What is Law?
“……still need the same protection from the
conduct of others.”
From what type of behaviors do we still need to
be protected?
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Chapter 1
Laws and Their
Ethical Foundation
1-1
1-2
1-3
Laws and Legal Systems
Types of Laws
Ethical Bases for Laws
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1-1 Laws and Legal Systems
GOALS
 Explain the stages in the growth of law
 Describe the differences between common
law and positive law
 Identify the origin of the U.S. legal system
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WHAT IS LAW?
 Enforceable rules of conduct in a society
 Reflects the culture & circumstances that
create them
 Laws grouped in an organized form are
CODES
Hammurabi, King of Babylon
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Stages in the Growth of Law
 Individuals free to take revenge
 Wild West, little kids, Gangs
 Sovereign (Leader) acquires
power……convinces the wronged to accept
goods/money
 Sovereign gives this power to a system of
courts
 Leader (central authority) acts to
prevent/punish wrongs
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Stages in the Growth of Law
“The more insecure the
society
the more severe the
criminal punishment”
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Laws
Reflect the wisdom-or lack thereof-of
their creators
Laws should be both
predictable and flexible.
In what ways are the rules
at CLS predictable/flexible?
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Laws
What happens when a legal system is
too controlling/rigid?
What is the best system of laws?
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WHAT IS LAW?
Common Law
 Based on current
standards & customs
 Evolves slowly,
appropriate to current
standards of the people
Positive Law
 Set forth by sovereign or
other central authority to
PREVENT disputes in
the first place
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WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE U.S.
LEGAL SYSTEM?
 Louisiana, Anyone?
 ROMAN CIVIL LAW
 Comprehensive codes
 Only changed by central government
 Judges must enforce them, not change them
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WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE U.S.
LEGAL SYSTEM?
 The rest of the U.S. uses….Anyone?
 ENGLISH COMMON LAW
 In the beginning…….
 Feudal barons settled disputes….
 ……problems with this?
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WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE U.S.
LEGAL SYSTEM?
 ENGLISH COMMON LAW
 Then…….
 King’s (Queen’s) Bench Created
 Good Weather?
 Bad Weather?
King Henry II
 Jurisdiction – Power to decide a case
 Jury – to respect local customs/standards
-- used local citizens
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Tell Me About Gwen and William…..
Ruling?
Williams reaction?
Then what?
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English Common Law
 Advantages?
 Uniform, common laws, stability
 Precedents – use prior case law as guide to settle
current case
 Disadvantages?
 Rigid adherence
 Only remedy of damages – harm must be done
before action taken
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Courts of Equity
 Originally only available to who?
 Addresses a major problem w/
Courts of Law




Do not have to suffer damages
Injunction
Can also COMPEL specific actions
US courts have merged the two
Law for Business and Personal Use
© South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
Comparison of Courts
Court of Laws
 Provides monetary
damages when that will
repair wrong created by
defendant
Court of Equity
 Provides fairness &
justice when money will
not fix problem
 Family Law
 Probate
 Trusts
 Everything not covered in
C.O.E.
 Jury
 Specific performance
 No Jury
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of Cengage
Learning
Focus
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Equity
Equity = Fairness
Use precedent cases
for application of the
law fairly.
Fairness ≠ Same
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On which early legal system is the U.S.
legal system based?
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1-2 Types of Laws
GOALS
 Identify the four sources of law
 Discuss how conflicts between laws are
resolved
 Compare and contrast criminal and civil law,
and substantive and procedural law
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WHAT ARE THE SOURCES
OF LAW?




