1. List the issues/considerations created by the eminent domain taking of St. Johannes cemetery, and mark any issues that have a connection to Law (L), Ethics (E), or both (LE).
2. Make a list of the groups/individuals affected by the city of Chicago’s decision to condemn the cemetery and exhume those buried there.
3. Define “public use” and “private use” of property. (a) Do you believe Chicago’s taking of St. Johannes cemetery for public use is justified?; (b) Do you believe Chicago’s taking of St. Johannes for private use would also be justified? Explain your reasoning in both scenarios.
4. How can a circumstance be legal but not ethical? Describe an example that illustrates this situation.
5. Do you believe that government authorities should be permitted to exempt certain cemeteries from the laws designated to protect them (as occurred here in the case of St. Johannes)? Explain your reasoning.
6. Propose an argument for taking the cemetery, and then conversely propose an argument for preserving the cemetery. Choose one of the following ethics models to support each of your arguments: (1) the Egoistic Approach; (2) the Common Good Approach; (3) the Categorical Imperative Approach; (4) The Fairness/Justice Approach; (5) the Utilitarian Approach; or (6) the Virtue Approach.
7. Recall how General Motors preserved Beth Olem Cemetery in Michigan. Describe an alternative course of action for the city of Chicago in the St. Johannes scenario. How could cemeteries be designed or designated to avoid eminent domain the future?