Public and Constitutional Law

Taxes on insurance company rates were levied by the state of Alabama. For businesses outside Alabama, this tax is higher. Alabama was sued by the Life Insurance Company for violating US Constitution Rights Provision. The Protection Clause states that no State may deny an equal right to protection by law to an individual within its jurisdiction. The Constitution states that every person has the same rights as other people. The Life Insurance Corporation is a legal entity that must be covered like all Alabama companies. The law of Alabama thus goes against the safeguard clause, and the insurance company wins the case.
Question 2
Strict liability is applied when someone is found strictly liable for causing damages or injury, with or without fault/negligence (Koch et al, 2002). It is nowadays applied for defectively manufactured products. In the case of Intex Recreational Corporation, the Extreme Sno-Tube II is manufactured without a steering device, so it would spin and go down the hill backwards. The snow tube is defective because it lacked a steering device, causing the rider to slide backwards and cause harm to bystanders. In the case of Greenman v. Yuba Power Products 1963, an injured person or bystander may sue for damages caused by a defective product.

Question 3

Suppressing evidence was unethical on the part of Burger because it is not just and fair. It is an unjust way avoiding consequences, and hinders the effectiveness of the justice system. The warrantless search in the state laws does not amount to unreasonable search and seizure in the Fourth Amendment because it specifies the place and things or persons to be seized with a probable cause (Cornell Law School, n.d.). It is common knowledge that motor parts sellers have probable cause to be involved in sale of stolen parts.

Question 4

The incorporation of a short segment of a copyrighted musical composition into a new recording is not a fair use because it lacks originality, however small the portion is. In the case of Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, the U.S. appeals court suggested that the de minimis is not recognizable in digital sampling (Ashworth, 1999). The use of a small portion of the original content cannot be considered as minimal because it affects the entire composition.

References

Ashworth, A. (1999). Principles of Criminal Law (3 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cornell Law School. (n.d.). Fourth Amendment: An Overview. [Online] Accessed from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fourth_amendment.

Koch, B. A., Koziol, H., and Busnelli, F. D. (2002). Unification of tort law: Strict liability. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.