The Role and Function of Law in Society and Business

Week One Individual Assignment

Yvette Renwicks

LAW/421

December 15, 1013

Walter M. Pence III

The Role and Function of Law in Society and Business

This paper requires the student to discuss the role and function of law in our society and businesses. To accomplish this task, I have researched the issues relevant to the litigation of Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., et al. in Ch. 2, section 2-6, "Commerce Powers," of the text, as well as relying personal experiences to discuss the information requested.

The Role of Law

The role of law in society is to guarantee that each citizen is entitled to certain rights and freedoms, as indicated in the Constitution. Laws are enacted to protect us and provide us with parameters in which we can participate effectively in a free society.

The Function of Law

Law is a binding tradition or practice of a community that results in a conduct or action recognized as enforceable by a controlling authority. The function of law is to set up boundaries, and those that go outside of those boundaries are subjecting themselves to legal action. There are several types of laws; among them are substantive law and procedural law. Substantive law provides citizens with certain inalienable rights, and procedural law provides a structure wherein rules are set for citizens must abide by. It is my interpretation that these two types of laws, in particular, were at play in the case regarding Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., et al. In this case, the plaintiff claimed that the tobacco companies were well aware of the dangers posed by smoking and failed to warn the public. This represented a landmark case that proved the example of preemptive action by the Supreme Court, and that in the end, federal laws will always trump most state laws. In fact, this litigation resulted in the government mandate that cigarette packages must come with warnings concerning the severity of the risks involved with smoking.

Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., et al.

The facts of the case revealed that "The Plaintiff sued the Defendant a cigarette manufacturer for the death of his forty-year smoking mother, Rose. A 1969 federal statute required cigarette packages to contain a warning that the surgeon general has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to one's health and banned cigarette advertising from electronic communication mediums subject to the FCC's jurisdiction. The statute also contained a preemption provision that stated, "No requirement or prohibition based on smoking and health shall be imposed under State law with respect to the advertising and promotion of any cigarettes the packages of which are labeled in conformity with the provisions of this Act." The Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court) was presented with the issue of whether the federal statutes preempted the Plaintiff's state common-law claims" (Casebriefs.com).

Because States are not bound by the Bill