User:Corps And Fourteenth Amend. 2012

Welcome to the course! This is a seminar focused on corporations and constitutional personhood as it pertains to the 14th Amendment. Class discussions centered around a range of constitutional protections for corporations. Please post your research topics, blog ideas, and any other course related information.The widget button is a great feature. PowerPoints, calendars, videos, slide shows, maps, polls, and spreadsheets can easily be embedded in the wiki. Selecting a widget and pasting in the html code makes adding web 2.0 tools a snap!

Topics:


 * Corporations and Mobile Intelligence: Constitutional Issues in Correlation with Masked Mobile Tracking Software (By Phillip G.)

Abstract: With a deployment into a near 148 million handheld devices worldwide, Carrier IQ and its corporate telecom partners from the latter half of 2011 have scrambled, as well as struggled, in legitimizing the company’s lack of transparency with IQ Agent, a mobile intelligence software application designed to accumulate specific data. On November 12, 2011, security researcher Trevor Eckhart brought the concealed IQ Agent to light. The software is allegedly capable of recording or “logging” almost every action of a user while he or she is on their mobile device - what buttons are pressed, how often your phone is turned on and off, every text message the user types out, what websites are visited, the duration of usage, and even the location of the handheld user. The application is difficult, sometimes nearly impossible, to disable.

This note will address two constitutional issues relating to Carrier IQ and the recent discovery by Eckhart. The first will examine a press statement subsequently released by the company after IQ Agent was initially exploited, for research later brought forward completely undermined numerous pieces of the company’s non-commercial speech. However, Carrier IQ - a corporation - has several personhood rights under the Constitution; more specifically, the First Amendment Right to Free Speech. Corporations have yet to be stripped of their “right to lie,” and Carrier IQ may justifiably fabricate certain information in their press statement addressing their hidden, mobile intelligence software. The second issue pertains to an individual’s right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment. A mobile end-user has a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to several “components” or “features” of their cellular device - location, the content of text messages and e-mail, conversations, ect. Nonetheless, under a constitutional analysis, our Fourth Amendment jurisprudence to date provides little to no protection to an individual from IQ Agent, for the Government may obtain such complied data without a warrant; no unreasonable “search” has taken place.


 *  The Impact of Super Pacs, Billionaires and Citizens United on the Political Process

Abstract: With the Presidential elections at center stage the political process is currently on display for the world to see. Post-Citizens United Super Pacs have the opportunity to gather large amounts of funds to back various candidates. This ruling has allowed Billionaires to have a significant impact upon the political process in the United States and abroad.

This paper will address some of the areas in which the decision has had the greatest impact. Those being advertising, Voter disaffection and Corruption. The impact is evident throughout the political process with regards to not only politicians but judges as well. The Citizens United decision overturned hundreds of years of case law and legislation that were geared towards maintaining the integrity of the political process. The paper concludes with possible answers to the "New Beast" that has been created and ways in which the political process may be restored.
 * http://prezi.com/r8qf0qy7ntln/the-impact-of-super-pacs-billionaires-and-citizens-united-on-the-political-process/ 

The interview Stewart does with Macey is all about finance, government, capitalism, corruption, and the private equity business. Please enjoy and feel free to respond!
 * '''Tuesday night's episode of The Daily Show with Johnathen Macy shows an interview with Jonathan Macey, a Yale law school professor specializing in corporate law. Macey recently came under fire for his NYTimes op-ed piece about private equity: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204124204577154521024107002.html?mod=WSJ_Markets_MIDDLETopStories.


 * ''' Colorado Lawmaker Proposes Ban on BPA. Recent article discussing the issue of BPA Products in Colorado. http://kdvr.com/2012/02/20/colorado-lawmaker-proposes-bpa-ban/  . The article depicts a proposal by a lawmaker in Colorado. The question is will such a policy or law be passed with such powerful corporations having the potential to lose millions if such a law is passed? or will these corporations present their own statistical studies to contradict the argument that BPA products are indeed dangerous? Please share your thoughts and opinions!!

Abstract: The April 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was monumental in scope. The news of the spill was known throughout the world due to the advent of the internet and twenty-four hour news networks. Computer screens and televisions across America were flooded with images of the polluted gulf and oil soaked wildlife as a result of over two hundred million barrels of oil being leaked into the gulf. Oil in the form of tar balls reached the beaches of Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana coating most of their sands. The BP oil spill was on everyone’s mind. Being in the public’s crosshairs, the American public wanted accountability, they wanted to know who to blame. This widespread coverage forced BP to leap into action and began a colossal public relations campaign to repair the corporation’s public image. What followed in April 2010 as a result of this spill was a titanic corporate relations campaign costing BP over 50 million dollars. This paper will discuss what measures BP’s top executives have taken to clean up its corporate image, why a corporation would invest so much of its resources to that effort, what legal implications persist, and whether BP’s efforts were effective, as well as discuss how corporate social responsibility has shifted from being utilized as a tool to protect society from corporate actions and giving back to the community, to just becoming another tool used by corporations to make a profit for its shareholders.
 * Damage Control: How the BP 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster illustrated the importance of corporate responsibility and public image. (By Michael Bringuier)


