What do you think of the Supreme Court?

When I think of how unfair many things are in the world, I wonder to myself, “How can you fight back? How do you stand up for yourself in this society?” My mind brings me to the courts. But you need purchasing power to truly voice your opinion. That realization is a flaw in the system. When many people who need to utilize the courts, do not have the funds to do so, then things will not operate fairly. People will not be treated equally like our forefathers had envisioned. I think that the Supreme Court, like many other legal entities or systems, has the potential to be extremely beneficial or harmful to our society. To start, our legal system and laws are very complex and I believe it is impossible for one person alone to contain and contemplate the knowledge of law in its entirety. Also, our decisions of what we allow ourselves to do or restrict ourselves from doing when we first formulate our laws, can have unseen consequences. It is the job of the court to follow these concepts and ideas through to the end and to identify and work out conflicts in the system. The Supreme Court ends up being the composed super brain of our nation’s opinions so it should accurately represent our nation’s values and beliefs. Equality on the Supreme Court is something that I am currently in favor of, but I am not sure if it would work properly when taken to an extreme. There are only nine seats and how could you possibly mirror the American population into nine individuals? So far, we have had mostly older white males as Supreme Court Justices since the courts conception, which does not represent America’s population. Further down this train of thought, I come to the conclusion that a Supreme Court Justice gets the final say in this country. Their interpretation of our Constitution and Bill of Rights is what decides how our laws work together in the end. So if you really want to change things, you have to become a member of the Supreme Court. But you have to go to college, which requires a hefty amount of money. So basically, without money, you don’t get to be a Supreme Court Justice, and you don’t get to take all of your grievances to court to be examined under an un-biased eye as a citizen either. The concept of the final, tip-top mediator of the land is great when you are writing down the rules of the game, I mean, what sport doesn’t have a referee of some type? But what if there is something else that affects the purity of that referee? There are factors that change the way things are “supposed” to work. That is why we must thrive to have a Supreme Court that truly makes a fair decision based off of multiple perspectives.

Illicit

Intellectual property theft and illicit trade distorts the systematic way that our world works. Counterfeiting operations affect many different places and people in indirect ways. Knock offs can provide money to criminal syndicates through the networks that are created to move goods into and out of countries. The authorities are also well aware that if these illegitimate trade routes can move “non-dangerous” products without being detected, they are fully capable of moving human organs, guns, drugs, and possibly even more dangerous weaponry such as biological or nuclear components. Illicit trade also involves bribery on a mass scale which gradually corrupts entire countries of individuals into criminal lifestyles. People are neglected and used to sell and buy these synthetic materials which are often composed of harmful substances that can permanently damage your health or even kill you. The fact that the hundreds of people who died in Panama can be directly linked to counterfeit commerce in specific cities should say how dangerous this problem can really be. Those deaths were caused by the sale and dispersion of cheap, generic medication that is constantly being manufactured in the underground crime world. If there are people out there capable of sleeping at night when these deaths can be linked back to their actions, I’m sure their conscience won’t stop them from chasing after that few extra billion they could make in advanced weaponry. Not to mention, the opportunities that arise for mugging and identity theft of tourists and foreigners who plan on purchasing these items in bulk for their own monetary gain. It is obvious that these intelligent criminals are using the ignorance and desperation of others to meet their goals and it is sickening to see these operations flip justice systems on their head while completely ignoring the existence of moral law.

What's the problem with SPAM?

Spam is dangerous because it is often used by malicious people who have created false pretenses and exaggerated claims to slime their way towards your credit card numbers. It is an issue of computer privacy which typically involves spoofing (reproducing legitimate sites to fool users) and phishing (tricking individuals into disclosing private information). These crimes take place in cyberspace and can have a large impact on a person’s life. From a legal perspective, spam is dangerous because it is closely tied to crimes that corrupt the physical legal system as well as the workings of cyberspace. However, in 2004, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pronography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM Act) was enacted; it is still a legally acceptable for a seller to advertise using electronic mail. The law states that commercial e-mail senders are barred from using misleading or bogus subject lines to conceal their origins (Essentials of Business Law, P.416, Luzio) but the law does not prevent solicitors from attempting to use Spam to illegally make a profit. Everyone is exposed to spam and it is seen as a part of the everyday virtual life. But in reality, you are just a few clicks away from identity theft.

What are your rights as a property owner?

Everything about rights in our modern society starts off simple (life, liberty, property) but quickly evolves into an intricate mess of overlapping social systems. The rights of a property owner are basically the rights of a person who has a deed. This sounds easy enough, but adds a whole new mess to the equation. Being a person that has never owned a property, I cannot say with confidence that I am aware of a property owner’s rights. But I would assume that if you are legally recognized as the holder of the deed, that you are given total control over the land and what happens to it as well as who may use it. You also must assume responsibility for certain aspects of the property that may be in violation of any administrative agencies or the city. There are rules and laws that you need to abide by and if you attempt to go against them you will have a harder time dealing with your day-to-day life, or possibly your landlord career. In Pacific Heights, the landlords became emotionally involved before completely examining the situation. Having a basic knowledge of the law, (or friends who do) is very crucial to avoid being screwed over by a combination of your own ignorance and other people’s malicious actions.

What My Classmates Think of the Legal System

“Because of the system of checks and balances, I believe that our legal system is great in doing the purpose it was created for.” (Ray Price http://bigdawgwebpages.blogspot.com/)

Ray’s statement concerning the checks and balances of our legal system, conflicts with my opinion because I believe that the ability to morally enforce actions in our society, is plagued by corruption and power abuse. I have to agree that it may be one of the best systems the world has to offer, but it runs much more smoothly on paper than it does in reality.

