The Great Gatsby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

The Great Gatsby - Essay Example As more and more minorities and women began adding their voices to the literary realm, ideas regarding identity became more confused and ill-defined as it became realized that who we are is often the result of how we interact with others. To understand how this realization of the sociological imagination was expressed, it is helpful to analyze how a master author of the period, F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrayed these ideas in his novel The Great Gatsby. Sociological imagination is the way in which we stratify ourselves within our society and in how we develop our own identity. By linking our own personal experience with the collective understanding of what that represents, we are able to classify ourselves as well as others within specific social groups. It is upon this understanding that we form and understand our own identity. Three aspects of the sociological imagination include class, race and gender. Class is based upon a variety of factors including profession, income levels and educational attainment. People with a great deal of education are often identified as holding higher level professional positions and higher rates of pay than less educated individuals. While class is often considered quite flexible, race and gender remain difficult to change. Race is determined based on physical characteristics, but can also be influenced by ethnic concerns. Generally, ethnicity is considered to refer to a person’s national or igin, language, religion, dietary practices or common historical heritage. Although race is inherited through the genes, ethnicity is the result of socialization from one generation to the next. Gender is a learned identification with a particular biological sex – male or female – while sexuality refers to the way in which people organize their world based on sexual identity. All of these things are used to help shape and compare ourselves with the people around us so that we can determine just what kind of person

In-court identification Essay Example for Free

In-court identification Essay In a criminal prosecution, the positive identification of the accused would most likely result in conviction. The likelihood that the defense would contest or suppress in-court identification by prosecution witnesses is therefore high. Over the years, our courts have formulated rules regarding the propriety of suppressing in-court identification by witnesses. The accuracy of eyewitness identification depends on factors personal to the witness such as: (1) perception; (2) memory; (3) communication; and (4) candor. (Moses, 2001) However, the suppression of in-court identification testimony largely depends upon the admissibility of the out-of-court identification, which preceded it. Such admissibility can be challenged principally on two grounds: first, that it violated the right to counsel of the accused under the Sixth Amendment or, second, that it violated due process. For purposes of this paper, the former will not be discussed since what is involved in the issue at hand is a photographic identification and therefore the accused cannot invoke his right to counsel, be it pre-indictment or post-indictment, since there is no adversarial confrontation involved. (United States vs. Ash, 1973) The case most applicable is Manson vs. Brathwaite, 432 U. S. 98 (1977). The facts of the case are: Glover, a trained undercover state police officer purchased heroin from a seller through the open doorway of an apartment while standing for two or three minutes within two feet of the seller in a hallway illuminated by natural light. A few minutes later Glover described the seller to another police officer as being a colored man, approximately five feet eleven inches tall, dark complexion, black hair, short Afro style, and having high cheekbones, and of heavy build. The other police officer, suspecting from the description that respondent might be the seller, left a police photograph of respondent at the office of Glover, who viewed it two days later and identified it as the picture of the seller. (Manson vs. Brathwaite, 1977) The court identified two issues. First, whether the police used an impermissibly suggestive procedure in obtaining the out-of-court identification. Second, whether, under all the circumstances, that suggestive procedure gave rise to a substantial likelihood of â€Å"irreparable misidentification. † (Manson vs. Brathwaite, 1977) As to the first inquiry, the court held that the photographic identification was â€Å"impermissibly suggestive† and â€Å"unnecessarily so. † (Manson vs. Brathwaite, 1977) However, the court ultimately ruled in favor of the admissibility of the photographic identification and did not take a per se exclusion route as what happened in the case of Stovall vs.Deno, 388 U. S. 293 (1967), which declared that the evidence of an out-of-court identification is inadmissible if the evidence revealed that the out-of-court confrontation was so unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification that he was denied due process of law. The court declared that â€Å"reliability is the linchpin in determining the admissibility of identification testimony† (Manson vs. Brathwaite, 1977) The Court relied upon several factors, the â€Å"Biggers factors† (George, 2005, p. 9), that provide the basis in determining whether the witness had a picture of the perpetrator in his or her mind before the police suggestiveness occurred: 1) the amount of time or opportunity to view the suspect during the crime; 2) the witness’s degree of attention