Purdue LS100 2019 February Unit 6 Discussion Latest

LS100 Introduction to the Law and Legal Profession

Unit 6 Discussion

Discussion Boards are an important component of your coursework and will solidify your learning of the topics in each unit. Please refer to the Discussion Board Rubric in Course Documents for grading information.

When posting on the Discussion Board,

Communications must be professional and civil at all times. All posts must be done in an environment that is collaborative.

The goal of Discussion is a free exchange of ideas and viewpoints with the freedom to disagree with one another in a respectful and thoughtful way.

Reread messages and posts before sending them to ensure that your contributions are positive and diplomatic in tone and content.

Criminal Law

Consider how criminal law is a reflection of the ethical values of a given society at a given point in history – for example, in 1892, Homer Plessy, an African-American, was arrested and charged with violating the Separate Car Act, a state law in Louisiana that prohibited African-Americans from riding on the “White” cars. Plessy’s case made it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), the Court actually upheld this state law as a constitutional “separate but equal” law. The “separate but equal” doctrine served as an unfortunate stamp of approval to discrimination and led to separate but equal public schools, pools, parks, and more. Finally, in 1954, almost sixty years later, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its decision in Plessy, making it clear that “separate but equal” doctrine was no longer the law of the land. See Brown v. Bd. of Educ.,347 U.S. 483 (1954).

Another example of how the law has evolved is that up until 1967, it was considered a crime in Virginia and in fifteen other states for an interracial couple to marry. In the landmark case of Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), the U.S. Supreme Court finally struck down as unconstitutional such state laws banning interracial marriage.

Describe the relationship between what a society believes is important and worth protecting and how this is reflected in criminal law. In addition, discuss why it is important for criminal law to adapt and change as society evolves.