Question

A television producer/director receives the following script designed to celebrate National Donut Day. As she reads it, it brings to her mind some principles of jurisprudence she learned in her college business law class.

Help her out: Which legal school of thought is illustrated in this dialogue?



DONUT DAY AT THE OFFICE

Part 1

(The scene is a lunchroom or break room. There are at least three round tables visible and perhaps a vending machine, microwave, or refrigerator in the background. Of the three tables, no one is sitting at the center table as the scene opens.)

Karen: (She walks in carrying two big boxes of donuts and places them on the center table.) Allied Chemical just dropped these off to thank us for our work on the "Expressly Hair" project. Have fun. (She is unenthusiast. She shows absolutely no interest in the donuts and quickly leaves. Everyone else, except Alison, immediately stands. Alison is still showing an interest in the goodies but not moving toward them. Joyce immediately positions herself between the donuts and Bob.)

Bob: It's a donut festival!

Joyce: (She moves to block and slow him, as if checking him in basketball.) Just wait a second! We have to first establish the rules.

Bob: Rules, in a donut festival?

Joyce: Yes rules. Last time donuts like these were brought in, Winfred got a broken nose and, once again, Alison didn't get any. We aren't animals. If we don't slow down, someone is going to accidentally eat the cardboard again.

Bob: Oh, no. Here we go. Where's the PowerPoint?

Joyce: There are guidelines in the employee handbook that have been developed over many years that detail out exactly what is to be done with these kind of employee gifts. (She opens a thick binder.) Nearly any scenario you can imagine has been detailed out in section 34 (b), including pastries from chemical companies. Practices and procedures have been set and we would be smart to follow them.

Answer 1

The script from National Donut Day is indicative of the Legal Positivism school of thought, where law is seen as established rules and guidelines, as shown by the character's reference to an employee handbook for procedures.

Step-by-step explanation:

The dialogue from the script about National Donut Day invokes principles of jurisprudence that resemble the Legal Positivism school of thought. This school emphasizes that law is a set of rules and guidelines created by society, as the character Joyce refers to an employee handbook with established procedures for the distribution of gifts which must be followed, indicating the existence of established norms and authority within their organization.

It aligns with the example of Lochner v. New York, where the Supreme Court struck down a law based on liberty of contract, as well as Nader's research about how legal processes are applied in American corporations, focusing on rules and procedures.