please see attachment
Please choose five of the seven questions to answer. If the question contains a scenario,
be sure to answer EACH of the follow-up questions in your essay. Essays should be at a minimum two pages, but you can take as many as you need to answer the question
fully. Be sure to have sources at the end of each essay.
Question 1:
Metropolis owns and operates 20,000-seat Lois Lane Arena. Lane Arena is surrounded by a large parking lot. Entrance to the parking lot and arena is possible only through four admission gates, one on each side of the arena. Metropolis, through a municipal arena authority, rents Lane Arena to a professional basketball team, concert promoters, organizations that sponsor conventions, and other private groups or companies willing to pay the asked-for rental fee. The city’s official rental policy, as stated in a resolution adopted by the Metropolis City Council, is that Lane Arena be available for rent by any individual, group, or entity for “any purpose that does not dishonor Metropolis or offend the sense of decency of its citizens.”
A recent action by the Metropolis Arena Authority concerning Lane Arena generated considerable controversy. The controversy involving Lane Arena concerned the decision of the Metropolis Arena Authority to reject a request by the XHL (“The Xtreme Hockey League”) to rent Lane Arena for a new professional hockey franchise, the Metropolis Puckers. In rejecting the request, the city cited the Puckers’ plan to post on the scoreboard “body counts” (counts of opposing players disabled by the rough play of the Puckers), its sponsorship by “Rot Gut Whiskey,” and its plan to have topless cheerleaders entertain fans between periods.
The XHL contends that the decision of Metropolis to reject its request to rent Lane Arena violates the First Amendment. Does it? Analyze:
a. First, what are the protections under the First Amendment?
b. Can you cite any case law that would have set precedent for your argument to support or reverse the rejection of the Puckers request?
c. You must at least cite the following landmark cases: Schenck v. U.S. (1919), Gitlow v. New York (1925), and a minimum of two additional First Amendment cases to support your position.
Question 2:
A group of Fundamentalist parents are upset with required readings in classes at a public school in Tennessee. Specifically, they believe that certain required readings promote secular humanism and undermine the religious beliefs of their children. They complain that Harry Potter books required in the seventh-grade favorably portray witchcraft. They complain that a senior-high physics book suggests that the Big Bang provides a credible explanation of the origin of the universe. Finally, they complain that biographies required in a tenth-grade history class promote feminism and the notion that women should find work outside the home. The Fundamentalist parents wonder whether the required readings violate either the Establishment Clause or the Free Exercise Clause. They would either like to have a court order the curriculum be changed or that their students be exempted from objectionable required reading and instruction.
a) Define prior restraint. Define time place and manner restraints.
b) What do you tell the parents of the children? Is their request denied? On what case(s) is this denial (or support) based?
Question 3:
Assume you are the producer of the campus television show, a late night show which runs on the local public access channel as well as the campus channel. You are preparing a segment entitled “What do You Know about University Professors?” about the private lives of university professors. You hear some rumors about the new English professor, Bob Jones, from several students, and decide to investigate. You send student researchers to Jones’ hometown and former employers. You find out several bits if information, including an arrest for drunk driving ten years ago, a brief stint in prison for shoplifting as a twenty-year old, and accusations of inappropriate relationships with students at his former university. You also discover Jones’ penchant for naked parties, which can be viewed on a restricted Internet site. You and a fellow student stake out the next party, and get some shots of Jones’ with other professors naked partying in the backyard. You got the pics and video by climbing a tree in the neighbor’s yard. You run the promo of the segment claiming “Jones’ bares all…..with other profs.”
3.
a. From a legal standpoint, would be safe broadcasting this information?
b. What is the difference between a public figure and a private citizen?
c. Are there any cases that act as precedent for privacy law?
d. Would you act any differently if these were professors in your department? At another university? What are the ethical ramifications of running this story?
Question 4:
Amy, a prominent women’s rights activist, is a resident of Yuba City, California. She was the mother of Benny, who was 18 years old. Benny lived at home with Amy, while attending Community College. On Benny’s 15th birthday, Amy took out an insurance policy on Benny in the amount of $1,000,000. Amy named herself as the insurance policy’s beneficiary. Two weeks after his 18th birthday, Benny died mysteriously of a heart attack. Reporter, who works for The Daily Breeze (Yuba City’s daily newspaper), discovered the existence of the insurance policy on Benny’s life. Reporter also gained access to the coroner’s unofficial, preliminary report. The report stated that Benny may have died as a result of poisoning, possibly administered through his food over a period of several months. Reporter spoke with Officer Oren, an officer with the Yuba City Police Department who did not participate in the investigation of Benny’s death. Officer Oren told Reporter the following: “I would not be surprised if Amy were to become a suspect in Benny’s death and charged with murder by tomorrow.” Reporter did not verify this information. Reporter did not speak with either the coroner or Amy. The next day, The Daily Breeze ran the following story on page one of its local section:
PROMINENT MOM SUSPECTED IN SON’S DEATH
Benny, the son of Amy, died yesterday of a mysterious heart attack. Amy is a prominent women’s rights activist and resident of Yuba City. Foul play is suspected in Benny’s death and Amy is a suspect. A reliable source confirmed that Amy will be charged with Benny’s murder in the very near future.