 * Hemp For Victory! An Examination of Corporate Influence on Hemp Prohibition. (By Caleb Payne)

Abstract:' Despite its rich and varied history in America, current laws prohibit all cultivation of hemp, and only allow for the importation or manufacturing of foreign hemp. The potentials of hemp to not only revitalize commercial farming but also drastically improve the environment are known and documented. Once a fixture of the economy and everyday life in America, hemp is now treated as a toxic drug with no medical use according to Federal laws. Many farmers are well aware of the actual history of hemp, its benefits, and the stigmas that have been attached to it by lobbyists of competing interests. American farmers, who were both encouraged and mandated at various periods in history to grow hemp, now face fines and imprisonment for its cultivation. The first and second drafts of The American Declaration of Independence were created on hemp pulp paper, but today American farmers are prohibited to grow the hemp plant. The American People suffer enormous consequences of hemp prohibition, while multinational corporations enjoy enormous profits and security from competition. Hemp is a natural substance with thousands of uses that can replace many products currently on the market. At the time of prohibition, William Randolph Hearst was the largest owner of tree farms in America. Hemp can yield 3-8 dry tons of fiber per acre, four times the amount of an average forest. Over 80% of the inventory sold by DuPont at the time of hemp prohibition could be produced with hemp. These two large corporations, combined with a few other key influential moneyed interests, conspired to criminalize hemp to create an effective monopoly of the ownership of finite resources like wood and oil, and the refinement of fossil fuels into petrochemical derivative products like nylon and other various pesticides. These interests, referred to as “The Powder Interests” by Congressional Representative Oscar Calloway, controlled a large portion of the media in the early 20th century. These companies are still in operation today and earning large profits due to the monopolies created by hemp prohibition. As of 2012, the United States is the only developed nation not producing industrial hemp. In 2010, the United States imported more then an estimated 420 million dollars of hemp. In America, hemp is so heavily regulated that its cultivation is only marginally profitable, unless produced in mass quantities on large farms, or when used for its illicit purposes. The medicinal aspect has been the most demonized by propaganda like Reefer Madness and false information released in reports known as “The Gore File” by Harry J. Anslinger, one of the chief architects of criminalization of hemp in America. Hundreds of thousands of people are in jail for nothing other then smoking marijuana. Content develops between the public and the police, because the public cannot respect the enforcement of a law so widely violated. There are many serious ramifications of the cultural impact of laws criminalizing marijuana. This paper will instead focus on the hemp plant; specifically: 1.	Its history as a source of food, fuel, and fiber 2.	Its adaptability versatility, and superiority to competitor products 3.	Erroneous information and other factors that led to its prohibition 4.	A cost-benefit analysis of continued prohibition.

Full decriminalization will provide an economic boon to the every day farmer, and empty factories in Michigan and elsewhere will serve as the processing centers for the “Billion Dollar Crop.”


 *  A Historical Review of Corporate Social Responsibility and An Analysis of its Use In Today's Society. (By: Kyle Lee)*

Abstract: This paper provides the reader with a detailed historical review of corporate social responsibility. The paper traces the theory of corporate social responsibility back to 1953 when Howard Bowen authored "Social Responsibilities of the Businessman," which was the genesis of corporate social responsibility theory. This paper reviews the changes and advances to corporate social responsibility by looking at each decade individually beginning with the 1950's. This paper also aims to explain how corporations now use corporate social responsibility as a method to generate business and reduce operating costs. The ultimate goal is to provide the reader with an overview of the changes the corporate social responsibility has undergone since 1953.

'''Occupy Jamaica: A Case Study of Jamaica and its Relationship with The International Monetary Fund. (By: Khalilah Martin)

'''Abstract: Farming was the way the majority of Jamaicans living in the countryside made their living. They also grew their own fruits and vegetables, which they would then take into the bigger cities and sell them. So why is it that today that many Jamaicans cannot make a living or even afford to send their children to school? Education must be at the forefront of any nations attempt to afford its population a chance to earn a decent salary. In our corporations class we talked about the occupy movement, which led me to think about the individuals who likewise have an occupy movement occurring in Jamaica. My paper will focus on how the views of the political parties in Jamaica  has contributed to the economic instability, and gross domestic product, which resulted in Jamaica seeking help and aid from a variety of institutions specifically the  International Monetary Fund hereinafter IMF. The Discussion will begin with the Great Depression, and how the IMF came into existence, followed by the History of Jamaica, its relationship with the IMF, its current GDP and what the future holds for Jamaica.