Week 1 learning
activity
Learning Activity #1
A trial judge in Nevada is wondering whether to enforce a
surrogate motherhood contract.
Penelope Barr, of Reno, Nevada, has contracted with Reuben
and Tina Goldberg to bear the in vitro fertilized egg of Mrs. Goldberg. After
carrying the child for nine months, Penelope gives birth, but she is reluctant
to give up the child, even though she was paid $20,000 at the start of the
contract and will earn an additional $20,000 on handing over the baby to the
Goldbergs. (Barr was an especially good candidate for surrogate motherhood: she
had borne two perfect children and at age 28 drinks no wine, does not smoke or
use drugs of any kind, practices yoga, and maintains a largely vegetarian diet
with just enough meat to meet the needs of the fetus within.)
The Goldbergs have asked the judge for an order compelling
Penelope to give up the baby, who was five days old when the lawsuit was filed.
The baby is now a month old as the judge looks in vain for
guidance from any Nevada statute, federal statute, or any prior case in Nevada
that addressed the issue of surrogate motherhood. He does find several well-reasoned
cases, one from New Jersey, one from Michigan, and one from Oregon.
Are any of these “precedent” that he must follow? May he
adopt the reasoning of any of these courts, if he should find that reasoning
persuasive?
Note: I am not asking
you to “decide” the case. I
want you to discuss how the judge can decide the case and what can be relied
upon.
Learning Activity #2
Suppose that the state of New Jersey wishes to limit the
amount of hazardous waste that enters into its landfills. The general assembly in
New Jersey passes a law that specifically forbids any hazardous waste from
entering into the state. All landfills are subject to tight regulations that
will allow certain kinds of hazardous wastes originating in New Jersey to be
put in New Jersey landfills but that impose significant criminal fines on
landfill operators that accept out of-state hazardous waste.
The Baldessari Brothers Landfill in Linden, New Jersey, is
fined for taking hazardous waste from a New York State transporter and appeals
that ruling on the basis that New Jersey’s law is unconstitutional. What is the
result?