Angered by The Daily Breeze’s allegations, Amy wrote The Daily Breeze a scathing letter and requested a retraction. Amy was neither arrested nor charged with Benny’s death. After an autopsy, the coroner’s official report stated Benny’s heart attack was caused by a rare heart condition. The Daily Breeze printed a retraction after the official autopsy report was released.
Amy would like to file a defamation suit against The Daily Breeze. She comes to you for legal representation.
a. Discuss the cause(s) of action available to Amy along with anticipated defense(s) available to The Daily Breeze, i.e., what are the components of a defamation claim? Be sure to define defamation, libel, negligence, actual malice standard, etc.
b. Identify a minimum of three precedent cases related to this type of case.
c. Discuss the likely outcome of such litigation.
Question 5:
Dvorak writes soundtracks for films. Qwerty writes screenplays. They sometimes combine their products to create soundtrack-plus-screenplay packages. They pitch these packages to film producers, who sometimes buy the packages and sometimes buy the soundtracks or the screenplays separately.
One evening last month, working alone in her studio on a new project, Dvorak struggled to find a melody that would fit the melancholy and dignity of Qwerty’s latest heroine. Right then, through an open window, she heard a mourning dove sing. Inspired, Dvorak quickly re-worked the dove’s song into a fitting melody. Before she had even gone to the trouble of writing her composition down, she excitedly called Qwerty. Getting Qwerty’s answering machine, Dvorak turned on her speaker phone, gave a short introduction, and played the new melody. Satisfied with her day’s work, Qwerty left her studio immediately after hanging up the phone.
It turns out that Qwerty did not answer the phone because his wife, Sue, was hosting a party. Sue was celebrating having gotten Disney to pay a huge settlement to her clients, representatives of the estate of the original Mr. Potato Head. A good many of the guests — those with the big heads, short legs, and variegated features — came from the Potato Head family. Others represented the usual crop of well-connected Hollywood executives.
Qwerty did not know many of the guests, nor did he care to. He considered himself, as an auteur, above such schmoozing. Two drinks into the evening, Qwerty started arguing with the executives about how the film industry steals artists’ labors. Four drinks in, he started offering tater tots to horrified members of the Potato Head clan. At six drinks, Dvorak’s call came in.
Qwerty knew better than to try to work in his condition, so he just listened in as the machine began recording Dvorak’s call. “Now this,” he shouted in a slurred voice to his wife’s guests, “represents the sort of genius that makes losers and tubers like you rich!” As Dvorak finished her short introduction, Qwerty turned up the answering machine’s speaker and let Dvorak’s live performance wash over the hushed crowd.
Despite his poor manners, Qwerty had made his point. The guests filtered out whistling Dvorak’s tune and marveling at art’s power to save a party from utter disaster. But though Sue forgave Qwerty, Dvorak got very angry when she learned that he had played her call without her permission. “At the same time that I thought I was leaving a private message for you,” she explained, “you were broadcasting my performance to a bunch of strangers!”
Furthermore, not long after Dvorak unknowingly performed for Sue’s guests, a competing composer of film scores, Shift, sold a studio a tune that sounded rather similar to Dvorak’s. Shift was not at the party and disavows any exposure to Dvorak’s melody.
Dvorak has asked your firm to advise her about her possible copyright claims against Qwerty and Shift.
Write a memo doing so, citing the following: the Copyright Act of 1976, define music licensing and fair use, and a minimum of four cases. Does Dvorak have a case and why or why not?
Question 6:
You are a member of the leftist group NME, or No Meat Eaters, an often volatile group known for assailing vegetarians in public. However, you are also a journalist. When you discover NME is about to engage in a terrorist plot against farmers, you tape the meeting then break the story. You get not only beat up, but sued by NME. Discuss the defense for this case based on Sunshine Laws, Freedom of Information Act, as well as exemptions, and a minimum of two cases.
Question 7:
The Children’s Television Act of 1990 was enacted to encourage television broadcasters to serve the needs of children more extensively in their programming. To do so, the Act provides that in considering licensing renewals, the Federal Communications Commission “shall consider the extent to which the licensee has served the educational and informational needs of children through the licensee’s overall programming.”
The first license renewals that will be subject to this Act were considered in 1992. Assume that in one of these initial renewal proceedings, the F.C.C. determines that a television broadcaster has totally failed to program material that serves the needs of children, and denies renewal of the license on this basis. Also assume that the broadcaster appeals the denial on the ground that the above aspect of the Act and the denial of renewal violate the first amendment to the United States Constitution.
Discuss arguments that might be made on both sides of this issue, and state how you believe the issue should be resolved, and why. Be sure to define the Children’s Television Act of 1990, the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, and core children’s broadcasting. Cite a minimum of two cases.
