ASSIGNMENT
Metropolitan Edison Company is a privately owned and operated Pennsylvania corporation subject to extensive regulation by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Under a provision of its general tariff filed with the commission, Edison had the right to discontinue electric service to any customer on reasonable notice of nonpayment of bills. Catherine Jackson had been receiving electricity from Metropolitan Edison when her account was terminated because of her delinquency in payments. Edison later opened a new account for her residence in the name of James Dodson, another occupant of Jackson’s residence. In August of the following year, Dodson moved away and no further payments were made to the account. Finally, in October, Edison disconnected Jackson’s service without any prior notice. Jackson brought suit claiming that her electric service could not be terminated without notice and a hearing. She further argued that such action, allowed by a provision of Edison’s tariff filed with the commission, constituted “state action” depriving her of property in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of due process of law. Should Edison’s actions be considered state action? Explain.
11. Miss Horowitz was admitted as an advanced medical student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. During the spring of her first year, several faculty members expressed dissatisfaction with Miss Horowitz’s clinical performance, noting that it was below that of her peers, that she was erratic in attendance at her clinical sessions, and that she lacked a critical concern for personal hygiene. Upon the recommendation of the school’s Council on Evaluation, she was advanced to her second and final year on a probationary basis. After subsequent unfavorable reviews during her second year and a negative evaluation of her performance by seven practicing physicians, the council recommended that Miss Horowitz be dismissed from the school for her failure to meet academic standards. The decision was approved by the dean and later affirmed by the provost after an appeal by Miss Horowitz. She brought suit against the school’s Board of Curators, claiming that her dismissal violated her right to procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and deprived her of “liberty” by substantially impairing her opportunities to continue her medical education or to return to employment in a medically related field. Is her claim correct? Explain.
12. The McClungs owned Ollie’s Barbecue, a restaurant located a few blocks from the interstate highway in Birmingham, Alabama, with dining accommodations for whites only and a takeout service for blacks. In the year preceding the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the restaurant had purchased a substantial portion of the food it served from outside the state. The restaurant had refused to serve blacks since its original opening in 1927 and asserted that if it were required to serve blacks it would lose much of its business. The McClungs sought a declaratory judgment to render unconstitutional the application of the Civil Rights Act to their restaurant because their admitted racial discrimination did not restrict or significantly impede interstate commerce. Decision
