ABSTRACT
This Article focuses on the relationship between three specific invocations of dignity in American law, whose emphases are different. The first appeared in the late eighteenth century and is concerned with the dignity of a state or sovereign. The second made its appearance at the beginning of the nineteenth century and is devoted to the dignity of the court. The third is concerned with the dignity of the human person. International instruments and foreign constitutions evoked dignity in this sense in the 1930s and 1940s. In the United States, the Restatement of Torts, First evoked this sense of the term as early as 1934. While human dignity has since gained constitutional footing in American law, given its subordination to the dignities of the sovereign and court, its future is uncertain.
The Article’s core insight is that the theory of conscience, as espoused by the court of conscience (which is now largely referred to as ‘equity’), can help dignity face the problems threatening its longevity …
Rudolph, Duane, Dignity and the Promise of Conscience (April 15, 2023), Cleveland State Law Review, volume 71, no 305, 2023.
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