Deck 2: Ethics and Law

Question 1

Moral rules and legal rules rarely overlap.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Student's may encounter ethical issues in their academic lives.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

If one believes in natural law, one believes

A) that nature is our guide to right and wrong.
B) that science is our guide to right and wrong.
C) that there are intuitive notions of right and wrong.
D) None of the above is correct.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Metaethical scholars

A) focus on practical questions.
B) are less concerned with developing comprehensive theories.
C) tend to avoid abstract issues.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 5

Ethicists study

A) moral responsibility.
C) correct reasoning.
B) knowledge.
D) none of the above.

Question 6

If you believe that you should just "know" what is right and wrong, you are

A) a natural law philosopher.
C) a utilitarian.
B) an egoist.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 7

Recently, legislatures and courts have used law to influence businesses to consider the societal consequences of their actions.

Question 8

Modern ethicists are primarily focused on solving abstract, theoretical problems.

Question 9

Normative ethicists focus on fundamental characteristics of moral conduct.

Question 10

When judicial integrity is at issue, the U.S.Constitution has no provision for righting a procedural wrong.

Question 11

Martin Luther King Jr.believed that people did not have to obey laws enacted by governments if these laws were in conflict with "moral law."

Question 12

Utilitarians believe that decisions about whether laws are good or bad should be determined without taking into consideration the consequences to other people.

Question 13

There is a clear line dividing individual privacy rights and state police power.

Question 14

The U.S.Supreme Court has a history of discussing ethical principles when interpreting the Due Process Clause.

Question 15

If individuals defy the law for just reasons, they are still subject to prosecution.

Question 16

Natural law and positivist philosophers disagree about whether unjust laws should be disobeyed.

Question 17

Paralegals follow the same ethical rules as attorneys.

Question 18

In American society, law is expected to play the primary role in promoting ethical behavior.

Question 19

Martin Luther King Jr.revealed himself as a positivist in his letter from Birmingham Jail.

Question 20

What was the significance of the Gregg v.Georgia decision?

A) That capital punishment was not inherently cruel and unusual punishment
B) That an ethical review is necessary for all statutes related to criminal law
C) That the Court could not, in deciding the case, address issues of ethics
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 21

When can one determine whether an action is "good or bad"?

A) Philosophers disagree that this can be conclusively proven.
B) By looking at the future implications of an action
C) By looking backwards to identify relative costs and benefits
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 22

In Lawrence v.Texas, the court determined that

A) people are entitled to their privacy, so private conduct cannot be a crime.
B) people are subject to the norms of common morality, so private conduct can be criminalized.
C) where public morality is different from the law, the voters should decide which standard should be followed.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 23

A Good Samaritan law

A) makes it a crime for a bystander to fail to come to the aid of another in serious peril if to do so would not put the bystander in harm's way.
B) rewards persons who render assistance to strangers.
C) protects persons who refuse to assist another individual who is in peril.
D) limits the duty that strangers owe to victims of violent crimes.

Question 24

Traditionally, persons have not been required to intervene to come to the aid of another unless

A) a statutory duty exists.
C) a common law duty exists.
B) a contractual duty exists.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 25

Federal and state judges

A) always consider moral views when determining their decisions.
B) sometimes consider moral views when determining their decisions.
C) are prohibited from considering moral views when determining their decisions.
D) rarely consider moral views when determining their decisions.

Question 26

The U.S.Constitution reflects which philosophical view?

A) The utilitarian view
B) The view of a natural law philosopher
C) The analytical positivist view
D) The view of an egoist

Question 27

Right and wrong can be scientifically proven.

A) Philosophers generally agree this is true.
B) Philosophers disagree whether this is true.
C) This is not a question that philosophers generally consider.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 28

What reasons did the Florida District Court of Appeal give for its conclusion that the common law crime of misprision of a felony should not be judicially made part of Florida substantive criminal law?

A) Misprision was created prior to the existence of professional police officers.
B) American prosecutors had largely rejected misprision because it was not suited to contemporary society.
C) Floridians don't want people to be criminally prosecuted for choosing to "mind their own business."
D) All of the above are true.

Question 29

Immanuel Kant was a(n)

A) natural law philosopher.
C) utilitarian.
B) teleologist.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 30

An analytical positivist believes which of the following?

A) Laws are neither good nor bad.
B) Laws establish norms of behavior.
C) Laws create the baseline for behavior, not the highest goals.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 31

What sorts of organizations create ethical codes?

A) Business organizations
B) Bar and Paralegal associations
C) Sporting teams
D) All of the above is true.

Question 32

Which body generally enacts standards of professional conduct for attorneys?

A) Bar Associations
B) State legislatures
C) The U.S.Supreme Court
D) State supreme courts

Question 33

What gives states the right to enact laws protecting, among other things, morals?

A) The U.S.Constitution
C) Police Power
B) The Magna Carta
D) The Commerce Clause

Question 34

What type of attorney conduct is generally covered by rules of professional ethics?

A) Competency
C) Conflict of interest
B) Confidentiality
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 35

Zoe blatantly cheated on her test.However, everyone else in the class was cheating as well and the teacher did not seem to care.Zoe cheated to bring the problem to the teacher's attention.Which of the following would a Utilitarian believe about this situation?

A) Zoe should be evaluated based on his reason for cheating and should possibly avoid punishment.
B) Zoe should be expelled to set an example to other students.
C) Zoe should not be punished because she has the right to act in her own self-interest.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 36

Which of the following would evaluate a law that permitted the imposition of capital punishment based upon the concept of a universally accepted moral duty?

A) Teleological philosophers
C) Deontologists
B) Utilitarian philosophers
D) Egoists

Question 37

Why are punishments for crimes like murder, rape, and robbery more stringent than for white collar crimes like forgery?

A) Because murder, rape, and robbery impact more people.
B) Because murder, rape, and robbery violate both legal and moral principles.
C) Because white collar crimes happen in business with more privileged people.
D) Because white collar crimes are harder to detect.

Question 38

Why are judges generally willing to recuse themselves when there is even a perception of bias or conflict of interest?

A) Because all judges are strongly ethical people
B) Because they must depend on the other branches of government to enforce their decisions
C) Because they will automatically lose their position as judge if they don't
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 39

Martin Luther King's Birmingham Jail letter articulated which philosophical school of thought?

A) Logical
C) Natural law
B) Metaphysics
D) Epistemology

Question 40

Compare the arguments of Justices Stewart, Powell, and Stevens with those of Justices Brennan and Marshall in the case of Gregg v.Georgia.Which of the three opinions seemed most convincing to you and why?

Question 41

Do law and ethics overlap? If so, how? If not, why not? Explain your response fully.

Question 42

There are many morally controversial issues in the law today, including same sex marriage, abortion, legalization of marijuana, and capital punishment.Select one of these and explain how it might be treated differently by a positivist and a natural law adherent.