State of Confusion Paper

Tanya Tucker owns a trucking company in the state of Denial. She is extremely frustrated because of the statute that is in place in the state of Confusion. The state of confusion enacted a statute requiring all trucks and towing trailers that use its highways to use a B-type truck hitch. This hitch is made by only one manufacturer located in the State of Confusion. Tanya’s truck drivers are facing issues when they drive through the state of Confusion because they do not have the required hitch. Tanya also does not want all of the additional expense in purchasing these hitches so her truckers can drive through the state of Confusion. The federal government has not made any attempt to regulate the truck hitches used on the nation’s highways so this is an interesting case as Tanya is prepared to file a civil lawsuit.
What court will have jurisdiction over Tanya’s suit and why?
According to the United States Constitution, this particular case would fall into a federal court type of system. Another interesting fact with this is that the state of Confusion is the only state that is trying to force this type of statute. If there were interstate type statutes like this one, the case could potentially fall in to the Supreme Court’s lap at some point too. As for now, this case will most likely be heard by the United States district Court along with the United States Appellate Court when the appeals are taking place.
Is the Confusion statute constitutional and what provisions of the United States Constitution will be applied? The statute in the state of Confusion is most likely unconstitutional due to the Dormant Commerce Clause which is a clause located in the Unites States Constitution. This clause means that Congress has been given power over interstate commerce, and states cannot discriminate against interstate commerce nor can they unduly burden interstate commerce, even in the absence of federal legislation regulating the activity (National Paralegal 2003 – 2007). Additionally, any state law which affects interstate commerce must be rationally related to a legitimate state concern and the burden on interstate commerce must be outweighed by the benefit to the state’s interest. In this case, a court must examine whether the state objective could be achieved by a means less restrictive on interstate commerce. It is also important to note that promoting the economic interest of the state of Confusion’s citizens at the expense of out-of-state business and/or citizens is not really a legitimate state objective. The state of Confusion has placed a burden on trucks and trailers which pass through the state for personal or business purposes. The Dormant Commerce Clause will be a good argument for the plaintiff (Tanya Tucker) in this case. States need to be “fair” when they are initiating and implementing new statutes. Requiring all trucks to have this one particular hitch that is made within this one state only seems a little bit too demanding. What is also interesting is that the state of Confusion will also continually benefit from the sale of this one particular hitch that is only made in their state.
Is Tanya likely to prevail on her law suit and why? According to past court decisions made in this type of case, Tanya most likely will win her lawsuit. The state of Confusion is placing an unfair burden on truckers with the current hitches they have or do not have. The state of confusion is permitting a monopoly to exist with the B-type hitch which affects interstate commerce for truckers passing through the state. If truckers have to purchase this particular hitch which is made in only the state of confusion, how are they going to get there to get the hitch? It looks as if they would be breaking the law to drive into the state in their trucks to go pick up the hitch. This does not make any sense. With Tanya’s law suit against the state of Confusion, she stands a great chance that the suit will be in her favor and the state of Confusion’s statute might also be overturned within the state because the statute really does interfere with many organizations’ ability to conduct interstate commerce and operate their business in smooth manner.
Set forth in detail the stages of a Civil Lawsuit There are several stages in a civil lawsuit. The first stage is the prefiling stage. During this stage, the items on the table to review are personal jurisdiction, subject matter jurisdiction, and venue (where the trial will be held). The second stage of a civil lawsuit is pleading. This is where a concise statement of the allegations that, if assumed to be true, shows a plausible entitlement to relief from the court. Service of process and preliminary motions are also included in the second state of a suit. Toward the end of this stage, the defendant must file an answer to the suit (generally within 30 days) and then there will be a request for a jury trial. The next stage in the process is the discovery state. This stage is run by the parties themselves on both the plaintiff and defendant’s side. Some people call this a “fence building” stage which determines what the opposing side is going to argue and ensuring that both parties have their evidence and “ducks in a row”. The next stage is a summary judgment. This stage requires a motion by one party asserts that there is no genuine dispute as to material facts and that the party making the motion is entitled to judgment as matter of law (this is all ruled on by a judge). The next stage is the trial. Jury members are selected, there are opening statements, calling witnesses, motions for judgment, closing arguments, and deliberation and verdict. After this is done, there are usually post-trial motions made which might be motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and/or a motion for a new trial. The next state is the appeal. A lot of plaintiffs and defendants appeal the decisions made in court so they can get another “shot” of what they are after. Appeals usually get escalated to higher courts where the decisions and outcomes of the case are more final. The last stage in the process is enforcing a judgment which can be a huge burden. The defendant’s ability to pay a judgment must always be considered before filing suit because if they have no assets, it can be very difficult to collect any money from them even if a judgment is entered against them. Overall, the court has a good civil system in place. The issue that courts face today is that they are so overcrowded with all kinds of civil cases so a lot of civil cases get drawn out for months or maybe even years before resolution can be found. If Tanya Tucker can hang in there through all of this and have her ducks in a row when presenting her side of the argument, she just may have a good case going for her and a positive outcome for her as well.

References Mack, Joe. (2005). The Stages of a Civil Lawsuit. The University of Maryland School of Law. Retrieved from http://www.macklawonline.com National Paralegal College. (2003 – 2007). The Dormant Commerce Clause. Retrieved from http://nationalparalegal.edu/conLawCrimProc.com