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.