POSC 130g 1st Edition Lecture 2 Current Lecture Relationship between Law and Justice Implications of the Dudley Stephens case The punishment was for murder there was no law against cannibalism England United States prosecution had to be for murder What if Parker had died and then they ate him would it be the same idea more difficult to proceed Why didn t the men just wait until Parker died They were thirsty and hungry It wasn t obvious at the beginning that they would be prosecuted Stephens or Dudley but once there was a decision made the case took on a momentum of its own and no way to remove the case from the legal system Public opinion shifted when the high court ruled against the two men legal system has some sort of authority and legitimacy on a particular outcome Value of life implicit in the court s reasoning murder is murder value of life is supreme court was worried about granting an exception couldn t condone the taking of life when lost at sea Would the lottery affect the analysis of fairness Would it lead to a just outcome Is it people s consent Are there no limits to what people could consent to How much should free will be recognized An argument for this was the men were beyond the reach of the law the jurisdiction of the court when people are in the extreme circumstances the ordinary standards of responsibility should not apply Should the law reflect public conception of justice or whether lawyers had the right to insist to aspire to standards that are difficult to keep or should legal systems have standards that people cannot look up to Case in Germany where a man named Armin Meiwes posted in a chat room that he wanted to meet someone to eat them Videotaped the 41 year old victim agreeing to die and be eaten Prosecuted for manslaughter The man agreed to be eaten and killed therefore the defense argued that the man gave him consent Should society establish rules that the legal system protects them Should people be allowed to make whatever arrangements they want on the internet Mercy Killings He was 88 and his wife was 86 He thought she was suffering and had certain challenges such as she couldn t eat or walk The family claimed it was a mercy killing Should someone be prosecuted for premeditated murder Should the legal system take into consideration the circumstances and the suffering of the victim Legal systems often times have to look at particular circumstances and tailor the consequences to the circumstances These husbands that are trying to protect their wives tough cases If one goes by the law of the books it would be murder Yet juries may give less punishment if looking at the circumstances What is the reasoning of punishment Retribution someone deserves to be punished as much as he she deserves Deterrence punish so they won t do it again putting them out of society so society cannot be harmed General Deterrence deter others from doing the same Rehabilitation make the person able to regain society Some believe that deterrence and rehabilitation are derived from retribution Can only deter crimes in a just society if we punish the people that deserve punishment if the only person was deterrence then it wouldn t matter who was punished A person in order to be rehabilitated he she must accept that he she must be punished Civil Law case parties suing each other court would order money to be paid and could order an injunction a order not to do something usually when people enter into contracts courts are not supposed to interfere with the negotiations If there is no fraud or coercion courts are not supposed to intervene One exception Doctrine of Unconsciousability Court challenge contracts Case of Walker Thomas v Williams When to the United States courts of Appeal from the District of Colombia Decision made by Judge Shelly Right Where the element of Unconsciousability was present at the time the contract was made the contract should not be enforced It includes the absence of meaningful choice on the part of one of the parties together with terms that are unreasonably unavailable to one of the parties Can only say there was unreasonable choice when examining everything A meaningful choice may be negated by a gross inequality bargaining power Summary Furniture company to recover on certain contracts Williams had bought a number of items and was paying on installments When she made a payment the amount was divided up amongst all the items she purchased The furniture company Walker Thomas continued to own everything until all the payments were made If the payments were failed to be made the company could repossess an item There was a balance kept on everything until all the accounts were paid off Williams bought a 300 stereo and failed to pay for it Williams said some of the contracts were Unconsciousability and therefore should not be enforced The company was aware of this and that she had seven children and a small salary The court did not condemn the company s conduct but the judge decided not to enforce the contract There was no prior case to enforce the judge s decision The judge did not enforce the contract There was an inequality between the furniture company and the women Were the important parts written in a small print and hard to see Does it take in the education level of the women Was this an unreasonable contract with little knowledge of the terms Was the lady ever given all the terms The terms of the agreement should be abandoned and the court should consider the terms of the contract should be withheld The judge evokes the contract of Unconsciousability The judge sees deceptive sales practices Terms Did she have any way of knowing by doing comparative shopping Were they justified Does the government have any role in protecting mistakes of the people Should judges at a last resort be able to evoke the contract The rules are the way they are but when should the courts interfere Basic Definitions of Law In the American legal system there are four major sources of law The US Constitution and State Constitution Statutes Laws that Congress enacts in various statements Administrative Agency part of the Executive Branch i e Environmental Protection Agency establish laws through decree and regulations Judiciary produces law through the interpretation of laws statues and administrations Customary law or Common law courts identifying legal principles may or may not be written down derived from Customary law City level law ordinance International level law treaty