Your essay should be circa four-pages long.   It should be typed, double-spaced, and proofread. Any spelling, syntactical, or grammatical errors will be noted but not appreciated.  The margins of the essay should be one inch on each side and the font size should be 12 point.   Your final essays will be due on Friday,  December 18th at Midnight.  The essays should be anonymous and with your exam number on it.  See my email of November 21st for instructions on how to submit your essay by email.

During the semester you have been submitting ex parte emails that almost always argued for only one side of an issue.  For your essays I want you to write a balanced essay that discusses both sides of the issue.  You may or may not take a position depending on your preference.  It is very important that you take into account the essays, court cases, documents, treaties etc.  (in other words all the materials on the website) when writing your essays.  In addition you may cite outside opinion as well.  If you do cite sources outside the website, you must footnote the reference using one of the standard citation formats.  If you are citing something from the class website, do not footnote it.  It is sufficient to write a short reference in your text.  I will know what you are referring to (e.g. "As Pennington brilliantly observed in his essay on natural law .  .  ." ).  I repeat it is very important that you demonstrate in your essay that you have read and grappled with the materials on your topic that are on our website.  And that you use jurisprudence in your argument.

The topics will not surprise you:

1.  The proper role of transcendental norms and transnational law in American court decisions.  Should American sovereignty be compromised by international courts?

2. John Austin argued that positive law should be supreme in any legal system.  What role should natural law, equity, necessity, and concepts of justice play in the rendering of court decisions in American courts.

3. The equality under law in modern  society.  Can we resolve social problems and preserve equality?  Does the state have a "compelling interest" to resolve social problems?

4. The role of due process of law in a just, moral, and democratic society.  Under what circumstances can a society derogate or abrogate due process in its procedure?

5. What should the rights of minorities and disadvantaged be in a just, moral, and democratic society?  Do or should minorities have rights that are not embedded in positive law?

6. Can the state condone judicial or administrative killing?  What rights to life do persons have in a just, moral, and democratic society?

7. Discuss the evolution of the doctrine of "right to privacy" in American law and its application to cases that touch upon individual rights.

8. How can we decide whether the war is just when a democratic society wages war? 

9.  Should marriage be a contract that can be entered into by only a man and a woman?

10.  Should a pluralistic, democratic society regulate sexual practices and sexual education of its citizens?  What should the limits, if any, of the state's right to regulate private sexual acts?

11. Does a woman have an absolute, limited, or no right to abort a fetus-child?

12.  Resolved: Under certain circumstances governments may lawfully torture human beings.

13. What should be the foundation of rights in a democratic society: the will of the majority or the courts?

14. Should gays have absolute equality before the law?