Week 2: Ethical Topic

Choose one (1) case below and provide a summary (approx 150 words) supporting either the plaintiff or the defendant based on the facts of the case and your interpretation of the law. You need to do some research on the case selected and provide links to that research which assisted you in your decision. Check at least 2 other sources as part of your independent research. Respond to another student's posting for full credit.

Information Technology: Free Speech and Video Games California enacted a state statute that prohibited the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The act covered games that included killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being. Members of the video games and software industries challenged enforcement of the act, alleging that the state law violated their constitutional free speech rights. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the California act violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Court held that California had singled out the purveyors of video games for disfavored treatmentat least when compared to booksellers, cartoonists, and movie producersand had given no persuasive reason why. Brown, Governor of California v. Entertainment Merchants Association (Supreme Court of the United States, 2011).

Environmental Pollution: United States v. Maury The Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Company pumped contaminated wastewater into the Delaware River and burned drums of waste paint in the plants furnace at night, causing chemical air pollution. Company's management personnel were charged with criminal violations of the Clean Water Act, and were charged with lying to investigators. The U.S. district court convicted the defendants and sentenced them to prison terms. The defendants appealed, but the U.S. court of appeals (2012) affirmed the judgment of the U.S. district courting.

Sovereign Immunity: OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs Carol Sachs, a resident of Berkeley, California, purchased a Eurail pass over the internet from The Rail Pass Experts, a Massachusetts-based travel agent. Sachs arrived at the Innsbruck, Austria train station planning to use her Eurail pass to ride an OBB train to Prague, Czech Republic. As she attempted to board the train, Sachs fell from the platform onto the tracks. OBBs moving train crushed her legs, both of which had to be amputated above the knee. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sachs action is based upon the railways conduct in Innsbruck, Austria, and therefore the suit falls outside of the commercial activity exception and is barred by sovereign immunity (Supreme Court of the United States, 2015).