Moral Issues In Penology

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Moral Issues In Penology
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Moral Issues in Jurisprudence The Bill of Rights

• No right is held more sacred, or is more
  carefully guarded, by the common law, than the
  right of the individual to the possession and
  control of his own person, free from all
  restraint or interference from others, unless by
  clear and unquestionable authority of law.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Every resolution to an ethical dilemma must
  consider the act, the intention, the
  circumstance, the principles, the beliefs, the
  outcomes, the virtues, the narrative, the
  community, and political structures.
• Robert Nash
• Argument for discretion at all levels of the CJ
  system

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Professional Demands
• These demands are often the same but occasionally
  differ from expectations for any decent human
  being.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Professional Demands
• Public Official Ethics
• Perform duties impartially and with due diligence
• Professional integrity reflects on public
  confidence in the individual in particular and in
  the state generally

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Professional Demands
• Public Official Ethics
• Refrain from inappropriate political activity
• It is expected that public officials not be
  influenced by a political favoritism

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Professional Demands
• Public Official Ethics
• The obligation to act impartially imposes a duty
  to make decisions based on the law and the facts
  and not be influenced by any other factors.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Professional Demands
• Public Official Ethics
• Avoid impropriety and its appearance
• Personal affairs are considered relevant in in
  evaluating integrity of public officials

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Trust requires trustworthiness.
• Public Officials
• Doctors
• Police
• Judges, Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys
• Students and Teachers

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Consequentialist Theory Utilitarianism
• Utilitarians argue that
• 1. Other moral considerations such as duty,
  rights and justice are subordinated to, and their
  content determined by, the principle of utility.
• 2. What is just is producing greatest utility.
• 3. As circumstances change, consequences change,
  and so do our duties, rights and requirements of
  justice.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Implications of Utilitarianism
• 1. Act Utilitarian
• Choose actions based on greatest balance of
  pleasure over pain
• 2. Rule Utilitarian
• Acts are permissible if they are not prohibited
  by the best set of rules.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Criticisms of Utilitarianism
• 1. Act Utilitarian -- Injustice
• It is unjust to punish someone for something they
  did not do regardless of other beneficial
  consequences.
• 2. Rule Utilitarian -- Limited Exceptions
• It does not distinguish between morally
  obligatory acts and superogatory acts.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Communitarianism Theory
• Morality is defined by ideals that define and
  hold groups together.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Implications of Communitarianism
• 1. Groups establish their own norms.
• 2. Morality becomes equivalent to group
  endorsement.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Criticisms of Communitarianism
• 1. Groups norms differ.
• 2. Some group norms, such as racial or sexual
  discrimination, are wrong.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Deontological Ethics
• Morality involves more than only producing good
  consequences. Morally right actions are done
  because we have a duty to do them.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Implications of Deontological Ethics
• 1. Morality is not determined by the
  consequences of an action.
• 2. Morality is determined by the test that the
  act would be acceptable in determining universal
  law.
• 3. Actions that do not treat others with
  respect, but rather uses them as a means to an
  end, are wrong.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Criticisms of Deontological Ethics
• 1. It is complex and abstract.
• 2. It does not resolve what is agreed to as
  acceptable to all people.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Virtue Ethics
• Morality is determined by individual goodness
  rather than goodness of rules or goals.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Implications of Virtue Ethics
• Right actions are determined only on the basis of
  their being right.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Criticisms of Virtue Ethics
• 1. It is simplistic and complex at the same
  time.
• 2. It does not provide much help in deciding
  between moral dilemmas.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Contractarianism
• People agree to social contracts.
• This is also a basis for examining morality.

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Implications of Contractarianism
• 1. Contract determine obligations.
• 2. The obligations are binding when parties to
  the contract fulfill their obligations.
• 3. Does not allow sacrifice of the few for the
  good of the many.
• 4. Emphasizes concrete benefits

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Moral Issues in Penology

• Criticisms of Contractarianism
• 1. Implied contracts exist as a result of
  membership in the state.
• 2. Majority rules in most instances.
• 3. Some individual freedoms are sacrificed.

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Break

• Read Assignments
• Participate in Class Discussions
• Review Notes Weekly