Book Opener

Language ArtsThe legal profession hasa core of professionalethics. They are principlesof conduct thatmembers of the professionare expected toobserve when they practicelaw. These principlesstress that the lawyer’schief interest lies in servinghis or her client andin securing justice.Research ActivityWhat if high school studentshad a code of professionalethics? Workwith three or four classmatesto write the ethicalprinciples that youthink students in yourschool should observe.which the federal and state governments may pass laws. In addition,the Constitution describes the functions of the various branches anddivisions of our national government. See Figure 1.3 for an outline ofthe federal Constitution.Articles I, II, and III of the Constitution set forth the structure andthe powers of the three branches of the federal government. Article IVrequires each state to give “full faith and credit” to the laws of all otherstates. That is, each state must accept the laws of other states. Article Vtells how the Constitution may be amended or changed.Article VI contains the supremacy clause. This clause states that theU.S. Constitution and the laws of the United States and treaties shall bethe supreme laws of the land. Article VII, the last article, provided forratification of the Constitution. This event took place in 1787.The first 10 amendments, ratified in 1791, are called the Bill ofRights. They limit the powers of the government. The basic purpose ofthe Bill of Rights is to protect two kinds of rights: rights of individualliberty and rights of persons accused of crimes.The Constitution now has 27 amendments. Let’s take a look at oneof them. The Fourteenth Amendment provides that no state shall“deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process oflaw; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protectionof laws.” This is known as the equal protection clause. As a major principleof justice, this amendment requires equal treatment of all peopleunder the law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires state governmentsto give to their citizens the same rights that the federal governmentmust give to U.S. citizens under the Fifth Amendment.16 Unit 1: Knowing About the LawExample 10. Joe Hogan was denied admission to theMississippi University for Women School of Nursing solelybecause of his gender. The university is supported by fundsprovided by the state government. In 1982, the U.S. SupremeCourt held that the single-sex admissions policy of the stateschool violated the equal protection clause of the FourteenthAmendment. The court said that the policy continued thestereotype of nursing as a woman’s job. Hogan was admitted tothe school of nursing.State Constitutions Each state has its own constitution. Althoughsimilar, state constitutions are not identical to the federal Constitution.They can be more protective, narrower, and more restrictive than thefederal Constitution.Example 11. Lawmakers in Massachusetts wanted to have agraduated income tax like the federal income tax. A graduatedtax requires people with larger incomes to pay a higher tax rate