How are ethics reflected in laws?
Because the U.S. legal system is grounded on majority rule, the laws are judged to be right or good when they affect the majority of the people positively. Laws are judged to be wrong when they affect the majority negatively.
The government, which is empowered by the U. S. Constitution, seeks to ensure that the federal lawmaking system provides the greatest good for the greatest number of people. However the Constitution also seeks to protect minorities that might be taken advantage of by the wrong actions of the majority.
This is effected by the rights established in the first ten amendments to the Constitution. This protection of basic human rights established in the Bill of Rights and other civil rights laws reflects the ethical bases of rules.
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Business Law
- Think about consequences-based ethics and rule-based ethical reasoning. Write a brief paragraph describing a scenario in which breaking the rules has an ethical outcome.
- How are ethical decisions reasoned out?
- How does the majority rule principle demonstrate consequences-based reasoning in our laws?
- Why do the two forms of ethical reasoning, consequences-based and rule-based, usually result in the same decision, and what is the probable cause when they do not?
- Describe the differences between criminal and civil law, substantive and procedural law, and business law and other forms of law.
- How are conflicts between constitutional, statutory, case, and administrative laws resolved?
- How are constitutional, statutory, case, and administrative laws created?
- How can a single act violate more than one kind of law, such as both civil law and criminal law? Give an example.
- What determines whether a particular law, statute, ordinance, or regulation is valid?
- How is power allocated between federal, state, and local governments?
- Identify the origin of the U.S. legal system.
- Describe the differences between common law and positive law.
- Explain the stages in the growth of law.
- What powers do the courts have when personal or private property is damaged or destroyed?
- Why do societies need laws and courts?