City of New London Essay Example for Free

City of New London Essay The City of New London exercised its power of eminent domain to appropriate properties of a number of its citizens for purposes of selling it to private developers. Unwilling citizens including petitioner Suzette Kelo and other similarly situated individuals contested the aforementioned governmental action saying that it was done in violation of the takings clause in the Constitution. The city, on the other hand, argues that there was compliance with the requirements in the Fifth Amendment because the integrated development plan was intended for public use, i. e. to develop the barren land which will eventually lead to the creation of employment opportunities for the citizens as well as increased revenue for the city which had been earlier labeled as a â€Å"distressed municipality. † All the State courts have ruled in favor of the validity of the proposed takings. Issue: Does the public purpose intended by New London in the appropriation satisfy the public use requirement of the Takings Clause in the Constitution? Rule: The rule involved is the Taking Clause of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment which states that â€Å"No person shall be †¦ deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. † Application: The rule clearly states that the government may only appropriate private properties if the intended use is for the general public. However, in this case, the state is in effect appropriating the private properties with the end of transferring it to another private entity which is tasked to undertake the project that will yield public use. Conclusion: The Court made a distinction between two kinds of expropriation. The first involves the taking of private property for direct governmental benefit which will lead to public use. On the other hand, the second type of taking has to do with seizing private property and transferring it in the name of another private entity for purposes of developing it on the condition that there is a â€Å"future public use. † The taking involved in New City did not grant undue advantage to the private company because there remains a legitimate purpose provided to the government. Further, it is not necessary that all the citizens will be benefited by the taking. It is sufficient that the private lessees of the developed land will cater to the general public. The Court likewise emphasized that the attainment of public use criterion is sometimes better served when delegated to private corporations rather than when undertaken by the government itself. Therefore, economic development squarely comes within the public use requirement under the Takings Clause in the Constitution. Critique: In the case of Kelo v City of New London, the Court accorded a very liberal construction of the Takings Clause of the Constitution when it allowed the expropriation of the private property in favor of another private property. At the very outset, the controversy already becomes very apparent. As have been pointed out by Justice O’Connor, the government may freely exercise its power of eminent domain so long as it complies with the requirements of the Constitution, namely â€Å"just compensation† and â€Å"public use,† with the latter being the most contentious phrase in this case. Would it suffice that there is incidental public benefit derivable from the expropriation? The clear reading of the black letter law answers in the negative. The power of eminent domain should only strictly be for the government’s benefit. Whatever incidental or fringe advantage should be left for other adjacent private properties, but most certainly, not the other way around. All the more that it should not be confused with the more sweeping term â€Å"general welfare. † The implication of this decision hence renders nugatory the â€Å"Public Use† clause in its entirety. Furthermore, this case establishes a dangerous precedent. One should note the composition of the local governments as well as those in the congress. They are all affluent individuals who are more often than not propertied private individuals, too. They can easily invoke this case to justify the undue advantage they have for themselves. Justice O’Connor had this possibility in mind when she stated that now those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms can exploit the weak who had nothing but the lands passed down to them. Ordinarily, judicial activism is resorted to for purposes of maintaining equity and social justice especially when the law is too oppressive for the majority (Morgan, 2001). However, this case is an outlier as it sanctioned the suppression. Thayer has enumerated at least three evils that attend the increased exercise of judicial review. First, the Congress grows more and more accustomed to turning the subject of constitutional restraints over to the courts, falling insensibly into a habit of â€Å"assuming that whatever they may constitutionally do, they may do. † Second, the people become more careless in electing their representatives since the few and, presumably, wiser occupants of the Bench are there to protect them anyway should the incompetence of these legislators shine eventually. Finally, judicial review is inherently not preferable because the correction of laws come â€Å"from the outside† and so those people primarily tasked to make the laws lose the opportunity to improve their own political competence (Wolfe, 1997). References Morgan, D. G. (2001). A judgment too far? : judicial activism and the constitution. Ireland: Cork University Press. Powers, S. (2002). The Least Dangerous Branch? Consequences of Judicial Activism. Connecticut: Praeger. Schmidt, S. W. , Shelley, M. C. , Bardes, B. A. (2008). American Government Politics Today. Boston: Cengage Learning Inc. Wolfe, C. (1997). Judicial activism: bulwark of freedom or precarious security? New York: Rowman Littlefield.

