CRIM 1650 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Liberal Democracy, Herman Melville, Black Market

• School: York University
• Department: Criminology
• Course: CRIM 1650
• Professor: Danny O' Rourke- Dicarlo

Document Summary

Criminology society york university facebook page for study groups and important events. Intro discussion (not testable material but essential to the course and its themes: origins of liberal law and the modern state. Legitimacy of the law: cannot be punishment alone. In the absence of law, there is no crime. The existence of crime pre-exists the existence of law (there were only morals, the actual acts that are now deemed criminal were viewed as deviant. According to hobbes people are nasty, brutish and short, law provides. The course is regarding deviance and control within a democratic state. Reasons" for our obligation/compliance to the law (beyond the threat of violence) Good law should give the reason not to do something. In a liberal democracy the individual is prior, your liberty must be consistent and reconcilable with others, i. e. it harms people. If the state cannot provide the legitimacy of a law outside of morality it cannot be a law.