what is the position of morality on criminal law?

Question

actually looking for THE ROLE OF MORALITY ON CRIMINAL LAW

Answer 1

There are two primary justifications (reasons) for having criminal laws and criminal punishments.

The first is purely pragmatic/practical. Certain actions cause problems for society, in that people are harmed (reducing productivity) or property is damaged. Preventing someone who has shown they will commit such crimes from being free to do so again is one reason why we have punishments. Also, rehabilitation is often stated as a goal, so that people who have committed crimes in the past do not do so again.

The second reason is that some actions are inherently bad, and people deserve to be punished for them. Where society is harmed (see above) these are easy to understand and justify.

The trickier subset of the second category comes with crimes that do not cause direct damage to anyone, or even increase risk of harm (like speeding), but rather offend some moral sense of right/wrong.

This is the gray area, where the majority makes something illegal purely because they don't like it. And almost always that dislike comes because of their moral (religious) framework. So, effectively, they are enacting laws punishing activity that their religion dissapproves of.

Now, if the action is one that pretty much everyone disapproves of anyway, regardless of religion, then it can be considered a cultural justification, rather than a religious one. And those are valid.

But, the courts have struck down laws that are only based on religious justifications, because the US Constitution prohibits enforcement of religious dogma as a matter of law.

So, the fine line in the second category (no actual harm) is always whether the moral justification is really a generally accepted cultural expectation, or is it religiously motivated. That's how morality comes into the equation.