while viewing the suspect (casual observer or victim); 3) the accuracy of the description given prior to the identification procedure; 4) the witness’ level of certainty; and 5) the time between the offense and the identification. (Neil vs. Biggers, 1972) In the issue at hand before us, it must be determined: first, whether or not the photographic identification procedure was â€Å"impermissibly suggestive† and â€Å"unnecessarily so†; second, whether or not the â€Å"totality of the circumstances† (Manson vs. Brathwaite, 1977) would show that the identification made was indeed reliable. First, it is submitted that the out-of-court identification by the tellers are impermissibly suggestive and unnecessarily so. According to the cases of Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U. S. 98 (1977) and Mason v. United States, 414 F. 2d 1176 (D. C. Cir.1969), showing a single photograph is highly suggestive and the suggestivity is unnecessary unless there are compelling circumstances which would show otherwise. The act of the police officer in showing to one of the tellers the photograph of the defendant is considered unnecessarily suggestive as laid down by jurisprudence. The inquiry therefore which needs to be addressed is, whether or not the out-of-court identification by the tellers is reliable, regardless of the impermissible and unnecessary suggestive procedure conducted by the police officer a few day after their statements were noted. It is submitted that the out-of-court identification by the tellers are not reliable for the following reasons. First, there are no facts which suggest the amount of time or opportunity the tellers had in viewing the suspect during the commission of the robbery nor the witnesses’ degree of attention while viewing the suspect. Second, the level of certainty of the tellers as to the identity of the accused is highly contentious. That one of the tellers called up the police station and identified the defendant as the robber is not reliable because of the fact that she had seen a report on television the previous night regarding the arrest of the defendant. Such circumstance can be regarded as â€Å"suggestive. † Her â€Å"belief† that the arrested person is the robber is not a sufficient indicia of reliability and certainty on the part of the witness. Also, the identification by the other teller of the defendant as the robber by pointing to a picture of him in a newspaper article about the arrest is suggestive and highly suspect for the same reason. Moreover, the police officer conducting the investigation could have tested the assertions of the witnesses by conducting a line-up or photographic array identification subsequent to the taking of statements. But he did not. It is therefore concluded that the in-court identification by the witnesses should be suppressed for being made under impermissible and unnecessary suggestive procedure and for being unreliable considering the totality of all circumstances. WORKS CITED: George, A. (March, 2005). â€Å"That’s the man who did it! † Identification Evidence Under the 5th and 6th Amendments. † Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://www.fd. org/pdf_lib/Due%20Process%20Under%205th%20Amendment. pdf Moses, R. (2001). Misidentification: The Caprices of Eyewitness Testimony in Criminal Cases. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://www. criminaldefense. homestead. com/eyewitnessmisidentification. html Motions to Suppress Eyewitness Identification Testimony. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://www. pdsdc. org/Cpi/CH_21. pdf. LEGAL SOURCES: Manson vs. Brathwaite, 432 U. S. 98 (1977). Mason v. United States, 414 F. 2d 1176 (D. C. Cir. 1969). Neil vs. Biggers, 409 U. S. 188 (1972). Stovall vs. Deno, 388 U. S. 293 (1967). United States vs. Ash, 413 U. S. 300 (1973).

Environmental and social issues of Unilever

Environmental and social issues of Unilever Unilever began with British soap-maker company named Lever Brothers. Their revolutionary action in business was by introducing the Sunlight Soap in 1890s. That idea was from William Hesketh Lever, founder of Lever Brothers. This idea helped the Lever Brothers become the first company that help popularise cleanliness in Victorian England. Moreover, the product rapidly emulated globally after that it was a success in UK and made Lever Brothers obtained more business worldwide. One of the reasons of this success was the strategy from William that not only prioritize on selling the products but also focus on manufacturing them. On the other side, in 1872 Jurgens and Van den Bergh created a company that produces margarine. Since there were many competitors in the margarine industry in Dutch, in 1920s, Jurgen and Van de Berth decided to strengthen their company by joining another margarine manufacturer in Bohemia. In 1927, there were three companies including Jurgen and Van de Berth compan y which formed Margarine Unie located in Holland. In 1930, the Lever Bros merged with the Margarine Unie and even though, an international merge was an unusual move at that time, both of the two companies have the same vision that by doing this merge with strong global networks would create new opportunities. Finally, the name of Unilever was created by the merge of the companies. Not too long after Unilever was formed, they got a big problem which was that their raw material companies were reduced from 30% to 40% in the first year. As that problem started to attack, Unilever had to react quickly by building up an efficient system of control. In September of 1930, Unilever established the Special Committee that was designed to stabilize