CRIM 135 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Reproductive Rights, Nulla Poena Sine Lege, Critical Legal Studies
24 Jan 2016
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Document Summary
Our individual perceptions of justice and injustice define our relationship as citizens to the state. Theoreticians of law can come as: positivists, natural lawyers, legal realists, marxists, critical legalists, feminists, anarchists, and libertarians among others. Positivism is the systemization of the law, seeking precision by what is apparently an almost mechanical analysis of law as a matter of logic and interpretation. The values that lie behind the law can only muddy a clear vision of the legal process. Positivism basically states that adherence to a just legal process is more important than the specifics of law, for these specifics will necessarily vary across time and space. Positivists strongly argue for a legal process that protects liberty and democratic institutions and prevents the abuse of political power. Positivism is rooted in the notion of a social contract- law ties individuals to the collective through a binding, democratically constructed agreement.
