Morality and the Nature of Law

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Einar Himma
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Thought Experiment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Legal Validity ◽  
Law And Morality ◽  
Conceptual Relationships ◽  
Conceptual Relationship ◽  
Conceptual Possibility

This book is concerned with explicating the conceptual relationships between law and morality. In particular, it explores the conceptual relationship between morality and the criteria that determine what counts as law in a given society (i.e. the criteria of legal validity). Is it a necessary condition for the existence of a legal system that it includes moral criteria of legal validity? Is it even possible for a legal system to have moral criteria of legal validity? The book considers the views of natural law theorists ranging from Blackstone to Dworkin and rejects them, arguing that it is not conceptually necessary that the criteria of legal validity include moral norms. Further, it rejects the exclusive positivist view, arguing instead that it is conceptually possible for the criteria of validity to include moral norms. In the process of considering such questions, this book considers Joseph Raz’s views concerning the nature of authority and Scott Shapiro’s views about the guidance function of law, which have been thought to repudiate the conceptual possibility of moral criteria of legal validity. The book, then, articulates a thought experiment that shows that it is possible for a legal system to have such criteria and concludes with a chapter that argues that any legal system, like that of the United States, which affords final authority over the content of the law to judges who are fallible with respect to the requirements of morality is a legal system with purely source-based criteria of validity.

The Conceptual Possibility of Moral Criteria of Legal Validity

2019 ◽  
pp. 197-224
Author(s):  
Kenneth Einar Himma
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Possible World ◽  
Legal Validity ◽  
Normative System ◽  
Positive Argument ◽  
Conceptual Possibility

This chapter gives a positive argument for the claim that the criteria of validity can incorporate moral constraints on the content of law. It thus concludes the defense of the Incorporation Thesis undertaken in the last two chapters. The argument in question constructs a model of an institutional normative system that validates all and only mandatory moral norms in a possible world. The chapter argues that we must do two things to show the conceptual possibility of a legal system with moral criteria of validity. First, we must produce a model of an institutional normative system in a world resembling this one that can plausibly be interpreted as having moral criteria of validity that clearly satisfies every condition plausibly thought to be necessary for the existence of law. Second, to ensure that the model establishes the Incorporation Thesis, it should be incompatible with an exclusivist interpretation.

Relationships Between Law and Morality

2019 ◽  
pp. 5-28
Author(s):  
Kenneth Einar Himma
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Conceptual Truth ◽  
Legal Validity ◽  
Law And Morality

This chapter distinguishes three types of inquiry about law. It articulates the two conceptual views about morality and the nature of law that comprise the focus of this volume. First, the chapter explains positivist and anti-positivist views with respect to whether it is a conceptual truth that the criteria of legal validity include moral constraints on the content of law. It then turns to the dispute between inclusive and exclusive positivists with respect to whether it is conceptually possible for a legal system to have content-based moral criteria of validity. Finally, this chapter argues that the claim that conceptual jurisprudence should not be done is either unclear or false.

Questions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Gibson ◽  
Michael J. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
The U.S

We have investigated the differences in support for the U.S. Supreme Court among black, Hispanic, and white Americans, catalogued the variation in African Americans’ group attachments and experiences with legal authorities, and examined how those latter two factors shape individuals’ support for the U.S. Supreme Court, that Court’s decisions, and for their local legal system. We take this opportunity to weave our findings together, taking stock of what we have learned from our analyses and what seem like fruitful paths for future research. In the process, we revisit Positivity Theory. We present a modified version of the theory that we hope will guide future inquiry on public support for courts, both in the United States and abroad.

‘Not bullet proof’: The complex choice not to seek a civil protection order for intimate partner violence

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195
Author(s):  
Jill Theresa Messing ◽  
Meredith E Bagwell-Gray ◽  
Allison Ward-Lasher ◽  
Alesha Durfee
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
System Resource ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Protection Order

Protection orders (POs) are one legal system resource available to survivors of intimate partner violence. Many survivors choose not to obtain a PO, yet prior research has not examined the perspectives of these survivors. This study examined the open-ended survey responses ( n = 308) regarding the choice not to obtain a PO by survivors residing in emergency shelters in the United States. Content analysis indicated that many survivors made deliberate decisions to not seek safety through this venue. Survivors indicated that a PO may increase their partner’s violence, identified substantial barriers, evaluated a PO as unnecessary, preferred alternative strategies, were dealing with complex partner dynamics, and chose to protect their loved ones by not seeking a PO. Women with marginalized identities, in particular, indicated that there are multiple costs to seeking interventions within the legal system. Structural changes are needed within the legal system to facilitate access to justice for survivors.

Researching U.S. Federal Law: a Primer

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-175
Author(s):  
Marcia Singal Zubrow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Information Search ◽  
The United States ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Basic Information ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Search Techniques

AbstractThis article is designed for law librarians based outside the United States. The paper, written by Marcia Zubrow, provides basic information about the United States legal system and its sources. This background foundation to the article is important in understanding how to effectively use the two major U.S. databases, Lexis and Westlaw. The author describes the contents of the two databases within the context of the background information. Search techniques, including advance searching strategies, are described.

scholarly journals Immunizing the Flock: How the Pandemic Court Rewrote Religious Freedom

Laws ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Paul Baumgardner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
The Past ◽  
The U.S

When coronavirus began to descend upon the United States, religious freedom advocates across the country sounded the alarm that citizens’ religious practices and institutions were under threat. Although some of the most extreme arguments championed by these advocates were not validated by our legal system, many were. This article explores the underappreciated gains made by religious freedom advocates before the U.S. Supreme Court over the past year. As a result of the “Pandemic Court”, religious freedom in the United States has been rewritten. This promises to radically change the educational, employment, and health prospects of millions of Americans for the rest of the pandemic and long afterwards.

The use and impact of metadata in civil cases

First Monday ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Russo ◽  
Abebe Rorissa
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Legal System ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Government ◽  
New Era ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
States Government ◽  
Civil Cases

This article is one of the first to explore and delve into the legal system, with a focus on the burgeoning use of metadata in civil cases. Although metadata is embedded in all kinds of digital files including text, audio, and image files, as well as many social media and game applications, few understand how both the visible and embedded information is being “mined” (collected) for a myriad of uses by organizations, such as, Google or even the United States government. Consequently, in this paper, we explore the implications of metadata use in civil cases and how it could bring a new era of evidence in litigation, which has huge ramifications for how the average citizen may begin to view their privacy in the course of everyday activities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document