British and Dutch operate and concern as an internal cabinet for the organization. Since William Levers death in 1925, it was Frances DArcy Cooper who replaced him to become the chairmen of Lever Brothers. Cooper made several benefits for Unilever, one of his revolutionary action was that he led the various companies that included Unilever into one Anglo-Dutch companies. According to The Netherlands official UK site, Anglo-Dutch Companies is the British and the Dutch historically joined forces to form some of the strongest companies in the world, and until now their position is still strong. In 1937, when the correlation between the profit-earning capabilities of the British and Dutch companies found itself overturned, it was Cooper that came to solve the problem by convincing the board of the necessity for restructuring. In the 1930s, Unilever continued to grow their business when they promoted their products in America Latin. To keep it growing, Unilever adapted a new strategy in 1940s by widening their business areas and create new areas such as particular food and chemical manufactures. Furthermore, Unilever recognized that there were something more important than widening their areas, it was the relationship between marketing and research that they must focus on. Therefore, Unilever expanded their operation by making association by two important actuations in US, those are Thomas J. Lipton company, manufacture of tea, and the Pepsodent brand of toothpaste in 1944. In 1957 Unilever continued their actions by associating with U.K. frozen food maker birds eye, and in 1961 with U.S. Ice cream novelty maker Good Humor. In the 1980s Unilever made a revolutionary restructuring by selling most of its subsidiary business to concentrate the companys core business. Eventually, foods, toiletries, detergents and special chemicals were the Unilevers core business. This restructuring also helped Unilever to make a collaboration with Chesebrought-Ponds in U.S. in 1986. That collaboration made a big impact to Unilever, their profit margin increased. Furthermore, Unilever bought Chesebrought-Pond in 1987. Nowadays, Unilever become the worlds most consumed product brand in home care, personal care and food. In 2002, Unilever had a worldwide revenue around à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬48,760 million. Unilever has two main parenting companies, they are Unilever NV in Rotterdam and Netherland and Unilever PLC in London, UK. However, Unilever still has two major competitors named Nestlà © and Procter Gamble. Unilever has several worldwide products in foods such as Lipton, Knorr, Blue Band, Ben and Jerry, Walls, and Brooke bond. In home care, they have Surf, Sun, Radiant, Domestos and Skip. In personal care, they have Ponds, Vaseline, Rexona, Lux, Dove, Lifebuoy, Pepsodent, Sunsilk and Axe/Lynx. Social and Environmental issues Besides Unilevers success, there are also some social and environmental issues that affects Unilever. There are several damages created by Unilever during their processes in manufacturing, supplying, and labouring. Palm oil issues that affected by Unilever Unilever is the company with the worlds largest buyer of palm oil. They turn the palm oil material to their products like detergents, cosmetics, bio-fuel and soaps. Their actions by cutting down the palm oil of the most area in Kalimantan was slowly destroying habitat of Orang-utan, an endangered species which lived almost everywhere in the rainforest of Kalimantan. This action resulted in the extinction of the Orang-utan species in Kalimantan. An expected of two million acres of the rainforests in Kalimantan have been cut down annually. This action is also damaging Indonesias rainforest, eventually leading to a severe climate change. Unilever created their products to help people in doing their daily life, but in fact they are also destroying other endangered lives. In 2008, Unilever was criticised by Greenpeace UK because of these actions. In November 2009, Unilever announced to cancelled and stop buying palm oil from Indonesian company, PT Smart for environmental reason. In April 2010, Unilever had secured GreenPalm certificates. GreenPalm endorsed By RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), Organization formed by several stakeholders in the palm oil industry, to protect the environmental impact of palm oil and endorse sustainable agriculture. These certificates have function to cover the supplies of its European, Australian and New Zealand businesses. Unilevers Mercury Waste In 1983, Chesebrough Ponds Ltd, one of U.S. company bought an area near Kodaikanal. They relocated their thermometer-making factory that had been in Watertown, suburb of New York to this area. In 1987, Unilever bought Ponds and the thermometer-making factory in Kodaikanal and became the biggest facility in the world. Then, Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), the subsidiary of Unilever which operates and located in India, took charge of the factory. Early 2001, there were 7,4 tonnes of mercury-contaminated wastes around Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu found. Kodaikanal has beautiful lakes, perennially cool weather and rich forests which is why it became the most popular tourist destination in South India. After investigating the source of those mercury it was found to be from Hindustan Lever Limited factory. Mercury is a toxic metal that can harm humans liver and brain. Once mercury come into the environment, it will be changed during natural method into a structure that works its way quickly through the food chain where it can contemplate to hazardously high