Federal Preemption of State and Local Law - Essay Example

Business Law First Assignment Legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington has its own implications on the business sector. For those looking for new business opportunities, the legalization can provide them with a useful start-up for a purely legal marijuana business (Shane, n.pag.). The legalization is also likely to impact current business, such as night clubs and bars that may want to sell small amounts of the drug to their customers. In order to fully assess its impact nationwide, it is important to understand its legal status federally. This means that since marijuana will still be an illegal drug in other states, businesses are more likely to restrict their operations with Colorado and Washington where it is legal. When it comes to the American legal system, federal law is regarded as a higher authority than state laws as they may not prevail consistently throughout the whole nation, unlike federal law. At many instances, state law comes into conflict with federal law, in which case, a federal preemption is enacted where the state law is invalidated in the light of their inconsistencies (O’Reilly, 72). The legal aspect revolving any business is an important determinant of its activities and operations, as they occur in compliance or in conflict with the state order or law. The legalization of pot opened way for new business and ventures as investments poured into the relatively infant area of legalized business activity. One aspect of marijuana legalization is the end of illegal criminal activity associated with underground marijuana sale. With the new development, businesses are hopeful of generating high profits with new business ideas revolving around marijuana. Apart from its use as a recreational drug, marijuana is also known for its helpful medicinal properties. Due to this purpose, marijuana research centers could be established to carry out further research as to its use for curing diseases and healing some form of cancers. According to the White House, a number of states possess laws regarding medical usage of marijuana with Colorado and Washington completely legalizing its usage (n.pag.). A factor to consider is the dual status which implies that states other than Colorado and Washington still treat marijuana as an illegal drug, whose sale and trade is a criminal act. With its legalization in Colorado and Washington, it is evident that the marijuana related business is thriving. However, the nature of such businesses should be restricted within due to the legalities. This means that any marijuana business based in Colorado or Washington cannot deal or trade marijuana to consumers in other states due to its illegal status. The degree to which this will be regulated is questionable due to the clash between the federal and state laws. Many individuals seeking the use of marijuana for recreational purposes could travel to the states where it is legal. This would mean that inter-state travel to Colorado and Washington would increase. However, this would also mean that any drug bought within the state could not be taken to another state due to the legality that applies or charges could be applicable for drug possession. So, while businesses make progress in the relatively new business area, the operations are still limited to within state boundaries. It was anticipated that other states with follow suit with the legalization however legal statutes in other states have not been introduced yet. This means that the illegal status of recreational marijuana still prevails and that businesses will not be able to extend their operations to other states. The dual status of marijuana legalization therefore presents itself as a clashing statute where individuals could travel to Colorado and Washington for consumption. Second Assignment With the emergence of internet and the mobile technology, the world has moved into a new digital age where only staying off the web can keep an individual completely private. The development of high-quality, super fast smart phones, has allowed individuals to be more and more dependent on technological gadgets such as mobile phones. As more and more communication takes place in the cyberspace, it is important for a citizen to know the privacy laws prevailing in the country. In an Orwellian fashion, the phrase “big brother is watching you” seems to be becoming a reality in the brave new world of technology the world has entered. Smith explains how privacy laws were meant to address three areas including “transactional data banks, communications, and biotechnology” (3). The scene however changed after the 9/11 terror attack that shook USA. With more and more security threat, the agencies had to strengthen the security and this also meant screening all the data and information that travels through the digital space for suspicious activity or content. The news of mass surveillance, by agencies like the National Security Agency, of phone records, social media, emails, web search, and so on, are now public knowledge with the revelations by Ed Snowden (Greenwald, n.pag.; Greenwald, MacAskill, and Poitras, n.pag.). On many instanced, such acts of mass surveillance has also been justified by the government. The most obvious implication of mass surveillance is automatically a compromise of individual privacy. In the US, surveillance directives exist although the legal jurisdiction may offer an individual with legal protection. US is part of many international treaties and thus can demand personal information even if the individual may not be residing in the country. However, in a few cases, a legal suspension order could also be issued where the individual is prevented from knowing that they are under surveillance or are being investigated. The American legal system has many laws governing the interception of communications occurring in the digital sphere. So, many times when an individual may feel like their privacy is being invaded, legally the laws might not be violated. The ruling which demanded a search warrant for the police to be able to view the individual’s mobile data or phone records means a greater level of protection of the individual’s privacy. Legally, an individual also possesses a right to appeal against the search warrant investigating the mobile records. The search warrant provides the police with the legal document which will enable investigation of the records however without the search warrant the police may not legally obtain the data. The implications could be that this act could let the criminals away by providing them more legal protection. The requirement of a search warrant means that the mobile data is hidden until the search warrant is shown. This could potentially help criminals get away although many citizens may feel the need to stay private and secure. The privacy rights could be extended to other gadgets, devices and media such as email clients, web activities, social media, and so on. Today, one’s life revolves around virtual networks such as Twitter and Facebook and how inseparable is the Google search engine. With such a transformation in lifestyle habits and activity, it is quite possible that one’s privacy could be invaded through the collection of big data one generates throughout the course of their time on the internet. With such dependence on digital resources, the privacy laws could be extended to other platforms so as to protect the citizens from unwarranted breaches of privacy. Although this could require careful law making as security still forms a major concern for governments. Works Cited Greenwald, Glenn, Ewen MacAskill, and Laura Poitras. Edward Snowden: The Whistleblower Behind The NSA Surveillance Revelations. The Guardian. N. p., 2013. Web. 28 Jun. 2014. Greenwald, Glenn. NSA Collecting Phone Records Of Millions Of Verizon Customers Daily. The Guardian. N. p., 2013. Web. 28 Jun. 2014. OReilly, James T. Federal Preemption Of State And Local Law. 1st ed. Chicago: Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, American Bar Association, 2006. Print. Shane, Scott. Why Colorado And Washington Were Wise To Legalize Pot. Entrepreneur. N. p., 2014. Web. 28 Jun. 2014. Smith, Robert Ellis. The Law Of Privacy Explained. 1st ed. [S.l.]: The Author, 2004. Print. The White House,. Marijuana Resource Center: State Laws Related To Marijuana. N. p., 2014. Web. 28 Jun. 2014. Read More