Role and Functions of Law Paper

Role and Functions of Law Paper

Chris Ostorga

Law/421 Contemporary Business Law

Judith Haggerty

November 29, 2012

Law has many functions and plays major roles in business and affects how each business progresses in today’s society. The power that congress’s has been given is the power to “regulate Commerce among the serveral states” (University of Phoenix Sean P. Melvin 2011 Ch. 2 section 2-6). Congress has the authority to regulate railways and highways, equipment that is going to be shipped out for example vehicles that are shipped over seas, and the articles or instruments moving interstate. Congress also has jurisdiction over products or shippment within state borders, only if the intrastate has a sizeable econonmic effect on interstate commerce.

In the Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., et al., case of 1992, Cipollone suied Liggett for the death of his mother claiming that Liggett and other known cigarette companies were held liable for engaging in a course of conduct which included false advertisting by not admitting or misrepresenting the dangers of smoking and not mentioning or alerting the genreal public of such findings. The cigarette companies insist that the court dismiss the case due to the fact that the claims could not hold up in court because of the two federal laws one of which is the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965, and the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969 (University of Phoenix Sean P. Melvin 2011 Ch. 2 section 2-6).

The Supreme Court eventually ruled out any claims made by Cipollone, stating that his claims based on state law were inconclusive by federal law (University of Phoenix Sean P. Melvin 2011 Ch. 2 section 2-6). Thus, meaning Congress’s stance to regulate the advertisting of tobacco and its products by federal law it automatically rules over any state law in there attempt to regulate the same product or its advertising. Even though the claims made by Cipollone were recognized by the state...