levels. Mercury is the basic material to create thermometers. In March 2001, four hundred people from Factory workers unions and local communities protested and complained about the unsafe waste disposal methods from Hindustan Lever Limited factory. They gave an ultimatum of either closing the factory or remove it from Kodaikanal areas. They also said since the mercury disposal happen in this area, it was destroying the Shola ecosystem of Western Ghats. After that incident, Unilever decided to postpone their thermometer production in Hindustan Lever Limited factory near Kodaikanal until they find a solution to the problem. However on June 21 2001, the Government of India ordered HLL to close the factory and ship the rest of the mercury waste to the U.S. Unilever Use Child Labour in India In India, Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) has employed for expected number of 25,000 children, mostly girls in cotton seed production. They worked usually between ten and thirteen hours per day and they only got 40 Eurocents per day. Sometime, they are exposed to toxic pesticides during their work. The reason company prefer employed child than the adult was to save money in waging the labour. Usually, a child only receives 55% less than a man and 30 % less than a woman. One of their labour was Narasamma, 12 years old. She was a migrant who worked in cotton seed field for the last three years. She worked more than 12 hours per day with only two breaks. During work, she was regularly sprayed by pesticides and got ill after. However, she only earned Rs. 800 a month. In early 2003, many countries in Europe such as Germany, Netherlands and Ireland started do the campaign to stop Child labour. This campaign started from Germany, then to Netherlands and the campaign finished in Ireland. The main message from those campaigns was that school is the best place for children, so stop child labour. In may 2003, Unilever announced that they would solve the child labour problem in India. Unilever told Hindustan Lever Limited to start rejecting the use of child labour. Conclusion Unilever is one of most influential companies in the world by providing products that help people in their daily life and also supporting global economic growth. They improve their strategy to create products time by time until they meet customer requirements. That is why most of their product trustable and convenient to be used. Some survey showed that every houses in the world at least has one of Unilever product. This is showed that Unilever is very influential in human social life. Perhaps giving value to the brand is the best action that Unilever had done. However, Unilever made some environmental and social issues in their history. Many had protested what Unilever had done in the moment. In fact, Unilever is one of the companies which have been responsible for their actions. Unilever reacted quickly by fixing the problem.

Michael Wigglesworths Wrathful Poetry Essay -- Michael Wigglesworth

Michael Wigglesworth's Wrathful Poetry Michael Wigglesworth was born in England in 1631. He came over to America with his family at the age of seven. He was raised in the town of New Haven, Connecticut until he went to Harvard at sixteen. He graduated in 1651 but remained a tutor for three years. He was called to the ministry and accepted a call to a church in Malden, Massachusetts, in 1655 and remained in that town the rest of his life. He had three wives and eight children. Wigglesworth was a small and extremely frail man. Due to his sickness, he went to Bermuda for seven months in 1663, and there he began to study medicine, which was his initial interest before the ministry. After this trip, he was a physician as well as a preacher. However, Wigglesworth was not known for his preaching. He was not very well liked in his hometown and turned to poetry due to his rejection in the pulpit. Samuel Sewall commenting on his death mentioned two things: the fact that he wrote "The Day of Doom" and that he was "very useful as a physician." The fact that Sewall did not comment about Wigglesworth being a preacher helps verifies that he was not well known for his preaching. Wigglesworth wrote a lot of poetry, but his piece "The Day of Doom" was by far his most famous work The poem sold 1800 copies in its first year of publication, and sold many copies after the first year as well. About one in every twenty people in New England bought a copy, and it was supposedly America's first bestseller. Children memorized verses of the poem along with their catechism, and others memorized it as well. This poem affected the people of his day and the new American culture. The poem was written in common hymn meter, which made it easy to memor... ...rtheless, it should be read and remembered for a few reasons. First, it captures the spirit of one of the main religious bodies at the beginning of this Country, Puritanism. The Puritans were one of the first peoples to come over to America and set up a colony, and for this we owe them our gratitude and remembrance. Also, the fact that this poem was probably America's first bestseller is reason enough to read it. It is important to know our heritage. So, let's celebrate America's religious and literary heritage by reading "The Day of Doom" by Michael Wigglesworth. Works Cited: Lawson, Stephen. "About Michael Wigglesworth and His Poetry." Ed. Milton Stem. New York: Viking, 1962. http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/wigglife.htm. "Michael Wigglesworth" The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 5th ed. Vol. 1. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 1998. 283-284.

