Business Law discussion
Please note that your initial Post AND TWO Responses each week MUST be made by the deadlines stated in the Syllabus. NO Partial Credit is offered for LATE Rapid Fire, only a ZERO Grade for that particular week.
GOOD Rapid Fire Posts:
(1) http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019372300_medibles08m.html The article Medical marijuana: 'Medibles' industry thrives, lacks safety regulations interested me in some ways. First of all, I have not heard a lot about legalizing marijuana and I have never made a research about this issue because I had lived in Ukraine where the issue about marijuana isn’t relevant. Also, a discussion in the class about state and federal regulating medical marijuana encouraged me to get more information about it.
According to the article, “medibles” industry (the home-based business of making marijuana-infused products), which takes a third place of sale, is poorly regulated in Washington State because state officials defer to the federal ban on marijuana. For example, where are no regulations about product’s safety (no one is inspecting medibles producers, no instructions how to be stored, no expiration date, no label showing ingredients, etc.) because federal law defines marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug with no medical value. That led medibles markets and testing labs to self-regulation. Some ethics standards, such as paying taxes, getting food-handler permits, following Food and Drug Administration labeling standards and other became voluntary guidelines for some medibles markets. However, ethics norms and standards aren’t widely followed by medibles markets because they are not regulated by the law and don’t provide any legal protection.
The problem about safety regulations Medical-marijuana industry is urgent and should be solved. Lack of safety regulations can lead to serious problem with consumers in case if someone will get sick or will have side effects from using marijuana-infused products. I think, that the “medibles” industry should be settled by state law in the same way as marijuana was allowed for using in medical purpose because lack of regulation leads to misunderstanding, chaos and other problems.
(2) http://collegetimes.us/top-10-cheating-scandals-in-college-history/ According to several studies the numbers may vary but look to your left and look to your right during an exam and chances are good that at least two of you is cheating or have cheated previously. Administration registrars, MBA candidates, business school students, law students, dentistry students and athletes… wow… is no one above trying to cheat the system? This article provides details on ten U.S. higher education system cheating scandals.
I imagine that most of you are fairly well aware of the prevalence of these types of activities across our campus and others. But do you fully understand the repercussions these actions have on the integrity of higher education? And, with regard to business law, can you see what impact this has on how businesses ultimately operate in society, how it effects all stakeholders of any given business including employees, communities, suppliers, lenders, etc.?
Whether someone pays a school official to change a grade, copies someone’s exam answers or falsely submits a paper for a fellow student, it is not immediately apparent but the student who “benefits” actually loses. But, then again, so do those who follow the rules. What is the real value of an academic transcript or a diploma if the “achievement” is reached by cheating? When those who cheat manage to skate through, the degrees received by the entire graduating class end up tarnished.
Some employers (law firms, government entities and judicial clerkships to name a few) rely heavily on grades to determine who they hire for internships or permanent employment. When they hire those who cheated to get better grades, what are these employers “buying” other than a fraud? Arguably, this fraud, perpetrated against the new employer, ultimately increases the organization’s exposure to liability because they unknowingly now have an incompetent employee in their midst who may cause harm to another.
Frankly, I think that this epidemic of degraded values (as evidenced by cheating and plagiarism) should be dealt with harshly to discourage the behavior and preserve the integrity of higher education. Yet, prestigious institutions such as Harvard Law School have chosen to simply change from a letter grade system to a modified pass/fail system. The modified system includes grades of High Pass/Pass/Low Pass/Fail instead of a decimal or alphabetical system (A, B, C, D) … with less emphasis on grades themselves. Maybe that will help.
On the other hand, the University of Georgia has taken a more drastic stance on the issue. A student who cheats or plagiarizes there just once will receive a two-year notation on his/her academic transcript, and then transfer institutions (four-year universities, graduate schools) and even prospective employers will be informed of the transgression. See http://www.uga.edu/gm/300/FeatTough.html and http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2009/12/nlj-law-school-grades-matter-.html I like this “lingering” level of accountability and responsibility that is placed on the cheater. But is it deterrent enough? Or does it inevitably place an undue burden on the first-time offender?
In the end, I don’t think any penalty for lack of academic integrity will be as effective as peer pressure and I mean the positive kind of peer pressure that places a higher value on ethics and integrity over taking short cuts. Even if this means that some students will be called the “tattletale,” that may just be what is necessary to turn us back in the right direction.
