine, +he distinction is important for & reasons3 8n a #ury trial, questions of fact are determined by a #ury, A #udge can only overturn a #ury verdict if she believes that no reasonable person could have come to that conclusion, 5ote that if a #udge merely disagrees with the verdict, she must still abide by it, Questions of law are only determined by a #udge, &! 8n an appeals court, they generally *there are rare e"ceptions! can only hear arguments about 2uestions of law, generally they do not consider 2uestions of fact,
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E.ample /1 9 +he ta" law allows a deduction for every business e"pense which is ordinary, necessary, and reasonable in amount, Abby owns a restaurant in which she employs Brandon *her son! to manage the restaurant at a salary of : &/,;;;, Issue% Can Abby ta-e Brandon<s salary as a ta" deduction$ 8n deciding this 2uestion, consider the following3 ! 'hy would the 8nternal 4evenue Service *84S! li-ely challenge the deduction$ 'hat if Brandon was an unrelated party, would that ma-e a difference$ =+he 84S is li-ely to challenge the deduction on the basis is it reasonable$ 8s it a mar-etable salary$ 8t is more li-ely the 84S will challenge b1c they are related &! 'hat argument would the 84S ma-e$ =increased salary because of ta" deduction$ (! 'hat argument would Abby ma-e$ =he is still an employee, still completes a #ob, would pay the same to someone who is unrelated .! 8s this a 2uestion of fact or a 2uestion of law$ +hat is are the facts in dispute or is the law in dispute$ =2uestion of fact

/! )ow would we determine what a reasonable salary was$ =duties, 2ualifications *e"perience and education!, #ob hours, years at current #ob, si%e of the restaurant, profit of restaurant, location of restaurant, type of restaurant E.ample /2 9 Consider the following scenario , An instructor stated the following in his syllabus, $"N)S - Students who do the following before >3;; AM on ?riday, August &( rd will receive / bonus points, Send *my student helper! an e=mail with the sub#ect line 68 want my bonus points7 and the following message = 6'ilbur is an African 0rey @arrot who lives in a house with a green roof, is addicted to coffee, is a coo-ie thief, and during periods of stress eats gummy bears,7 $"N)S - Students who do the following before >3;; AM on ?riday, August &( rd will receive ; bonus points, Send @eter *my student wor-er! an e=mail with the sub#ect line 68 want my bonus points7 and the following message = 6'ilbur is an African 0rey @arrot who lives in a house with a green roof, is addicted to coffee, is a coo-ie thief, and during periods of stress eats gummy bears,7

+his is totally a story of fiction bearing no resemblance to any person alive or dead, (

+he ob#ective of the bonus points was to reward those students who had ta-en the initiative to read the syllabus before class, )owever, the class actually had their first meeting on August && rd at noon, Issue% 'hich version of the syllabus should we apply 9 the intended version *the &&th or the stated version, the &(th!, 8n deciding this issue, consider the following 2uestions3 'hat was the policy motivation of the professor$ Should the professor be bound by an assertion made in the syllabus$ =the syllabus is a contract, the students had not yet been to class, students aren<t mind readers Ma-e the argument that he should,

Ma-e the argument that he should not, =@eter made the syllabus without giving the professor a final review 8s this a 2uestion of fact or is it a 2uestion of law *for this 2uestion, assume that the syllabus has the force of law!

8f you were an attorney representing the following students *names how been changed to protect the innocent! 9 how would you argue for each student3 Megan who responded with the appropriate e=mail within A minutes of the syllabus being e=mailed *and clearly how nothing else to do with her time! = / points because she responded before the syllabus date and what the professor intended Leo who responded at 3(; @M on the &(rd,

Dan who responded at 3(; @M on the &.th, = he met the ob#ective of reading the syllabus, even if it wasn<t within the time constraint Emma who did not respond at all *she was too busy!
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See the Singer v. Raemisch case on page &( =&/ of the te"tboo- and answer the following 2uestions3 ! 'hat were the facts of the case$ =singer3 inmate, played Dungeon and Dragons, possible 6gang violence7 tal-ed about, his materials were ta-en away, brought law suit against prison for ta-ing away his free speech &! 'hat is an affidavit$ =a statement ta-en under oath, he had / affidavits, prison had