Historic overview

The story of the Ritz-Carlton begins with Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz who was well known in the hotel industry as the â€Å"king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings. † Mr. Ritz redefined luxury accommodation in Europe with his management of The Ritz in Paris and The Carlton in London. Although he died in 1918, his wife Marie continued the tradition of opening hotels in his name. The Ritz-Carlton Investing Company was established by Albert Keller, who bought and franchised the name in the United States. The original Ritz-Carlton hotel was built in Boston, Massachusetts, and opened on May 19, 1927 with a room rate of $15 per night.It became known as the hotel to kings, queens, movie stars, and tycoons: Prince Charles, Irving Berlin, Bette Davis, and Howard Hughes were just a few of its notable guests. Additional locations soon opened in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlantic City and Boca Raton, but all these locations did not survive the Great Depression and by 1940 only The Ritz-Carlton Boston remained. The Wyner Years: 1927-1964 On October 1926, 29-year-old Edward N. Wyner bought a third-acre parcel at the corner of Arlington and Newbury streets and formed a partnership called The Ritz-Arlington Trust with his father, George, and business associate, John S.Slater. The trust sold $2. 1 million of bonds to finance the construction of a hotel to be called the Mayflower. The 18-story, 201-foot brick building, designed by Strickland, Blodget & Law Architects, was far taller than anything else along Newbury Street at the time. Construction had started on the second floor when Wyner was persuaded by then-Mayor James Michael Curly to make the Mayflower a world-class, 300-room Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which opened May 19, 1927. Room rates were $5 to $15 per night; $40 per night for suites. After a hugely successful opening, the stock market crash of 1929 and ensuing Depression brought financial difficulties.The Wyner family funded the hotel’s operating loss es during the early 1930s, although the interest on the bonds went unpaid. Still in 1933, when only 30 guests were registered in the hotel, Wyner turned on the lights in every guest room to give the appearance the hotel was full. Wyner died of a heart attack on Dec. 5, 1961. His six sons tried to continue operation of the hotel, but it was too difficult, and a decision was made to sell. The Blakeley Years: 1964-1983 The unpaid interest on the bonds dissuaded many from trying to buy the hotel.But Cabot, Cabot & Forbes principal Gerald F. Blakeley Jr. was interested. After more than a year of legal work, Hale and Dorr succeeded at clearing the bond obligations, and in October 1964 Blakeley and associates Paul Hellmuth and Charles Spaulding acquired the Ritz-Carlton Boston for $3. 8 million. â€Å"Out of the 20 years I owned it, it made money three years. The other years it broke even, but from a public relations standpoint for CC&F, it was a tremendous asset,† said Blakeley, wh o completed a 19-story Ritz-Carlton luxury condominium complex on land adjacent to the hotel in 1981.In the late 1960s Blakeley obtained the rights to the Ritz-Carlton name in North America (with the exception of Montreal and New York). In June 1978, Blakeley was awarded the rights and privileges of the Ritz-Carlton trademark in the United States and was given a US Service Mark Registration. In August 1983, Johnson Properties bought the Ritz Boston and US trademark for $75. 5 million and established the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. In 1988, Johnson subsequently obtained the exclusive rights to the Ritz name throughout the world (except for the 210-room Hotel-Ritz Paris and the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal).The Corporate Years: 1983-1999 Johnson grew the company from the One Ritz-Carlton Boston to 30 hotels worldwide in just 10 years. He obtained financing to do so from Manufacturers Hanover Trust of New York in 1983 in the amount of $85 million secured by the Ritz-Carlton Boston. This loan wa s refinanced in 1989 by Manhattan Tops USA of New York for $136. 5 million and again in 1994 by Sumitomo Bank of Japan. By 1996, this mortgage was in default and the interest and penalties brought the total debt to $214. 8 million.By splitting this mortgage note into three parts, Sumitomo Bank was able to unbundle the Ritz Boston from the trademark rights to the Ritz brand worldwide. Blackstone Real Estate Acquisitions of New York bought the Ritz-Carlton Boston at auction for $75 million in February 1998. A month later, Host Marriott Corp. of Bethesda, Maryland, acquired the hotel from Blackstone for $100 million. Marriott International Inc. , which franchises and manages Marriott’s 325,000 rooms, bought the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and rights to the Ritz-Carlton name worldwide from W. B. Johnson for $290 million in a two-part transaction completed in 1998.Millenium Purchase In 1998, Christopher Jeffries, founding partner of Millennium Partners, obtained Ritz franchises from Ma rriott for four hotel properties under construction: two in Washington, one in New York City, and one in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, Jeffries was searching for a brand affiliation for the new 155-room hotel and 270-luxury condominiums he was constructing as part of Boston’s 1. 