ASSIGNMENT
2. In 1967, large oil reserves were discovered in the Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska. As a result, State revenues increased from $124 million in 1969 to $3.7 billion in1981. In 1980, the State legislature enacted a dividend program that would distribute annually a portion of these earnings to the State’s adult residents. Under the plan, each citizen eighteen years of age or older receives one unit for each year of residency subsequent to 1959, the year Alaska became a State. Crawford, a resident since 1978, brings suit challenging the dividend distribution plan as violative of the equal protection guarantee. Did the dividend program violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? Explain.
3. Maryland enacted a statute prohibiting any producer or refiner of petroleum products from operating retail service stations within the State. The statute also required that any producer or refiner discontinue operating its company-owned retail service stations. Approximately 3,800 retail service stations in Maryland sell more than twenty different brands of gasoline. All of this gasoline is brought in from other States, as no petroleum products are produced or refined in Maryland. Only 5 percent of the total number of retailers are operated by a producer or refiner. Maryland enacted the statute because a survey conducted by the State comptroller indicated that gaso- line stations operated by producers or refiners had received preferential treatment during periods of gasoline shortage. Seven major producers and refiners bring an action challenging the statute on the ground that it discriminated against interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Are they correct? Explain.
4. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 provides that “the United States of America is declared to possess and exercise complete and exclusive national sovereignty in the airspace of the United States.” The city of Orion adopted an ordinance that makes it unlawful for jet aircraft to take off from its airport between 11:00 P.M. of one day and 7:00 A.M. of the next day. Jordan Airlines, Inc., is adversely affected by this ordinance and brings suit challenging it under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution as conflicting with the Federal Aviation Act or preempted by it. Is the ordinance valid? Explain.
5. The Public Service Commission of State X issued a regulation completely banning all advertising that “promotes the use of electricity” by any electric utility company in State X. The commission issued the regulation to con- serve energy. Central Electric Corporation of State X challenges the order in the State courts, arguing that the commission has restrained commercial speech in violation of the First Amendment. Was the corporation’s freedom of speech unconstitutionally infringed? Explain.
6. E-Z-Rest Motel is a motel with 216 rooms located in the center of a large city in State Y. It is readily accessible from two interstate highways and three major State highways. The motel solicits patronage from outside State Y through various national advertising media, including magazines of national circulation. It accepts convention trade from outside State Y, and approximately 75 percent of its registered guests are from out of State Y. An action under the Federal Civil Rights Act has been brought against E-Z-Rest Motel alleging that the motel discriminates on the basis of race and color. The motel contends that the statute cannot be applied to it because it is not engaged in interstate commerce. Can the Federal government regulate this activity under the Interstate Commerce Clause? Why?
7. State Z enacted a Private Pension Benefits Protection Act requiring private employers with one hundred or more employees to pay a pension funding charge upon terminating a pension plan or closing an office in State Z. Acme Steel Company closed its offices in State Z, whereupon the State assessed the company $185,000 under the vesting provisions of the act. Acme challenged the constitutionality of the Act under the Contract Clause (Article I, Section 10) of the U.S. Constitution. Was the Act constitutional? Explain.
8. A State statute empowered public school principals to suspend students for up to ten days without any notice or hearing. A student who was suspended for ten days challenges the constitutionality of his suspension on the ground that he was denied due process. Was due process denied? Explain.
9. Iowa enacted a statute prohibiting the use of sixty-five- foot double-trailer-truck combinations. All of the other mid-western and western States permit such trucks to be
used on their roads. Despite these restrictions, Iowa’s statute permits cities abutting the State line to enact local ordinances adopting the length limitations of the adjoining State. In cases in which a city has exercised this option, otherwise oversized trucks are permitted within the city limits and in nearby commercial zones. Consoli- dated Freightways is adversely affected by this statute and brings suit against Iowa, alleging that the statute violates the Commerce Clause. The District Court found that the evidence established that sixty-five-foot doubles were as safe as the shorter truck units. Does the statute violate the Commerce Clause? Explain
