Law Commons^™

Doing Justice: A Challenge For Catholic Law Schools Essay., Grace M. Walle

St. Mary's Law Journal

The numerous allegations of misconduct against high-ranking United States political figures and the associated attorneys are disheartening, but even more disconcerting is the general public’s acquiescence to these ethical deviations. The common assumption that “all lawyers are crooks” fails to outrage anyone. The fact most, if not all, recent ethical violators attended law schools and began their political careers as lawyers prompts questions of the legal education process. Understanding what justice encompasses may begin in books and the classroom, but justice in legal practice requires far more. The aspiration of “doing justice” may stem from religious belief, but this goal …

Is This Appropriate?, Thomas L. Shaffer, Julia B. Meister

Journal Articles

The word "appropriate" is so wildly overused in American culture that, as with other vacuous words and phrases, a person learns to read right through it. "Appropriate" is verbal tofu. This Essay pauses instead of reading through, particularly to notice the instances in which "appropriate" and its negative counterpart are used to give the appearance of a moral or legal judgment.

"Appropriate," chosen to express a legal judgment, is not only vacuous; it is also irresponsible. It catches the legislator, judge, or administrator in the act of passing the buck, as the President did when he ordered the Justice Department …