8 million-square-foot Millennium Place, a mixed-use complex on lower Washington Street. Because of noncompetition clauses, the only way he could obtain a second Ritz flag in Boston was to own the existing Ritz.Millennium Partners acquired the original Ritz-Carlton Boston for $122 million (though it had sold for just $75 million less than two years prior) and spent $50 million for renovations. Marriott agreed to allow the Ritz affiliation for the condominium complex, which will be known as The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, and share all of the services of the hotel. In 1999, when Millennium Partners of New York, the new owners of the original Ritz-Carlton Boston, announced that the company was build ing a second Ritz-Carlton in Boston (the now-completed 193-room Ritz-Carlton, Boston Commons), there was much local disapproval.A member of the old guard summed up: â€Å"The movement of a name from one place to another doesn’t do it. There would never be that special atmosphere; a grace, decency, and ambiance that once existed. † Millennium Partners admitted they had no intentions of trying to duplicate the Ritz. Taj Purchase In October 2002, The Ritz-Carlton Boston celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a major restoration to bring the facility 21st century amenities while maintaining its 20th century decor. The Ritz-Carlton Boston has been in continuous operation since it opened in 1927.The property is a Boston landmark and anchors fashionable Newbury Street and the picturesque Boston Public Garden located in the heart of the Back Bay. In November 2006, The Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, subsidiary of the India-based Tata Group, entered into a definitive agreement to purchase The Ritz-Carlton Boston from its current owners, Millennium Partners. The $170 million transaction is scheduled to close on January 11, 2007. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces operates 75 hotels across the world.The Ritz-Carlton Boston will be renamed the Taj Boston upon closing the purchase. The existing Ritz-Carlton Boston Common is expected to be renamed Ritz-Carlton Boston. 2000 and beyond From 2001 to 2007 Boston was home to two Ritz-Carlton hotels that faced each other on Boston Common. The Ritz-Carlton Boston Common Hotel opened in 2001. In November 2006 The Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, India luxury hotel group entered into an agreement to purchase the original 1927 Ritz-Carlton Boston from its current owners, Millennium Partners, for $170 Million.The Ritz-Carlton name was not sold to Taj Hotels. The Ritz-Carlton Boston was renamed Taj Boston on Jan. 11, 2007. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC has announced its first hotel in India. The property is slated to open in Bangalore in 2007. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company In 1983, the original hotel and the brand were sold to The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L. L. C. , based in Atlanta, Georgia which began expansion of the brand to other locations. The company grew to become the hospitality leader in the US under the leadership of Horst Schulze.His strong conviction of customer loyalty and emphasis on a value/mission driven philosophy for the â€Å"Ladies and Gentleman serving Ladies and Gentleman† became a benchmark in the industry that other companies aspired yet never reached. In 1995, Marriott International purchased a 49% stake in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and in 1998 purchased an additional 50% stake in the company giving it 99% ownership of the company. The company is now headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, located in the Washington, D. C. MSA.The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company partnered with Bulgari in 2001 to operate a chain of hotels owned by and operated under the Bulgari bran d. Simon Cooper joined Ritz-Carlton in 2001 as President and Chief Operating Officer taking the helm from Horst Schulze. Cooper's mandate was to grow the chain through hotel expansion and product diversification. Under Cooper's watch the company has aggressively expanded its hotels and has added The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton (private residential units) as well as The Ritz-Carlton Club (fractional ownership residences) to the company's new development program.

Govt 2302 Essays

Govt 2302 Essays Govt 2302 Paper Govt 2302 Paper HAPTER 12 The Judiciary Chapter Focus The purpose of this chapter is to describe the policy-making role of the federal judiciary, in particular that of the Supreme Court. To appreciate the significance of this role, students need basic knowledge about the history of the Supreme Court, the structure and procedures of the federal courts, the nature of controversy over the courts, and the restraints on judicial policy making. After reading and reviewing the material in this chapter, you should be able to do each of the following: 1. Discuss the meaning and significance of judicial review and its relationship to Marbury v. Madison. 2. List and comment on the three eras of varying Supreme Court influences on national policy from the days of slavery to the present. 3. Describe the partisan influences on federal judicial appointments. 4. Describe how the nature of federalism affects the jurisdiction of federal and state courts. 5. Discuss the ways in which cases can get to the Supreme Court. 6. Describe the financial and non-financial obstacles of getting into federal court. 