1. Essentials of the Legal Environment today, 5E
Roger LeRoy Miller
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

2. Business and the constitution
Chapter 4
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

3. Learning objectives
What is the basic structure of the U.S. government?
What constitutional clause gives the federal government the power to regulate commercial activities among the various states?
What constitutional clause allows laws enacted by the federal government to take priority over conflicting state laws?
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

4. Learning objectives (cont’D)
What is the Bill of Rights? What freedoms does the First Amendment guarantee?
Where in the Constitution can the due process clause be found?
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

5. introduction
The U.S. Constitution is very brief, only about 7,000 words.
A legal journal article will probably be longer.
Provides a flexible framework for law making.
Provides limits and protection of individual freedoms.
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

6. The constitutional powers of government
A Federal Form of Government
Compromise in which the national government shares sovereign power with the states
The Separation of Powers
Legislative branch
Executive branch
Judicial branch
LO-1
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

7. The constitutional powers of government
The Commerce Clause
Gives the federal government the power to regulate commercial activities among the various states
Expansion of national powers under the commerce clause
Regulatory powers of the states
“Dormant” commerce clause
LO-2
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

8. The constitutional powers of government
The Supremacy Clause
Allows laws enacted by the federal government to take priority over conflicting state laws
Article VI of the Constitution
LO-3
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

9. Business and the bill of rights
Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791, and includes the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Protections for the individual against various types of interference by the federal government
LO-4
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

10. Business and the bill of rights
First Amendment – freedoms of religion, speech, and the press and the rights to assemble peaceably and to petition the government
Second Amendment – right to keep and bear arms
Third Amendment – prohibits, in peacetime, the lodging of soldiers in any house without the owner’s consent
Fourth Amendment – prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures of persons or property
Fifth Amendment – guarantees the rights to indictment by a grand jury, due process of law, and to fair payment when private property is taken for public use; also prohibits compulsory self-incrimination and double jeopardy
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

11. Business and the bill of rights
Sixth Amendment – guarantees the accused in a criminal case the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury and with counsel. The accused has the right to cross-examine witnesses against him or her and to solicit testimony from witnesses in his or her favor
Seventh Amendment – guarantees the right to a trial by jury in a civil case involving at least $20
Eighth Amendment – prohibits excessive bail and fines, as well as cruel and unusual punishment
Ninth Amendment – establishes that the people have rights in addition to those specified in the Constitution
Tenth Amendment – establishes those powers neither delegated to the federal government nor denied to the states are reserved for the states
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

12. Business and the bill of rights
Limits on Federal and State Governmental Actions
Fourteenth Amendment passed in 1868 provides, in part, that “n[o] State shall…deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
Rights secured by the Bill of Rights are not absolute.
Supreme Court ultimately is the final interpreter of the Constitution.
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

13. Business and the bill of rights
The First Amendment—Freedom of Speech
Reasonable restrictions
Reasonableness is analyzed on a case-by-case basis
Corporate political speech – protected
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Commercial speech – generally protected
Unprotected speech
Certain speech is NOT protected: defamatory, threatening, “fighting words,” obscene
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

14. Business and the bill of rights
The First Amendment—Freedom of Religion
The establishment clause prohibits government from establishing a state-sponsored religion, or passing laws that favor one over the other.
The free exercise clause guarantees a person’s right to freely exercise her religion.
Employers must reasonably accommodate beliefs as long as employee has sincerely held beliefs.
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

15. Due process and equal protection
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments provide that no person shall be deprived “of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
Procedural due process
Substantive due process
LO-5
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

16. Due process and equal protection
Fourteenth Amendment: a state may not “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Supreme Court used due process clause of Fifth Amendment to make the equal protection clause applicable to the federal government
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

17. Privacy rights 1928 Olmstead v. United States
1965 Griswold v. Connecticut
Privacy rights receive protection under various federal statutes and the Constitution.
Federal Privacy Legislation
1966 Freedom of Information Act
1974 Privacy Act
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

18. Exhibit 4.1
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

19. Privacy rights Medical Information The USA Patriot Act
Privacy of individuals’ health records
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
The USA Patriot Act
Gives government officials increased authority to monitor Internet activities and to gain access to personal financial and student information
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.