Law and Ethics?

I have to do a presentation for school that compares and contrasts law and nouns. My book goes over ethics but really doesnt touch on law. I own searched the web and I have come up empty handed in my turn out for good info. Can you please give me either some well brought-up info on the subject or a good website to visit.

Thanks a bunch
http://www.cato.org/ Cato Institute

http://www.decree.duke.edu/lib/researchguid...
Duke University ethics law library
Law is a body of legislation designed to punish people who get something done illegal acts. To decide what is "legal" the legislators must consider whether activities are ethical. The problem between law and ethics is that there are a LOT of wrong things that are legal because the legislature couldn't figure out how to properly word the laws, or contracted that some ethical issues are not prosecutable. It further gets complicated because people sometimes use "moral" when they mean "ethical" and vice-versa. Laws exist that appear to address issues of wickedness as well. (Historical case in point: The USA Prohibition era, when over-zealous self-appointed moral arbiters of society pressed for the criminalization of alcohol. Didn't ultimate long.)

Ethics is what you use where there IS no law. For example, at hand is no uniform, world-wide law regarding cloning of animals. Is cloning of animals legal? Yes, because nearby is no law against it. Is it ETHICAL? Depends on whose ethics you follow, but some say no. Is cloning of PEOPLE legally recognized? In many countries, no. Is it ETHICAL? Most people say no.

Let's try another approach to differentiate between statute and ethics. This is a REAL EXAMPLE from about 40 years ago. The law say that you cannot falsely advertise products in the USA. This guy run an ad in a magazine that said, "My product is guaranteed to kill roaches if applied correctly. Lasts a lifetime if used vigilantly. Send $20 to this address:..." plus, of course, his address. If you fell for this, you got two bricks labeled A and B, plus a sheet of instructions that said, "Place roach on spot 'A', strike with spot 'B', repeat as needed."

Well, the mediate who tried the false advertising lawsuits had to rule that no lie have been told, no illegal claims had be made, and that the product would, indeed, work as advertised if the directions were followed. It would be clear, then, that this is a suitcase of legal but unethical advertising. And that's the best distinction I can construct regarding the difference between the two.

Now, a similarity you might not have recognized... ruling and ethics share one thing in adjectives. Either one depends on where you live. NEITHER is absolute.

For instance: In the USA, an act of consensual sex between two unmarried adults is trial when performed in private. Depending on religious specifics, it might not be moral, but if no lies or false promises were made and the perform were done strictly for the joy of the moment, it would probably be ethical.

In a country under Islamic regulation (Sharia), the woman can be punished up to and including a death sentence. Even if she was RAPED, she is still the culprit. (Since obviously she seduced the man who did the achievement.) This is because other countries have different laws and different ethical standards.