Criminals and ethics

~E~

Can one ethically refuse to do the part of one's job that would involve helping a person convicted of a sex crime?

Comments

Laurie Stark said…
I think there are competing ethical values there. On the one hand, you've got the obvious "people who commit sex crimes suck and it doesn't feel ethical to help them" but on the other hand you've got that whole Kantian thing (Kant's the right dude, right?) that an action (or in this case, maybe an inaction) is only ethical if it would be ok for everyone to do it all the time. I'm paraphrasing there like woah.

I subscribe to that idea (at least theoretically) so I'd say that it's unethical for, say, a defense lawyer to throw a trial because she thinks her client is guilty. That's unethical because it would be unethical for all defense attorneys all the time to take the law into their own hands in that way and impede our judicial system.

If your question is more along the lines of whether it would be ethical for a defense attorney to turn down a case for the same reason, I think that's trickier, but I think Kant would still say no (if you even care what Kant thinks). Plus, what would be the point, right? She's letting her own conscience off the hook, but in this situation her declining the case just means that someone else is just going to have to step forward and take it. Maybe a more 'ethical' approach would be devoting her time and resources to making change in our society to stop sex crimes before they happen.

But maybe you're not even talking about lawyers. Maybe you're asking whether I should donate my bone marrow to a dying sex offender or whether I should help a sex offender carry his groceries to the car. Lord, I don't know. We all do shitty things all the time and maybe the things we do aren't as bad as molesting children (god, I certainly hope not) but then where do you draw the line? How do you assign value to each of our sins and our acts of kindness and tally them up to decide who we hold open the door for and who we don't?

Short answer: I have no idea.
May 11, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Charmingly Feisty said…
Fortunately it's nothing as serious as defending someone in a court of law, and fortunately I don't have to address it at this time anyway.

I understand what you're saying about Kant's law, but honestly I doubt there are many situations where 'everyone would do it', so I think I would have been fairly safe to voice my objections - the work would still get done.

I think a lot of us DO know where our own personal line is. I know I do. I feel another post coming on....
May 12, 2008 at 8:44 PM
Spudster said…
The world according to Spudster:

If it's part of one's job, it's their duty to do the job they are paid for. I don't believe in pharmicists refusing to fill birth control perscriptions on "moral grounds", so I can't believe in this either.

Having said that, I empathise with, and try to respect, everyone's personal set of ethics and beliefs. If one is in a situation where their job poses a great risk to their ethics, then they should find another job.

There's lots of jobs but there's only one you. I gurantee you'll be stuck with you longer than your job. ;)
May 13, 2008 at 9:01 AM
Charmingly Feisty said…
I see your point, Al, but I think there is a difference. A pharmacist KNOWS s/he will have to provide birth control. It's a very basic part of the job, considering that birth control is used by so many many people.

In my job, I would not reasonably expect to encounter a known sex offender. It's not in the job description, see what i'm getting at? So if I do come across a sex offender, can I request that his case be given to someone else?
May 14, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Spudster said…
You make a solid point. Yeah, in that situation, the lines are a bit grayer.

Personally I think it's reasonable to ask for someone else to get a case if you're not comfortable with it.
May 16, 2008 at 2:21 PM
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