This is a 8-hour take-home open-book examination, with length limits
on the answers. Certain special rules about citation apply if you rely
on, or make reference to, materials other than the casebook and class notes.
Please remember to use your blind grading number on the exam.
"Open book," defined. This exam is "open world": you may consult any reference source except other human beings. The exam has, however, been designed so that excellent answers can be crafted without reference to any source other than the casebook and class notes. Your instructor believes that reference to external sources is unnecessary, and bordering on unwise (if only as a waste of your limited time). The use of sources other than the casebook and class notes will probably require that you apply the special citation rule below. For obvious reasons, you are expected to refrain from discussing the contents of the exam with anyone from the time you pick up the exam until the end of the examination period. A memo discussing the exam answers will be available from my secretary in early June.
Citation rules. Citations to cases and materials in the book may be in any short form that is understandable, e.g. Overton Park. In citing materials other than cases, clarity is usually achieved by including a page reference as part of the citation.
While you are free to consult other materials, it is neither necessary nor recommended. If you do so, and if you rely on those materials for any material part of your answer, you are required to provide a full citation to the source, just as if you were writing an academic paper (no penalties for improper Blue Book style will be levied). This rule applies whether or not you are quoting from the source. Failure to give proper citations will, if detected, be considered a serious Honor Code violation.
Length Limits. Each question on this exam has a length limit. I will not read beyond the length limit. If you type (please type!), the following safe harbor rule will apply: each typed page with 1" margins on all four sides, which is printed in Courier 10cpi, Times Roman 12pt or Helvetica 12pt, with double-spaced text, will be presumed to have 250 words so long as there are no excessive textual footnotes. NOTE that the word limits are not the same for all questions.
Remember to use your blind grading number.
Some exam tips:
Read the questions carefully and think about your answer before beginning to write. Organization will count in your favor. Unless the question directs otherwise, don't forget to explain why you reject seemingly sensible options as well as why you select them.
Do NOT make up facts. If you would need additional facts to resolve an issue, state what facts you would need (and, if relevant, how you might get them), and how those facts would affect the result of your analysis.
Good luck, and thanks for a superb class.
Please start each answer on a new page. If you do not submit a typed
exam, please retain a copy of the handwritten version and
submit a typed copy as soon as you can.
The length limit for question one is 1250 words (5 standard pages).
The length limit for the other question is 750 words (3 standard pages).
The questions will be weighed equally in your grade, except that I will
give extra weight to truly exceptional answers (bad or good) to either
question.
The ABC Act created a five member Boxing Control Commission, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Act empowers the Commission to “regulate boxing in the interests of public safety, and the health and safety of boxers” and further directs the Commission to “protect the integrity of boxing” and to “increase public confidence in the sport”. The President quickly nominated a distinguished panel of Commissioners in 1996, Terri Anderson, Carlton Bradley (Chair), Donald Coker, Martin Doyle, and Jennifer Ely. All five were confirmed by the Senate early in December 1996.
The Commission has the power to make rules by informal rulemaking and/or by adjudication. In 1997 the Commission duly promulgated its first set of final rules after notice and comment. The 500 pages of rules detailed conditions for fight safety, crowd control, medical examination of boxers, financial disclosures for boxers and for their managers and trainers, and various anti-corruption rules. Among the rules are the following:
15.3 Three Commissioners shall constitute a quorum to do business. A majority vote of those present shall suffice for all decisions. The Chair of the Commission shall have the casting vote in case of ties.
26.1 A Commissioner, acting alone, may suspend any boxer for not more than 15 days upon good cause shown.
26.7 Any suspension issued by a single Commissioner will be reviewed de novo by the full Commission as soon as practicable.
26.9 The Commission may, by majority vote suspend a fighter for good cause for not more than two years.
26.18 Any person who engages in a professional boxing match for pay or a cash prize while subject to a suspension shall be subject to a fine of up to $250,000 per offense.
55.2 Any decision taken by a Commissioner acting alone may be appealed to the full Commission within 30 days of the decision.
55.3 The Chair or acting Chair may, upon application and good cause shown, stay the action of a single Commissioner, pending action by the full Commission.
Commissioners serve five year terms, and are removable only for “malfeasance, inefficiency, moral turpitude, or other cause”. Between June 1998 and June 1999, however, ABC Commissioners Anderson, Bradley and Coker resigned for various personal reasons. President Clinton nominated Michelle Fischel, Patti Gudgridge, and Frank Hill to replace them, but the Senate has yet to act on the nominations due to “holds” placed by various Senators seeking leverage with the White House on unrelated matters.
In late November 1999, boxer Fred Savage was preparing for the fight of his career. He would be challenging “Terrible” Tony Tornados, the holder of the meta-heavyweight title. The winner would receive a $3 million purse (the loser gets nothing). The match, scheduled for 9pm on Dec 15, 1999 in Las Vegas, was to be shown on pay-per-view TV around the world, and was being heavily hyped in all the major media.
On Dec 11, 1998, Commissioner Ely, now the Acting Chair, received an anonymous telephone call warning her that Fred Savage had taken a $100,000 bribe to throw the fight to Tornados in the seventh round. She immediately suspended Savage for 15 days and issued a press releasing saying that her action was necessary “to preserve the good name of boxing.” Savage was served with the notice of suspension on Dec. 12.
Sam Shady, Savage’s manager and trainer, called you immediately. He wants an outline of Savage’s legal rights and options and he wants it yesterday. He’s informed you that under the rules of the (private, Memphis, TN.-based) Intergalactic Boxing Association, which administers the meta-heavyweight title, failure to show up at a boxing match for any reason constitutes a default, leading to an un-appealable forfeit. Thus, if the suspension is not lifted by tomorrow night, Savage loses his chance at the title. Write a memo of not more than 1250 words (5 standard pages) outlining their options, the relevant legal issues, and giving Shady and Savage advice as to what to do.