Rapid Fire- Constitutional Law/Ethics & Soc. Responsib

Make replies to these two.

1. In reading Chapter 5, I learned that under the Fifth Amendment, citizens have certain rights that the government has to abide by. As a citizen, you should be given fair and equal treatment under the law. Like it states in the text, "No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation" (Jeffrey F. Beaty and Susan S. Samuelson, 2013, p. 117). This shows that even though the government is in charge of all citizens, they still need to follow certain guidelines so that we all receive fair and just treatment in this country. In addition, there are three parts under the Fifth Amendment: Procedural Due Process, The Takings Clause, and Substantive Due Process. All three of these are talking about how the government cannot take citizens rights or property without giving them the opportunity to challenge the decision or get compensated a fair amount for what they take under the letter of the law. As citizens of this country, we were given certain rights set forth in the Constitution to ensure that everyone would be treated with fairness and equality. Even though we have a governing body, which is put in place to create order in this country, the regular citizens should not be treated in an unjust way, especially if they are abiding by the rules set by that government. Fair and equal treatment is what this country was based on.

In reading Chapter 2, I learned that ethics is a very important aspect in the business and legal world. Ethics are basically how a person should behave and conduct themselves. Like it states in the text, "Ethical decision making generates a range of benefits for employees, companies, and society" (Jeffrey F. Beaty and Susan S. Samuelson, 2013, p. 26). This shows that being an ethical and honest person can make you happier in the end. For example, when you are in a business setting, being an upstanding company with good values and honesty with your customers, can be very beneficial for the company now and in the future. If customers see that the company cares about the quality of the services they are giving to their customers, then the customers will continue to do business with them for years to come. Therefore, being ethical can have a positive impact on the business and the community as a whole.

(Reference: Jeffrey F. Beaty and Susan S. Samuelson. (2013) Business Law and the Legal Environment. CENCAGE LEARNING).

2. http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2016/06/24/in-hawaii-exercising-your-constitutional-rights-now-lands-you-in-a-federal-database-n2183118 (Links to an external site.): Townhall writer Matt Vespa is commenting about the Hawaii legislation on gun laws. Recently Hawaii has passed a bill for gun owners that are residents of Hawaii to be inputted in the FBI database. Not only are the citizens who own guns are put into this database, but this will also “automatically notify police is an island resident is arrested anywhere else in the country.” Since Hawaii is doing this it has sparked critics to disapproving the registration as unnecessary in order to use the Second Amendment. Now Hawaii is added two new bills that pertain to gun laws in Hawaii. The first one mentioned denies someone who is charged with harassment via stalking and sexual assault.  Then the second bill allows police to take firearms and ammo due to “mental problems”. The article takes a negative view on this. Yet Matt Vespa does remark that it “sounds reasonable”, and notes that these new laws are most likely due to recent news. The problems that he sees with these new laws allows for an open interpretation. Specifically, what type of mental disorders are not listed, and that being charged for an offense skips due process.

What is interesting about this article is the approach Hawaii is taking for gun control specifically the FBI database. I am not entirely sure if this will be effective as Matt Vespa states that there is quite a lot to be interpreted. When the police are notified for residents being arrested are the police being notified for any arrest, or are the police only being notified for arrests of harassment and sexual assault? Personally I support the interpretation of the Second Amendment that gun ownership belongs to the states militia. Meaning that I support many gun control laws including Hawaii’s new laws. The reason I support this is in the video, Why American Gun Laws Depend on a Comma, on time-stamp 0:48-0:59 and 0:16-0:34.The narrator explains that it was only in 2008 the Supreme Court changed from supporting gun ownership for state militia to individual gun ownership. This change is due to interpretation of punctuation and grammar. The narrator goes on in time-stamp 2:25-2:51 that the constitution is riddled with grammatical errors. Why is this important, it is important because if the Supreme Court from its founding all the way till 2008 supported the interpretation that the Second Amendment was for state militia. It was only until recently that people farther and farther away from the original writer’s world view would support the Second Amendment judging something other than what was common law might be wrong. A lot of these issues with the Second Amendment stem from the problem that we are unable to talk to the original writers and ask for the meaning of this “run on sentence” (3:18-3:25). The next best thing is to rely on the people before us. Since this issue has been judged on for a very long time.

Now, does this mean that everything we should follow is based on history? Of course not, as many parts of our government is outdated. In example the electoral college was put in place partially because the majority of the populace was considered not educated enough to pick a good president. Though it was also put in place to help voting when communication was based on horseback. With technology and scientific advancements there are holes and outdated regulations that were put in place because the authors specifically James Maddison did not conceive of any issues and had faith in the democratic process (Coll, 2:57-3:02). 

 

(2016 Jun 23), Governor Ige signs bill putting gun owners in FBI database, Hawaii News Now;http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/32297308/governor-ige-signs-bill-putting-gun-owners-in-fbi-database (Links to an external site.) : The laws in which the article is commenting about.

(2016 Jan. 9), Why American Gun Laws Depend on a Comma, Seeker Daily; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxGnp0zUGOo : Video about the history of the Second Amendment depends upon grammar.

Coll, James, (2016 Jun 14), Why wasn’t the Bill of Rights originally in the US Constitution? TED-ED; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMCDikASE4o (2:20-3:13): Supporting video about history of the Bill of Rights.