(! 'hat court issued the decision$ =Bth circuit

.! 'hat is a summary #udgment$ =a court enters without continuing trial, no material facts in dispute, nothing for the #ury to do, can be decided by #udge =court granted in this case /! 'hat did the lower court rule$

A! 'hat was the argument of the prisoner$ =he should have his day in court, he believes he has material facts due to the / affidavits

B! 'hat was the argument of the prison$ =the affidavits of the prisoner were from his friends, fellow inmates, didn<t address the problem at hand

C! )ow did court balance out the rights of the prisoner versus the power of the prison$ 8n other words, who won and what was the legal reasoning of the court$ =precedent, interest of prison outweighed prisoners rights (ore terminology ' *rial court ' court that ta-es in evidence, hears witnesses, etc, 9 also, -nown as a court o, ,irst instance &ppeal court ' court to which decisions of the trial courts are appealed 9 generally, they do not ta-e in additional evidence they only hear oral arguments about 2uestions of law arising from the trial 0octrine o, stare decisis 1Latin ,or 2let the decision stand34 is the legal doctrine that says that courts must follow the precedents of prior decisions made by that court or a higher court, La-% A body of enforceable rules governing relationships among individuals and between individuals and their society, Natural La-% A system of universal moral and ethical principles that are inherent in human nature and that people can discover by using their natural intelligence * e.g., murder is wrongD parents are responsible for the acts of their minor children!, ositive La-% +he conventional, or written, law of a particular society at a particular point in time *e.g., the E,S, Constitution, the +e"as Securities Act, the 8nternal 4evenue Code, and published #udicial decisions!, E,S, law primarily ta-es the form of3 * ! constitutions setting forth the fundamental rights of the people living within the Enited States or a given state, describing and empowering the various branches of government, and prescribing limitations on that powerD *&! legislatively=enacted statutes and local ordinancesD A given state statute may be based on a uni,orm la- *e.g., the Eniform Commercial Code! or on a model act *e.g., the Model Business Corporations Act!, )owever, each state is free to depart from the uniform law or model act as it sees fit, *(! *.! administrative rules and regulations promulgated by federal, state, and local regulatory agenciesD and common la- which is the body of #udicial decisions that interpret and enforce any of the foregoing as well as those relationships among individuals or between

individuals and their society which are not sub#ect to constitutional, statutory, or administrative law, HIE!&!CH5 &("N6 !I(&!5 S")!CES "7 &(E!IC&N L&8 Laws emanating from the various primary sources of American law are enforced according to the following hierarchy 9 note that there are certain e"ceptions to these rules * ! *&! *(! *.! */! *A! +he )nited States Constitution ta-es precedence over ,ederal statutory la-, which ta-es precedence over a state constitution, which ta-es precedence over state statutory la-, which ta-es precedence over a local ordinance, which ta-es precedence over administrative regulations and rulings, which ta-e precedence over

*B! common la-, *ype o, authority - (&N0&*"!5 vs9 E!S)&SI#E 9 mandatory authority is prior precedence *i,e, court cases! that a court has to followD persuasive authority is prior precedence that the court should consider but does not have to follow E.ample :% 8n >>>, the state of Missouri adopted a new 'or-er<s Compensation *'C! Stature which is essentially the same as the 'C stature in Fansas, Consider the following 2uestions3 'ould a decision rendered on the Stature by the Fansas Supreme Court be of interest to a Missouri court facing the same issue$ 8f so, would it be mandatory or persuasive authority in Missouri$

'hat about a decision rendered by the Missouri Supreme Court about wor-er<s comp in >>C$

E.ample ;% Emma is an 8nternal 4evenue Service agent who audits the ta" return of Abby *you remember Abby from e"ample G D she is the one who employs her son to manage her restaurant for : &/,;;; per year!, Emma ta-es the position that only :B;,;;; of the salary is 6reasonable7 and therefore only allows a deduction of :B;,;;;, Emma cites a +a" Court case which she says

is 6directly on point7 where a ta"payer is a similar position lost part of the deduction, Answer the following 2uestions3 'hat does she mean 6directly on point7$ =identical case

8f you were the attorney for Abby how would you deal with the case$

+he Supreme Court has nine members, Suppose that we had a five1four decision, Answer the following 2uestions3 'hat is a five1four decision$

E"plain the following terminology 9 Ma#ority opinion

Concurring opinion

Minority opinion

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