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America's legal system harbors serious, widespread injustices. Many defendants are sent to prison for nonviolent offenses, including many victimless crimes. Convicts often serve draconian sentences in crowded prisons rife with abuse. Almost all defendants are convicted without trial because prosecutors threaten defendants with drastically higher sentences if they request a trial. Most Americans are terrified of encountering any kind of legal trouble, knowing that both civil and criminal courts are extremely slow, unreliable, and expensive to use. This book explores the largest injustices in the legal system and what can be done about them. Besides proposing institutional reforms, the author argues that prosecutors, judges, lawyers, and jury members ought to place justice before the law - for example, by refusing to enforce unjust laws or impose unjust sentences. Issues addressed include:
· The philosophical basis for judgments about rights and justice
· The problems of overcriminalization and mass incarceration
· Abuse of power by police and prosecutors
· The injustice of plea bargaining
· The appropriateness of jury nullification
· The authority of the law, or the lack thereof
Justice Before the Law is essential reading for everyone interested in legal ethics, the rule of law, and criminal justice. It is also ideal for students of legal philosophy.
List of contents
Part I: Foundations for a Defense of Justice.- Chapter 1. Introduction. - Chapter 2. Law and Morality.- Part II: Legal Injustices.- Chapter 3. Unjust Laws.- Chapter 4. The Price of Justice.- Chapter 5. Conviction by Blackmail.- Chapter 6. Unjust Punishments.- Chapter 7. Abuse of Power.- Part III: In Defense of Justice.- Chapter 8. The Primacy of Justice.- Chapter 9. The Authority of Law.- Chapter 10. Role Playing.- Chapter 11 The Rule of Law.
About the author
Michael Huemer is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, USA. He is the author of more than seventy articles in ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, and metaphysics, as well as six bestselling philosophy books, including
Ethical Intuitionism (2005),
The Problem of Political Authority (2012) and
Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism (2019).
