CEPPA Talk – Michael Huemer (University of Colorado Boulder)

Title: Justice Before Role Obligations

Abstract: Many believe that agents in the justice system are morally constrained to follow certain assigned roles, understood as excluding the exercise of moral judgement: lawyers to serve the interests of their clients, judges to enforce the law as written by the legislature, and juries to assess the factual evidence and apply the law as directed by the judge. These roles, however, often entail knowingly bringing about serious, unjust harms. I argue that agents in the justice system should ignore putative role obligations that conflict with justice.