(3) https://www.cnn.com/2011/12/14/opinion/sigal-mackinnon-copyright-internet/index.html One of the great things about our country is our freedom of speech. In 1791 when the First Amendment was written, modern technology that we have today did not exist. So, like many legal battles going on today, we struggle to interpret and find a way to adapt laws that were written in a completely different world (country). I found this article interesting because I am not sure how I feel about the proposed “ Stop Online Piracy Act.”
I am leaning more towards the opposed side, particularly after reading that this would give the US Government the ability to block any “infringing website based anywhere on earth.” It seems odd to me that our freedom of speech would stop at the boundary lines of technology. Whether something is said (or typed) online or in actual speech it should fall under the First Amendment right of free speech.
But most certainly I would not think that our government has the power to propose or implement a law regulating the entire world. I do however understand that we have copy write laws for a reason and that the internet, especially social media sites, make it hard to enforce those laws, but as the article states, this may lead to service providers monitoring and blocking too strictly in fear of prosecution. I think that the idea of this is great because, the people that are infringing the copy writ work need to be prosecuted, I just think that they need to approach it in a different way. I interested to learn the outcome of this proposed “act” and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
(4) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018165385_chiefprobe09m.html
SPD assistant chief, Mike Sanford, will not have charges filed against him for a slew of criminal misconduct allegations. King County prosecutors cleared him of any accountability for crimes both in his public interaction and his questionable actions within the police department. State Patrol, of course, were called upon to conduct this investigation on behalf of the federal prosecutors. Next, he faces an internal investigation and possibly an outside review by the civil ethics board. Wayne Barnett, executive director of Seattle's Ethics and Elections Commission, will consult with the prosecutors while he considers whether or not to even review the investigation.
Sanford commands the Patrol Operations Bureau and oversees five police precincts. The heightened scrutiny of this matter is partially due to the December investigation by the U.S. Justice Department that found SPD officers regularly use excessive force. The investigation into Sanford began after several Seattle police captains expressed concerns about Sanford's conduct. Many others have come forward within the department to point the proverbial finger at Sanford.
Civilians usually call it a badge. Law enforcement officers call them shields. I think the cops got it right; white collar crime, blue collar crime, but no blue uniform crime. The criminal procedure usually starts with an arrest and charges. For the 'King's men', the procedure is a little more lengthy in the primary steps. Investigations and an officer's criminal review precede more time consuming and usually resultless inquiries before an officer begins to be treated like the rest of us. Even when many step forward from the enforcement side of the law, there is no hurry to enforce it. Instead, they debate over whether or not to enforce it and why.
I find it particularly interesting that the article fails to identify exactly what charges were being investigated. It speaks to Sanford's actions, but is careful not to give specific classifications of his alleged crimes. Catching criminals among those who catch criminals seems an impossible task. They are investigated and judged by their own. The 'thin blue line' seem as thick as thieves. A glimmer of possible accountability is shown by the actions of those who came forward and offered evidence from within the force. However, it seems nothing can stick to the uniform.
For anyone who reads my posts, a story on police misconduct is no surprise choice. In reading over the course material, I find it hard to apply to my post. I'm wondering where the section is on the alternate legal process the boys in blue enjoy. I have never been one to talk to much about the Rodney King verdicts; but it just goes to show that no matter how overwhelming the evidence is, it inevitably bounces of the shield. During the riots, I lived in L.A. When they finally reopened the schools, I remember navigating through blown up buildings, contained fires, and the general rubble that used to be my neighborhood. Racial tensions were precursor to the mayhem, but allowing the LAPD to walk was the catalyst to that anarchy. Normally I like to compare police officers to cashiers for the state budget--Serve and protect being more like observe and collect. However, I find this elitist form of enforcement more alarming. I invite anyone to compare the alleged misconduct by Asst. Police Chief Sanford to actual crimes that any one among us would have been charged with.
(5) Marriage is a constitutional right. Marriage has always been allowed for centuries but it was always between a man and a woman, only in the recent years has gay marriage been gotten attention. I believe that gay marriage should be legal in every countries in the world. Because no matter what personal, nationality or religious, beliefs a person has about homosexuality, there is an important thing to remember, even gay people are same people.
