Role of the Unites States

Role of the United States Constitution Paper

Courtney Johnson

Business Law – BUS/415

November 30, 2009

Gina Koscal

Role of the United States Constitution

The popular media sources of today like television shows and movies have deeply influenced how people view our “Constitutional Rights.” There are very few people that have taken the time to research their legal rights and really understand how it affects their personal and business life. Business organizations do not rely on media sources to determine legal rights and how it affects their business practices and decisions. Many companies have legal departments or attorneys that have spent years in educating themselves on the Constitution and focusing on parts of the document that relate and address to current legal issues and rights. The legal departments and attorneys are valuable to companies because they are considered experts in knowing laws that will protect the company and address legal issues that the company might face. When a company does not obey the laws or violates the constitutional rights of its employees, it can be subjected to fines, company execs can face jail time, disappoint shareholders, or the company can be shut down. We are going to look at how the Constitution can affect a business and ways a business recognizes and utilizes the laws to make business decisions and practices.

Article 1, section 8 states, "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States". This means that Congress can inflict various taxes on sales of products from various businesses. Congress has been debating limit on state attempts to collect taxes from out-of-state businesses. This has been a very controversial debate among Congress and state officials and even some businesses...