7. Explain how political scientists classify justices as liberal or conservative and why they do so. 8. Enumerate four measures of judicial power and describe how judicial power can be restrained by Congress and by public opinion. 9. Develop arguments for and against an activist Supreme Court. 10. Explain the relationship between public and the courts. Study Outline I. Introduction A. Courts in the United States play a major role in policy making 1. Due to judicial review: right to declare acts and laws unconstitutional 2. Since 1789, Supreme Court has ruled over 100 laws unconstitutional 3. In Great Britain, no judicial review in American sense, but parliamentary supremacy B. : Controversy is over method of judicial review 1. Strict constructionist (conservative philosophy today) 2. Activist approach (liberal philosophy today) II. The Development of the Federal Courts A. Introduction 1. Founders did not expect a major policy role for the federal courts 2. Traditional view: judges find and apply existing law 3. Evolution of courts shaped by political, economic, and ideological forces B. National supremacy and slavery (1789–1865) 1. Marbury v. Madison- established doctrine of judicial review (see the â€Å"Marbury v. Madison† box) 2. McCulloch v. Maryland: federal law declared supreme over state law 3. Dred Scott v. Sandford: blacks were not, and could not become, free 4. Interstate commerce clause is placed under the authority of federal law C. Government and the economy (1865–1937) 1. Dominant issue of the period: whether the economy could be regulated by state and federal governments 2. Private property held to be protected by the Fourteenth Amendment 3. Courts unsure of how to draw line between â€Å"reasonable† and â€Å"unreasonable† regulation 4. The Court interpreted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments narrowly as applied to blacks D. The protection of political liberty and economic regulation (1937–present) 1. Supreme Court gave regulatory powers to legislatures 2. Voided congressional acts that violate personal liberties 3. Court-packing plan shifts interpretation III. The Structure of the Federal Courts A. Only federal court mandated by Constitution is Supreme Court 1. Congress has created constitutional courts- district Courts (94), courts of appeals (12), plus other specialized courts (e. . , Court of International Trade) 2. Legislative courts- specialized purpose, fixed office terms for judges (e. g. , Court of Military Appeals and other territorial courts) B. Recent court nominations 1. Bush administration nominees 2. Filibustering by Senate democrats C. Supreme Court appointments are partisan 1. Nominated by president, confirmed by Senate (only five rejected during the twentieth century) 2. Presidents cann ot be sure how a judge will behave after appointment 3. Presidents can tilt Court ideologically D. Lower federal courts 1. Senatorial courtesy† checks presidential control in district court nominations 2. Comparison of Carter and Reagan appointments: number of women and blacks 3. Democratic and Republican judges differ in voting, but ideology usually does not influence decisions IV. The Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts (see the â€Å"Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts† box) A. Dual court system 1. Federal jurisdiction: Article III and the Eleventh Amendment- involve â€Å"federal question† cases, diversity of citizenship cases 2. Federal District Court handles federal criminal laws 3. Appeal from a federal regulatory agency goes to U. S. Court of Appeal 4. Only Supreme Court handles disputes between two state governments 5. Vast majority of all federal cases begin in district courts 6. Gideon case illustrates how lower court’s appeal can be influential B. Appeals to the Supreme Court 1. Certiorari- main route involving substantial federal questions 2. Courts of appeal usually last word V. Getting to Court A. Deterrents 1. The Court rejects 95 percent of applications for certiorari 2. High costs of appeal (pauper writs) B. Fee shifting . Each party must pay cost of lawsuit 2. Fee shifting allows plaintiff to collect costs from defendant 3. Flood of Section 1983 lawsuits C. Standing 1. Must be controversy between adversaries 2. Personal harm must be demonstrated 3. Being taxpayer not entitlement for suit 4. Sovereign immunity, but government can waive D. Class-action suits 1. Brought on behalf of all similarly situated- Brown v. Board of Education 2. Financia l incentives to bring suit; Congress not addressing issues; profitable for lawyers 3. Need to notify all members of the class since 1974 VI. The Supreme Court in Action A. Oral arguments by lawyers 1. Questions by justices 2. Role of solicitor general 3. Amicus curiae briefs influence as well as legal periodicals B. Conference procedures 1. Role of chief justice 2. Selection of opinion writer 3. Opinions- per curiam, unanimous, majority, concurring, or dissenting C. Voting behavior 1. Blocs on Court are predictable 2. Three blocs: liberal, conservative, and swing VII. The Power of the Courts A. The power to make policy 1. By interpretation 2. Importance of stare decisis, or precedent, but court will change mind 3. Court’s willingness to deal with â€Å"political questions† 4. Judicial â€Å"remedies†- may affect thousands or even millions of people B. Views of judicial activism 1. Courts are last resort and correct injustices 2. Courts lack expertise in particular 