“Our legal system is very tricky and it tends to play with our emotions. It will make us feel protected until we really need it. Then sure enough, they’ll go and stab us right in the back.” ( Jaqueline Hernandez http://fashionvsstyle-jackie.blogspot.com/ )

I would have to agree with Jaqueline’s statement because it isn’t enough to just study the law in the books. You have to observe reality and see the flaws and the issues that arise because of the limitations that our legal system places upon some areas (1000 page health care bills), but not on others (The Patriot Act).

“In order to defend yourself in a court of law, you have to know all the ins and outs and loop holes there are or to get a good lawyer.” (Matthew James Gonzalez http://mjgproduction.blogspot.com/ )

This quote from Matthew is a great example of how tough and to the book our system will be when it comes to different classes of purchasing power. But when it comes to a senator or a secretary of state violating a statute, it becomes a mockery as our entire country fills to the brim with biased propaganda and distortion that most likely comes from a friend of a friend who owns Fox News.

Week 4 EOC Used Cars Crimes & Torts

Group Members: George Teh, David Thomas, Ryan Edwards

1. Trade Libel- Tampering with video - crime
2. False Advertising- “mile of cars”- crime
3. Illegal gambling on footall game- Crime
4. Vandalism, property in bar; salt mirror; umbrellas- crime
5. Perjury, woman lies in court- crime
6. Illegal drugs mentioned at car lot- crime
7. Stolen vehicles- crime
8. Underage drivers- crime
9. No driver’s license for students- crime
10. No seatbelts- crime
11. Sexual harassment at the lot on the woman- tort
12. Speeding- crime
13. Reckless driving- crime
14. Running from the police at the car wreck scene- crime
15. Drinking on the job with other car lot owners- tort
16. Assault with deadly weapon- gun during car chase and chains
17. Battery at the bar- crime

What I Think of the Legal System

There are times when I think of the law and it seems to be nothing but a hindrance to the way most of us live our lives. But from the other perspective, it is not that your freedom is squelched by the law, but your privileges are protected by it. We give up rights to the government so that we can be protected from each other and ourselves. There was a time where the only existing laws came about naturally and symbiotically in the chaos of the universe through the relationships of all types of matter. “Since earliest times, people have recognized that they are to a certain extent responsible for one another and have obligations to one another beyond those required by the law.” (Essentials of Business Law, Liuzzo, P. 8) But in today’s modern world, the complexity of laws on city, state, and federal levels can be an enormous burden to the ignorant. Almost every day, I see or hear of a situation where someone obliviously wandered into a web of contracts and constricting laws by not having an appropriate amount of knowledge that would have better prepared them for such an incident. I think that the law is only as good as the people who acknowledge and enforce it. The spontaneous and morally grey nature (or nurture) of today’s society causes me to see the law as an immovable, massive system of documents created by millions of different opinions and feelings. In the end, I feel that I won’t ever have much of an effect on the way things are run in the world, but I also feel that freedom comes from inside yourself and cannot be given to you by anyone. It is a feeling or a mentality that can only come from within.

Myspace Hoax Week 2

Cyber bullying, this is the term the media put hand-in-hand with the court case of Lori Drew, a woman from Missouri who decided to create a fake MySpace account, which ended in 13 year-old Megan Meier’s suicide. Although suicide was an indirect result, Drew was only convicted of three misdemeanor counts of unauthorized access to computers. Writing false information for public view can have unseen consequences, as demonstrated in this case. It is similar to the film Absence of Malice, because the reporter from the movie, and Drew from the court case, utilized and printed information that was not true. This ultimately led to a suicide in both instances. In the case of Drew, she obviously was making an attempt to emotionally disrupt Megan Meier, which is, by definition a tort. It was a private wrong directed at her well-being. In the film, Gallagher is defamed by a reporter, who is unknowingly aiding a team of investigators in their search for information on a completely different topic. This is also a tort since it involves defamation and may be considered a private wrong. The difference between Drew and the reporter in the film, although they both are roots of false information and instigators of torts, is that Drew was committing a tort with a malicious motive. Since the printing company had no malicious motive, the lawyer concluded that they could release the story without fear of some type of counter action from Gallagher. The repercussions of these laws in conjunction with one another are huge. Although Drew indirectly caused a suicide, which sounds like it could be considered third degree murder, she was acquitted of all felony conspiracy charges and claimed that she only intended to see what Megan was saying about her daughter. How often is law illogical?

What do you think of lawyers?

What do I think of lawyers? Well I have to start by tearing down the word itself. The substance lays in that little three letter word: law. Lawyers are supposed to be law professionals. They work for society, taking payments to defend or attack your position, whatever it may be, in the courtroom. Just like any other person, regardless of the label, we all have different values and beliefs. We don’t all listen to the same conscience, so we aren’t going to the feel the same way about a particular situation. Now, the actual motives of the lawyers come into play. If you hire a lawyer for a case, are they motivated by ethical concerns, or are they being motivated financially? This is the question I would ask myself if I had to go to court for some reason. The only time I can vividly recall talking to a lawyer face to face, was when I went with a friend who was in a car accident. While waiting at a red light, a semi truck belonging to a construction company plowed into the back of the automobile. Looking at the case, you could probably predict the outcome. So I went with her to the company building. The inside reminded me of Tony Montana’s house from the film, Scarface. Inside I saw a symbolic liberty statue that must have been worth at least five thousand dollars. Getting to the lawyer himself… His hair was probably synthetic; his suit looked as if it cost more than everything in my closet. But what I remember most of all, was his nasty, dirty, rotten looking tooth. Looking back now, he was lucky to get a case where the ethics and the money are flowing one way. Otherwise he has to act a bit too!