Charles P. Nemeth, Professor, Director of Graduate Legal Studies and the university’s Institute for Law and Public Policy, has spent his professional life engaged in the study of jurisprudence, the correlation of morality to law, ethics, and the relevance of classical and medieval thought in contemporary legal and judicial practice. A recognized expert on morality and legal ethics, appellate legal practice and private-sector justice, he is a prolific writer, having published numerous texts and articles on law and justice throughout his impressive career. His well regarded, Aquinas in the Courtroom (Greenwood and Praeger Press 2001) is considered a work of immense originality since it prompts readers to find the Thomistic ethic as a recipe for justice. Other recent works include: Private Sector Justice (Prentice Hall 2005) Criminal Law (Prentice Hall, 2003), Law & Evidence: A Primer for Criminal Justice, Criminology, Law, and Legal Studies (Prentice Hall, 2001) and Private Security and the Law (Elsevier 2005). The bevy of peer reviewed publications manifest this unquenchable thirst for examining modern moral, ethical and legal dilemmas in law in light of perennial philosophical truths, as espoused by Augustine, Aquinas and others. Works include commentaries on the role of judges and lawyers in Thomistic thought, the efficacy and morality of hiring quotas, the invasiveness of polygraphs, the decriminalization of child sexual offenses and a critique of good and evil in sociological and criminological circles.
Dr. Nemeth also serves the university as Director of the Institute of Law and Public Policy- a think-tank that sponsors regional and national forums, a university press, a myriad of publications and continuing education activities for the university and surrounding community. Subjects covered in the Institute’s publications include the role of religion in judicial reasoning, a critique of precedent in the United States Supreme Court’s overturn of criminalized sodomy, and the tension between terrorism and privacy.
An educator for more than 30 years, Nemeth’s distinctive career is grounded in an exemplary education, including a Master of Laws from George Washington University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore, and a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Philosophy from Duquesne University. In addition, he was awarded a MS from Niagara University and received an undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware. He holds memberships in the New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania Bars.
His previous academic appointments, both full and part-time, include Niagara University (1977-1980), the University of Baltimore (1980-1981), Glassboro State College (1981-1986), St. Joseph’s University (1985-1988), Chatham College (1993-1997), Waynesburg College (1988-1998) and the State University of New York at Brockport (1998-2003).