Constitutions
Statutes
Case law
Administrative law
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WHAT ARE THE LEVELS OF
GOVERNMENT?
 Federal
 State
 Local
All create laws, but who has supremacy?
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Minimum
Wage
For instance: federal minimum wage is $7.25.
Illinois state is $8.25.
Wisconsin state is $7.25
http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm#Illinois
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Constitutions
 Supreme Law of the Land
 Creates framework and relationship to the
people
 U.S. Constitution and state constitutions
apply concurrently
 Which is superior?
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Constitutional Law
 Highest source of law
 Adopted
 Amended
 Interpreted (courts)
 U.S. Supreme Court is final interpreter
 All laws must be in line with Federal
Constitution
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Allocation of Power…..
 Between people and their government
 Bill Of Rights (1st Ten Amendments)
 What does this protect you from?
 Between Federal and State Governments
 Example: Commerce
 Foreign & INTERstate = Federal
 INTRAstate = State
 Among Branches of Government
 System of Checks and Balances
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Statutes
Pending Legislation in Illinois
 Laws enacted by legislative branches of
state and federal (Congress)
 Inferior to the U.S. Constitution
 Elected officials represent the citizens
 Local governments create ordinances that
effect their communities
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Case Law NEW CASE LAW(S)
 Laws enacted by judicial branches
 Trial ended and appeals exhausted
 Stare Decisis – “Let it Stand”
 Important Because:




Don’t Start from scratch
Biases have less chance to interfere
Makes system more efficient
More stability
Who is not bound by Stare Decisis?
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Precedents
 Why Overturn?
 Reasoning No Longer Valid
 Publicity