Gays and lesbians, as human beings to have the rights that every other human has, and they are more than willing to take on the responsibilities that go along with them. Especially, United States of America called a land of freedom. The United States was founded on the concepts of total equality, freedom of speech. Including freedom of expression and thought and actions, as well as freedom of religion.
Currently five states allow same-sex couples to marry. In date order, those states are: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire. The District of Columbia also now recognizes gay marriages as of March 3, 2010. Also, I found really interesting article about same sex marriage. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/righttomarry.htm
Insufficient Rapid Fire Posts:
(1) http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/national_world&id=8489005 This case was made by the woman who got hit on by a cop after giving her a ticket. She ended up suing him because he tracked her down to ask her out on a date. He left a note to ask her out on her car window. She says it's an invasion of privacy.
What has the world become? A man was attracted to a woman and asked her out. I feel like if she said no repeatedly and he didn't stop, then that could be a problem.
(2) http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/0718_debt_ceiling_frenzel.aspx This article from the internet describes about the debt ceiling, which at first is not recognized as a serious problem, but in the article it is said the debt ceiling is becoming more and more serious than expected and starting to affect Constitution funding and as a result, will implement a constitutional crisis in United States of America. To reduce the problem, president and constitution members will cut budgetary some government plan, in order to avoid more bad effect for the constitution and for United States. That is the main point of the article.
(3) BASON v. KENTUCKY, 476 U.S. 79 (1986) http://laws.findlaw.com/us/476/79.html In 1985, Bason brought a lawsuit that Kentucky state court didn’t implement the Equal Protection Clause in the criminal trial to U.S. Supreme Court. In the case, the suspect was a black man. In order to exclude black venirement into jury, the judge struck black people on the venire. The jury composed only of white persons. Bason believed that race discrimination caused failure of justice.
“the Fourteenth Amendment prohibit discriminatory and unfair action by the government.” (p32) Clearly, in this case, the judge rejected black person into the jury because of their race, no because of their abilities, so the plaintiff didn’t get an equitable judgment. The judge violated the Fourteenth Amendment. He didn’t obey the Equal Protection Clause that the government treats people as same.
GOOD Rapid Fire Responses:
(1) This is an intricate topic. When is it a medical condition and when is it someone just using parasomnia/sleepwalking as an escape from the punishment for crime? Where does one draw the line? I know that studies have been done that show that lack of sleep can result in the same behavior as of someone intoxicated: cognition and reaction are altered; not sure about mood. In someone like this, I see an act of negligence arising. Yet, the person would still be liable for their actions (unless there's a reason for the lack of sleep). However, reading the description of what sleepwalking presents, the individual looks and acts like an alert person, yet the actions don't connect with reality and often the person does not remember what they did. So do you still charge them and punish them to the fullest capacity of the law?
I think it's important to remember in these cases is that a crime has been committed. Even though there was no prior intent, no malice, or no knowledge of wrongdoing - it's still a crime. While a person with a true diagnosis of parasomnia should not be held accountable the same way as someone who did it with full understanding, there should still be some payment to the society. Either a sentence not as strict or mandatory medical treatment and surveillance.
It's also would be interesting to know how many of the individuals listed in this article were aware of their sleep disorder prior to this crime taking place.
(2) Reading about the Arizona company that is under investigation for voter fraud in Florida I simply shake my head. In the following article, the Arizona company talks about rogue employees who are working for them only for the money and will do anything to get that money.
http://staugustine.com/opinions/2012-10-07/perspective-republicans-play-defense-over-voter-registration-fraud#.UHIVSlFnBhI
This is probably true. I suspect the way the employee gets paid is by how many citizens they register to vote. Thus, it is a performance based salesman approach to salary compesation where the more people you get signed up to vote the more you are going to make. As we know with sales people, the more you sell the more you make so if you want to make gobs of money then you better sell lots. Sadly, I fear this is what is happening in this voter fraud situation is that the voter salesmen want a larger paycheck and they will do anything, even against company ethics, to get that higher paycheck. I would say this issue is more of a broad global issue - the pursuit of wealth through any means necessary.
