1. a. Why did the court rule against Tampa?
b. Make the argument, as the lower court did, that the Tampa statute does apply to Voyeur Dorm.
c. Why was Tampa concerned about Voyeur Dorm operating in a residential neighborhood? d. Does Tampa have any additional legal grounds for challenging Voyeur Dorm? Explain.
2. The city government in Cedar Falls, Iowa, home of the University of Northern Iowa, declined to renew the liquor license of a local bar after 58 of 100 “bar checks” over a period of nearly two years found minors drinking illegally. One hundred and seventy four alcohol-related tickets were issued over that period.
a. Could the free market satisfactorily protect the public from the various risks associated with excessive drinking by college-age students, or are rules necessary?
b. Would you vote to renew this bar’s liquor license? Explain.
3. Two Dallas, Texas, ordinances were challenged in court. One gave the police very broad authority to deny licenses to “adult” businesses such as bookstores. The other, which was directed at prostitution, barred motel owners from renting rooms for fewer than 10 hours.
a. What challenges would you raise against these ordinances?
b. How would you rule? Explain.
4. The Los Angeles municipal code prohibits some types of new billboards and restricts the size, placement, and illumination of others. The Los Angeles code seeks to “promote public safety and welfare” by “providing reasonable protection to the visual environment” and by ensuring that billboards do not “interfere with traffic safety or otherwise endanger public safety.” One provision of the code specifically forbids new “Freeway Facing Signs” located within 2,000 feet of and “viewed primarily from” a freeway or an on-ramp/off-ramp. Another forbids, with exceptions, new “supergraphics,” large format signs projected onto or hung from building walls. The Los Angeles rules allow new signs in some portions of the city while banning them in others.
a. The billboard rules were challenged on constitutional grounds. Explain those grounds and rule on the constitutionality of the rules.
b. Should Los Angeles simply allow the market to determine where billboards are placed? Explain.
5. Tattoo and body piercing statutes sometimes require liability insurance, licensing, training, and health inspections, and parents are to accompany minors. Does each of those requirements seem appropriate to you? Explain.
6. a. Can we rely on the market to protect teens from excessive tanning? Explain.
b. Has the market failed? Explain.