School Prayer
Women in certain occupations
Segregation
Speed Limit Restrictions
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Administrative Law
 Created by Legislature, controlled by
Executive Branch
 Rules and regulations made by
appropriately empowered Administrative
Agencies
 Legislative Powers – create rules/regs
 Judicial Powers – hold hearings
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What are the four sources of law?
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What Happens When Laws Conflict?
Federal
State
Local
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What Happens When Laws Conflict?
 Constitutional Validity
 Unconstitutional means what?
 Is the U.S. Supreme Court the ultimate authority?
 Statute and Administrate Validity
 Constitutional?
 Does law exceed scope of power?
 Case Law and Validity
 Legislative body can nullify courts interpretation
by rewriting statute
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Which source of law in the United States is
the highest authority?
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WHAT ARE THE MAIN
TYPES OF LAWS?
 Civil and criminal laws
 Procedural and substantive laws
 Business law
 Uniform business laws
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CIVIL LAW
 Wrongs against
individuals
 Police do not take
action
 Seek remedy for
wrongs done
CIVIL LAW
 Wrongs against
society
 Gov’t investigates/
prosecutes
 Conviction results
in fines/
imprisonment/
execution
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Some actions are both civil & criminal
Bill takes a watch from a counter display in a
retail store and leaves the store without
paying for it. A security guard gives chase
and bumps into a pedestrian injuring her. Bill
jumps into a stranger’s car, pulls a knife and
orders her to help him escape. As they
attempt to leave she hits a pedestrian and
then a parked car. The guard catches up and
pulls Bill out. Bill slashes the guard’s arm
with his knife; takes off running…..
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PROCEDURAL
 How legal rights and
responsibilities must
be exercised in the
legal system
 What remedies are
allowed
SUBSTANTIVE
 Defines legal rights
and duties
 Defines crimes
 What is the
difference between
assault and battery?
 Criminal Procedures?
 Civil Procedures?
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Procedure Law
 Procedural law issues are argued by the
attorney before a judge rather than before
a jury. The judge will decide procedural
issues because they are questions of law.
 Evidence issues such as hearsay
 “Objection your honor”. “On what grounds?”
 Failure to follow proper procedure
can cause an otherwise winning
case to be lost.
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Substantive Law
Substantive law defines duties, establishes rights, and
prohibits wrongs. It is concerned with all rules of
conduct.
The law against taking another’s life is a part of
substantive law.
The law protecting you from discrimination in
housing, schooling and the like is part of substantive
law.
1. Murder
2. Theft
3. Breach of contract
4. Negligence
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Business Law
 Covers rules that apply to business
situations and transactions.
 Mostly Civil law
 Contracts (Breach)
 Commercial torts
 Cease & Desist Gator Mascot
 Criminal law for business activities
 Bernie Madoff
 Enron
 Martha Stewart
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The Uniform Commercial Code UCC
 A uniform law enacted in part by all fifty
states to create certainty in the area of
commercial contracts and to make the law
consistent with common business practice.
 Is this good? Why?
 Makes doing business easier
 Uniformity
Law for Business and Personal Use
© South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning
TYPES OF LAW
Constitutional law
Based on constitutions
Statutory law
Enacted by legislative bodies
Administrative law
Rule-makings by administrative agencies
Civil law
Addresses wrongs done to individuals
Criminal law
Addresses wrongs done to society
Procedural law
Deals with methods of enforcing legal rights
and duties
Substantive law
Defines legal rights and duties
Business law
Rules that apply to business transactions
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1-3 Ethical Bases for Laws
GOALS
 Define ethics
 Compare and contrast consequences-based
ethics with rule-based ethics
 Discuss ways in which ethics are reflected in
laws
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ETHICS is a decision……
.....Of right or wrong
 Affects you or others
…..Is reasoned
 Not emotion
 May use established authority as source
 The Law
 Religious texts
…..Is impartial
 Applies to everyone
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Consequences-based ethical
reasoning
 Rightness or wrongness is based only on
the results of the action. Particular acts
have no ethical, or moral, character.
 It was right to do that, because I didn’t get caught.
 I did it because I was financially rewarded.
 I did it for justice.
What is a major consideration in this
reasoning process?
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Rule-based ethical reasoning
 Acts are judged to be either right or wrong.
 Example anyone?
 What are the STANDARDS FOR JUDGING
based on?
1. A recognized authority
Frequently a religious source (ten commandments)
2. Human reasoning
Universalizing – what if everyone was doing this?
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Real World Business
 Enron Corporation employed approximately
22,000 people
 One of the world's leading electricity,
natural gas, pulp and paper, and
communications companies
 Claimed revenues of $111 billion in 2000.
 Offshore accounts were hiding losses for the
company which the Executives and insiders
at Enron knew about and the investors (stock
holders) knew nothing about.
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Real World Business
 In 2001 it was revealed that their accounting
firm, Arthur Anderson, was practicing
irregular accounting.
 Enron was on the verge of bankruptcy
 Enron shares dropped from over $90.00 to
less than 50¢
 Arthur Anderson, one of the world's top five
accounting firms was dissolved.
Video
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Ethics Reflected in Laws
 Both ethics based on consequences and
ethics based on rules conclude that we are
obligated to obey the law.
 Consequence based reasoning usually
results in more people being injured than are
benefited.
 Rule based reasoning, if we break the rule,
we are breaking our promise to obey the
rules, usually affects one person.
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Ethics Reflected in Laws
 MAJORITY RULE! (consequence-based)
 To be re-elected, representatives need to vote for
the majority opinion of their people
 PROTECT WELL-BEING OF MINORITIES
(rule-based)
 Individual rights preserved by the Bill of Rights
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What are SCOFFLAWS?
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Tell me about
Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
VIDEO
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Civil Disobedience
 When is Civil disobedience ethical ?
• A written law is in conflict with ethical reasoning
• No effective political methods are available to
change the law
• The civil disobedience is nonviolent
• The civil disobedience does not advance a
person’s immediate self-interest
• The civil disobedience is public and one
willingly accepts the punishment for violating
the law
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PREVENT LEGAL DIFFICULTIES
As a citizen . . .
 When moving to a new location, find out how the
laws in that county or city may affect you.
 Before beginning a new business, consult an
attorney to learn about city, county, state, and
federal laws and how they may affect you.
 Study business law so you can become an informed
citizen who is knowledgeable about legal matters.
Continued on the next slide
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PREVENT LEGAL DIFFICULTIES
 Recognize that fulfilling your duties as a citizen is
the greatest guarantee of your maintaining your
individual rights and liberties. These duties include:







The duty to obey the law.
The duty to respect the rights of others.
The duty to inform yourself on political issues.
The duty to vote in elections.
The duty to serve on juries if called.
The duty to serve and defend your country.
The duty to assist agencies of law enforcement.
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Slide 55
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE U.S.
LEGAL SYSTEM?
 English common law




King’s Bench
Jury
An example
Advantages of English common law
 Equity: An alternative to common law
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Slide 56
Compare and contrast criminal and civil law
and substantive and procedural law.
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In the U.S. system of democracy, how
are ethics reflected in laws?
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How does common law differ from
positive law?
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Slide 59