Affects of U.S. Legal System

The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution contains clauses that affect businesses, these clauses are: The Equal Protection Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the Immunities Clause. Each of these clauses has some affect on businesses, however, the clause I am going to explain some about it the Equal Protection Clause.

The Equal Protection Clause states that a State cannot “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Even though the wording implies that this is only on the state and local levels, the Supreme Court has said it also applies to the Federal level. In simpler terms this clause protects people and corporation from being discriminated against.

The Equal Protection Clause allows corporations to expand into states other than the state where they were originally formed. If the Equal Protection Clause did not exist state and local governments could prevent businesses from opening an office or store in their state or cities. If a business cannot expand into other cities and states this would limit what is available for purchase to consumers in those cities and states. It would hamper interstate commerce also. I believe it would also hurt the states or cities that would not allow the corporation to open in their area, due to the fact that they would not have to benefits to their economy that the business would provide. Cheeseman, H.R. (2010). Business law: Legal environment, online commerce, business ethics, and international issues (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice