Question: Darla needed to borrow Bubba’s pickup truck. Bubba agreed to drop the truck off at the mall where......

Business Law, 9th edition, Goldman and Sigismond, Cengage Publishing. ISBN: 9781133586562. 

Question 1: Audio Lecture on the Power to Interpret the Law

A woman was walking with her rod and reel and tackle box along the bank of a pond in a city park. The park allowed fishing by the public but only if the angler had a valid fishing license and to fish in the city park pond had been bought. One of the police officers patrolling the park met the woman as she walked and asked the woman to produce her fishing license and fishing permit. (This was a legal request with which the woman was required to comply.) The woman's wallet containing her fishing license and permit to fish were inside the closed tackle box she was carrying. When she opened the tackle box to retrieve her license and permit, the officer saw she was carrying inside the box a fixed-blade fishing filet knife that was 12 inches long overall and had a 7-inch blade. Being a spiritual descendant of Deputy Barney Fife, the officer promptly arrested her for illegally carrying a concealed weapon in violation of a statute which read: “No one shall carry concealed about the person a fixed blade knife having a blade of more than 5 inches long.” The law also provides that one who violates it can be fined up to $500 and/or be sentenced to 30 days in jail.

The statute did not contain any language that provided a justification for the concealed carrying of such a knife and it did not list any exceptions where the concealed carrying of such a knife was permissible. There were no previous cases in the state that interpreted the statute.

Which one of the following approaches do you think is best?

Judge A believes he has no choice except to follow the letter of the law and find the woman guilty. He takes the woman’s circumstances into account by giving her a lighter punishment—she is not required to pay a fine or serve a jail sentence, but she is required to pay court costs. As light as the sentence is, the woman will still end up with a conviction for illegally carrying a concealed weapon.

Judge B believes that the intent of the statute was to prevent people from the concealed carrying of knives which could be drawn on a moment's notice and which would be capable of killing or seriously injuring someone. She believes that the circumstances surrounding the concealed carrying of the knife should be considered in determining whether the statute was violated.

Please begin by definitely stating which approach you think is better. Your first sentence should be “I believe the judge should consider only the letter of the law” or “I believe the judge should consider the circumstances under which the knife was carried in order to determine whether the statute was violated.”

Give two well written and thoughtful reasons that provide support for your answer. Your answer should be 500-600 words why you think the approach you chose is the better approach. I will subtract points for spelling/grammatical/typographical errors: 1 point will be subtracted for the first three such errors and an additional point will be subtracted if there are four or more such errors.


Question 2: The Power to Interpret the Law
Darla needed to borrow Bubba’s pickup truck. Bubba agreed to drop the truck off at the mall where Darla worked and to drive home in Darla’s car. After Darla got off work, she approached the truck with keys in hand intending to climb in and drive away.

Unknown to Darla, Bubba had left laying on the passenger’s seat an unsheathed fixed blade hunting knife that was twelve inches long (from the beginning of the handle to the point of the blade). A policeman who was walking by the truck had spotted the knife in the vehicle and was waiting for the owner to return. Darla approached the truck, unlocked its doors with the remote and placed her hand on the door handle to open it. The policeman yelled at her to stop and then arrested her.. She was charged with violating a section of the law that made it illegal to “carry concealed about the person a Bowie knife or knife or instrument of like kind.”

Has Darla violated the statute? Discuss fully each part of the relevant statute, evaluating whether Darla’s conduct is in compliance with it.

Week 3 Learning Objectives:
Chapter 11 Learning Objectives
➜Indicate that oral contracts are just as enforceable as written contracts if they contain all the required legal elements.
➜List the contracts that must be in writing to be legally enforceable under a state’s statute of frauds.
➜Summarize the essential information a memorandum evidencing a written contract must contain.
➜Recognize that a person may now sign documents electronically.
➜Determine the importance of parol evidence as it relates to contracts.
Chapter 12 Learning Objectives
➜Distinguish between the transfer of a right and the transfer of a duty.
➜Describe the result that occurs once a party legally transfers his or her rights under a contract.
➜Describe the result that occurs once a party legally transfers his or her duties under a contract. à
➜Enumerate those rights and duties that cannot legally be transferred without consent.
➜Recall the formalities required to transfer rights and duties.
➜Indicate when rights and duties are automatically transferred by law.
➜Identify the legal effect of a general assignment.
Chapter 13 Learning Objectives
➜Distinguish between full performance, substantial performance, and performance to the personal satisfaction of another as ways of discharging a contract.
➜Distinguish among rescission, novation, accord, and satisfaction as ways of discharging a contract by agreement of the parties.
➜Distinguish among impossibility/impracticability, bankruptcy, the statute of limitations, and material alteration as ways of discharging a contract by operation of law.
Chapter 14 Learning Objectives
➜Define breach of contract and differentiate between an actual breach and an anticipatory breach.
➜Summarize the remedies for breach of contract, both legal and equitable.
➜Describe the defenses available to an injured party for not performing on the contract.
➜Recall how fraud, duress, and undue influence affect a contract.