Earlier this year I was talking to a local bodybuilder about his pursuit in going pro and being able to win money competing as a pro bodybuilder. He noted that he will do anything it takes to turn pro, even if that means taking illegal drugs to do so. That he will cheat. And that cheating will enable him to be able to win money that he would not be able to win if he did not cheat. This goes along with voter fraud from the pursuit of wealth at any cost issue. The bodybuilder knows that if he doesn't cheat then he can't live the lifestyle he wants to live.
(3) It is devastating when incidents like this one happen. It is also sad that negligence of a number of docs gives a bad rap to all of health care. I'm not a doctor, however making a diagnosis is not always straightforward or can be done with a help of a few tests. In this class we are learning about law and applying critical thinking to interpret and figure out how it applies in different situations.
It’s the same thing with doctors. They use critical thinking to analyze test results, findings of their exam, patient history, and patient reported information to draw conclusions and make accurate diagnosis. Complexity of a human body, cultural differences, communication barriers, and other challenges of the health care delivery system often make this process even more difficult. Due to the limited information provided about a patient's initial visit to ER, it looks like the doctor failed to conduct a thorough examination in this case to make a correct diagnosis, thus the judgment is appropriate and fair.
(4) I don't think we finished talking about it, but this is the lawsuit that was mentioned in the class. The first focus of media in this case was on the fact that the woman had an open cup of hot coffee in a moving vehicle, spilled it, and got reimbursed for her own negligence. If you read through the facts listed in the power point and the injuries she suffered - they were serious and painful.
The main issue in this case, and the reason why she won the lawsuit, was the fact that McDonalds routinely served a much hotter coffee than other businesses ("deviation" from the standard) and failed to properly warn its customers of the dangers associated with that. The court found the woman responsible for some of her injuries, but majority of the responsibility was placed on McDonalds. I think this was decided in this manner, to make sure that McDonalds takes action to warn other customers who buy their coffee to use caution when handling the cup (inside a car or not).
(5) It is very sad that because every citizen of these United States has the freedom of speech and the free of religion that some have to make sure the rest know that their beliefs and ideas are superior and that they know what’s best for the rest of us. In reality because of these freedoms we are free to believe and carry on our lives as we see fit. Unfortunately, there are those who will push the limit on what these freedoms mean. I do not believe it would be the right direction to go to give up our freedom of speech. Think about what this freedom allows you to do. In giving up this freedom would we be rewriting the Bill of Rights? Would we eventually give the government the right to tell us what we could say and look at on the internet? What we are allowed to discuss and if we could share our own opinions?
(6) I agree in that the laws about marijuana are very controversial. It does not make sense that federally it is illegal but in some states it is legal with prescription. As you said, what keeps the feds from busting local California residents with marijuana cards? I do not think it will be legalized ever across America.
I think although marijuana is a lot safer drug than alcohol, it brings a certain reputation to our country about smoking pot. While we would make a lot of money taxing it, I heard somewhere it wouldn’t be nearly as much as we thought because we make so much now giving out fines for possession of marijuana. Either way, it will be very interesting to see what the Supreme Court rules if it ever gets that far.
Insufficient Rapid Fire Responses:
(1) This is a very compelling case. Lots of people have opinions about SOPA but arent expressing them. If people speak up, everything should be fine.
(2) I think this is a very interesting case.
(3) GPS is useful and common. I think it is good to know that officers start using it to track suspect but I agree with they have to have a warrant. So that it can be an legal way to use GPS to track people.
(4) I also think the single coffee cup affects to both environmentally and economically. Although the company can reduce the cost of maintenance fee, it will bring disadvantage of their society. As a result, a society should spent more money to make it correctly. It will affect to the company by rising the tax.
(5) I also think that the high rate of unemployment is in hot issue these days. Government should fix and control that problem in best way. But fixing by spending money means that the money would be tax. Hope that legislation passes through in right way so we could get out of this economic the recession soon.
(6) I don't necessarily feel as though Microsoft is losing their edge but I do feel that they are a very inner concentrated company. It is highly possible that Microsoft honestly wasn't aware of the patent.
(7) Todays business world does not address the larger issues of safety or equality, nor does it address the body issues that our children face!
(8) I just further wanted to add that as much as we have rights to freedom of speech, holders of copyright and intellectual property also have their rights as well.
(9) Passing rules to guarantee fairness in an election is largely pointless, because incumbents will almost always have an edge anyway. I'd like to know why it is that you think he acted unethically when he did this.