Comparison of Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth and London by Wi

Comparison of Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth and London by William Blake Throughout the coursework I will refer to William Wordsworth as Wordsworth and William Blake as Blake. The poems of Wordsworth and Blake are both about London however, Wordsworth’s poem was written when he came to visit London whereas Blake lived in London. Wordsworth’s poem is about the finery of London one can see this as he writes in line 1; â€Å"Earth has not anything to show more fair:† Whereas in Blake’s poem he does not write about the praise of London although he loved London we are told he sees that London has its bad points. In Wordsworth’s poems there is an absence of people whereas in Blake’s poem it talks about people a lot of the time. In Wordsworth’s poem he refers to London as a person this is a personification. We see him referring to London as a person when he says at the end of the poem although there are other references to this; â€Å"And all that mighty heart is lying still!† In Wordsworth’s poem he is not saying that London is more beautiful then other cities he says that it is as nice as other cities. When Wordsworth says; â€Å"Dull would he be of soul,† This shows that he thinks some people are insensitive. As well when Wordsworth says; â€Å"This City now doth, like a garment, wear,† This is a simile he talks about London as if it is a person. When Blake’s writes his poem he sheds light on the problems of London although he is a major fan of London. Most of the people at this time could not read and so Blake thought that if he wrote a poem people who could read wo... ...horical the soilders are standing by the palace and sighing thinking about th rich people who don’t suffer in war hence the words â€Å"Runs in the blood†. In line 15 the word; â€Å"†¦Harlot†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is showing that it is pitiful. The harlot is cursing because if she becomes pregnant it is like a millstone around her neck. In line 17 the word â€Å"hearse† is used as a car to take the bride to the wedding hall here it would be sad because the harlot would only be getting married because she became pregnant it was not a wanted child. Nowadays we use a hearse a car to carry a coffin, now to hear the word hearse is sad whereas then it was a happy thought. Perhaps when it says in line 16; â€Å"†¦Infants tear,† It is saying that the cry is because maybe the father is already married.

Business Applications Case Essay

Chapter 1. 5. What does the statement â€Å"costs can be assets or expenses† mean? 6. Why are the salaries of production workers accumulated in an inventory account instead of being expensed on the income statement? 7. How do product costs affect the financial statements? How does the classification of product cost (as an asset vs. an expense) affect net income? The following information was taken from the 2008 and 2009 Form 10-Ks for Dell, Inc.Required a. Explain whether each line of information in the table above would best be described as being primarily financial accounting or managerial accounting in nature. b. Provide some additional examples of managerial and financial accounting information that could apply to Dell. c. If you analyze only the data you identified as financial in nature, does it appear that Dell’s 2009 fiscal year was better or worse than its 2008 fiscal year? Explain. d. If you analyze only the data you identified as managerial in nature, does it appear that Dell’s 2009 fiscal year was better or worse than its 2008 fiscal year? Explain| Chapter 2 10. How is the relevant range of activity related to fixed and variable cost? Give an example of how the definitions of these costs become invalid when volume is outside the relevant range. 12. When would the high-low method be appropriate for estimating variable and fixed costs? When would least-squares regression be the most desirable? 13. Which cost structure has the greater risk? Explain. Chapter 3 6. When would the customer be willing to pay a premium price for a product or service? What pricing strategy would be appropriate under these circumstances? 7. What are three alternative approaches to determine the break-even point? What do the results of these approaches show? 8. What is the equation method for determining the break-even point? Explain how the results of this method differ from those of the contribution margin approach. Chapter 4 10. Why are some manufacturing costs not directly traceable to products? 11. What is the objective of allocating indirect manufacturing overhead costs to the product? Chapter 5 1. Why did traditional costing systems base allocations on a single companywide cost driver? 2. Why are labor hours ineffective as a companywide allocation base in many industries today? 3. What is the difference between volume-based cost drivers and activity-based cost drivers? 4. Why do activity-based cost drivers provide more accurate allocations of overhead in an automated manufacturing environment? 5. When would it be appropriate to use volume-based cost drivers in an activity-based costing system? ATC 5-4Writing AssignmentAssessing a strategy to control quality cost Lucy Sawyer, who owns and operates Sawyer Toy Company, is a perfectionist. She believes literally in the â€Å"zero-defects† approach to quality control. Her favorite saying is, â€Å"You can’t spend too much on quality.† Even so, in 2010 her company experienced an embarrassing breach of quality that required the national recall of a defective product. She vowed never to repeat the experience and instructed her staff to spend whatever it takes to ensure that products are delivered free of defects in 2011. She was somewhat disappointed with the 2011 year-end quality cost report shown here. Although external failure costs had declined, they remained much higher than expected. The increased inspections had identified defects that were corrected, thereby avoiding another recall; however, the external failure costs were still too high. Ms. Sawyer responded by saying, â€Å"We will have to double our efforts.† She authorized hiring additional inspectors and instructed her production supervisors to become more vigilant in identifying and correcting errors. Required Assume that you are the chief financial officer (CFO) of Sawyer Toy Company. Ms. Sawyer has asked you to review the company’s approach to quality control. Prepare a memo to her that evaluates the existing approach, and  recommend changes in expenditure patterns that can improve profitability as well as increase the effectiveness of the quality control system. Chapter 6 7. What is an opportunity cost? How does it differ from a sunk cost? 8. A local bank advertises that it offers a free noninterest-bearing checking account if the depositor maintains a $500 minimum balance in the account. Is the checking account truly free?

Interrupting Phrase Definition and Examples