CRJ 600 Law, Ethics and the American Justice System
This course assesses the interplay of law, morality, ethical reasoning and Western Legal tradition. The course exposes the tradition and foundations of the American legal system with special emphasis on its jurisprudential foundations. Questions of right, justice, equity, law as moral command and order, natural law reasoning and the dignity of the human person are central to the instruction. The course delivers a critical look at how our legal and justice institutions have come about and provides a method for dealing with, and delving into, perennial legal and moral problems that plague cultures. Overview of the major legal theories about the nature of law and its place in the political system. Among the issues considered is the origin of law, its relationship with divine law, obligations of obedience and disobedience, and the relationship between political sovereignty and law.