On-Line Comments Also Welcome!

You are invited to share your observations on-line after reading the Wall Street Journal Article!

On-Line Article and Assignment for 9-7-11

Please review the attached on-line article for Wednesday, Sept. 7. Please also prepare a one page critique of the article with your comments and opinion. Bring a written copy of your paper to class on Wednesday.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904716604576546403401376210.html

Welcome to Fall 2011 Business Law I Students!

It's almost that time. I will provide you with a detailed syllabus on the first day of class. We have changed the rules concerning blog posts. All blog posts must now include a detailed analysis personally written by the contributor. We want to discourage merely cutting and pasting articles from the Internet. We will discuss this further on the first day of class. Enjoy the remainder of your summer vacation! Rick Custin

Freedom of Speech Case

A New Mexico man's decision to lash out with a billboard ad saying his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes has touched off a legal debate over free speech and privacy rights.

The sign on Alamogordo's main thoroughfare shows 35-year-old Greg Fultz holding the outline of an infant. The text reads, "This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!"

Fultz's ex-girlfriend has taken him to court for harassment and violation of privacy. A domestic court official has recommended the billboard be removed.

But Fultz's attorney argues the order violates his client's free speech rights.

READ MORE

----This case raises questions about the First Amendment. Is it lawful to exercise your freedom of speech at the expense of others' privacy?

----I believe the matter that this case will come down to is whether or not the ex-girlfriend had an abortion (like the boyfriend says) or whether she had a miscarriage (like the ex-girlfriend's friends say). If she, in fact, had a miscarriage, then the boyfriend would be making false statements about another that are injurious to that person's reputation and this is not protected by the First Amendment. However, if she did have an abortion then I believe the boyfriend is protected by the First Amendment.

Source: Yahoo

Posted by: Taylor Raizk

Twin immigration laws create labor crisis for American farmers

This article discusses the new immigration laws passed in Utah, Georgia, and Alabama; similar to the one passed in Arizona. I feel that this is a good example of state and federal government and their involvement in the issue. The states have their own authority to regulate their police powers in checking the immigration status of their citizens, which is what this law is allowing more of. The unintended negative side effect of this law (like we discussed a little in class, but forgot the term) is that farms in these states are losing half, if not more of their workforce. Yes this is freeing up job opportunities for unemployed Americans, like it intended to, but the article goes on to say that only a few percentage are actually taking these vacant jobs. Farmers are having to increase wages, which they can barely afford, and it still isn't enough incentive. Farms across these states are reporting losses in crops. If trends continue like this, and farms continue to decline, how long before exporting these crops to other states become an issue? Is this when the federal government steps in because it's affecting interstate commerce? This article and law are focused primarily on each state specifically, but to me it seems like it could evolve more into an interstate issue if these jobs are continued to be left unfilled

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110606/ts_yblog_thelookout/twin-immigration-laws-create-labor-crisis-for-american-farmers

Damages Seeked and Speech Rights Issue

Women who sent a threatening letter to her doctor on her practice and contends to having experienced "an unlawful chilling effect" on her free speech and religious rights.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sued Dillard under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The government's lawsuit seeks a court order permanently prohibiting Dillard from contacting Means or coming within 250 feet of the doctor, her home, car or business. It also seeks damages of $5,000 for the doctor and a penalty of $15,000.
Contributor: Kunal Kohli
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43064742/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Controversy over the Air France wreckage

Two years ago an Air France jet disappeared during high-altitude thunderstorms near the equator over the Atlantic Ocean on its way to Paris from Rio de Janeiro. Of the 228 passengers and crew on board there were only 50 bodies found. There have been considerable amount of effort put into finding the wreckage so as to find the remaining black boxes to discover what went wrong with the Flight 447. In March 2011, two years and 4 attempts later, the wreckage has been found along with some of the dead. Fortunately for recovery purposes it has been found in a flat section of the ocean not the previously believed mountainous terrain that is common of the area.

The controversy now is the process of retrieving the bodies from their watery grave. Within the past week two bodies have been recovered. One body was still attached to its seat. The controversy is over whether or not to retrieve the bodies at all. For the technical side of the issue it is a long, hard and pricey project to retrieve the unknown amounts of body from under water, but on the other hand many feel that they have a moral obligation to make the effort. For the family and friends of the victims there is another split. Some are worried about the damage that the bodies will incur when being retrieved by robots and feel that there is greater dignity in their death if they are left in the water where they died. For others, who had previously accepted the fact that their loved ones would never be found, are taking comfort in the fact that they are now able to bury their loved ones nearby.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-05-10-air-france-bodies-recovery_n.htm