3. Court is not accountable to the people; judges not elected C. The causes of activism 1. U. S. has more lawyers, but a symptom not a cause 2. American adversary culture 3. Easier for people to get into court 4. Vague congressional language requires judicial interpretation 5. Reviewing regulatory agency decisions 6. Belief of many judges/law professors that courts should make policy VIII. Checks on Judicial Power A. Court decisions can be resisted, since courts cannot enforce B. Congress and the courts 1. Alter the composition of the judiciary 2. Confirmation and impeachment proceedings 3. Changing the number of judges 4. Revising legislation declared unconstitutional 5. Altering jurisdiction of the courts 6. Constitutional amendment C. Public opinion and the courts 1. Opinion can both restrain and energize the courts 2. Supreme Court most powerful when parties have been weak or divided 3. Opinion may object to decisions but not to court as institution 4. Opinion of courts vary with support of government as a whole Key Terms Match Match the following terms and descriptions. Set 1 |1. _____ Describes when a president has attempted to appoint his |a. activist | |type of judges to the Court in order to secure a majority. |b. amicus curiae brief | |2. _____ A means by which one who has an interest in a case, but |c. briefs | |is not a litigant, can present views. d. class-action suit | |3. _____ A means by which one who has been injured can bring |e. recess appointment | |action on behalf of all similarly situated. |f. constitutional courts | |4. _____ The power of the courts to determine the |g. courts of appeal | |constitutionality of legislative and executive acts. |h. dissenting opinion | |5. ____ Litigation in which a citizen of one state sues a |i. Dred Scott | |citizen of another state and the amount of money in dispute is |j. diversity case | |more than $50,000. |k . Federalist No. 78 | |6. _____ A court established under Article III of the |l. †packing the court† | |Constitution. |m. in forma pauperis | |7. _____ An approach to judicial review which holds that judges |n. udicial review | |should discover the general principles underlying the |o. American rule | |Constitution. |p. Marbury v. Madison | | |q. McCulloch v. Maryland | | | | | | | |8. ____ Correlates with the thoughts of the Founding Fathers | | |that the courts would play a relatively neutral-passive role in | | |public affairs. | | |9. _____ Intermediate appellate courts of the federal judiciary | | |which have been classified â€Å"constitutional courts† by Congress. | | |10. ____ Describes how in America each party to a lawsuit must | | |pay its own way. | | |11. _____ A petition filed with the U. S. Supreme Court by a | | |pauper. | | |12. _____ Considered one of the most disastrous judicial opinions| | |ever issued- declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. | | 13. _____ Legal documents submitted by lawyers which set forth | | |the facts of a case. | | |14. _____ A decision of the Supreme Court which interpreted the | | |Constitution to give the Supreme Court the power to declare an | | |act of Congress unconstitutional. | |15. _____ A decision of the Supreme Court which held that the | | |power of the federal government flows from the people and that | | |federal law is supreme over state law. | | |16. _____ A judicial appointment made by a president while the | | |Congress is not in session. | | |17. ____ This is an opinion of one or more justices of the | | |Supreme Court on the losing side. | | Set 2 |1. _____ Known as the school desegregation case. |a. Opinion of the Court | |2. _____ Set the precedent that all accused persons in state as |b. per curiam opinion | |well as federal criminal trials be supplied with a lawyer, free if |c. Gideon case | |necessary. d. remedy | |3. _____ A landmark case dealing with reverse discrimination. |e. senatorial courtesy | |4. _____ A tradition under which the Senate will defer to the |f. Brown v. Board of Education | |judgment of a senator of the president’s party when determining the|g. sovereign immunity | |suitability of candidates for federal judgeships from the senator’s|h. Bakke case | |state. i. stare decisis | |5. _____ An example of a legislative court where terms are fixed |j. strict constructionism | |and justices can be removed or have their salaries reduced. |k. voting blocs | |6. _____ The rule of precedent. |l. Court of Military Appeals | |7. _____ Groups of justices on the Supreme Court who tend to take | | |consistent positions on issues. | |8. _____ This is a judicial order setting forth what must be done | | |to correct a situation a judge believes to be wrong. | | |9. _____ An approach to judicial review which holds that judges | | |should confine themselves to applying those rules that are stated | | |in or clearly implied by the language of the Constitution. | |10. _____ The doctrine that a citizen cannot sue the government | | |without its consent. | | |11. _____ This is a brief, unsigned opinion of the Supreme Court. | | |12. _____ This is the written opinion of the Supreme Court’s | | |majority. | | Did You Think That . . . ? A number of misconceptions are listed below. You should be able to refute each statement in the space provided, referring to information or argumentation contained in this chapter. Sample answers appear at the end of the Study Guide. 1. â€Å"The Framers expected the Supreme Court to play the large role that it subsequently has played. †