Should all jurisdictions have a Good Samaritan law requiring an individual to help another individual if they are able? Explain why.
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ethical_scrapbook_wk4.pptxRobert Lobit, Leon White, cylvania allen-pringle
Ethical Scrapbook Pt.1
Samaritan
A helpful or charitable person
Society in a whole is made up of many individuals who are different from one another when it comes to moral and ethical standards. The United States government creates laws based on what society deems is right and good. Individually, we as humans have the ability to to choose between right and wrong. This presentation shows examples of random acts of kindness, acts of vigilantism, acts of civil disobedience, and criminal acts committed by professionals in the course of their employment.
Introduction
New York Police Officer
In this picture a NY police officer later identified as Larry DePrimo gives a homeless man a poor of boots and thermal socks. Jennifer Foster, the woman ho caught this action took to social media to bring attention to this random act of kindness. ‘I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather,'”.(Clark, 2012) The officer proceeded to help the man place his new socks and boots on his feet. He didn’t know he was being recorded and expected nothing in return. This video has been shared over 114,000 times and has been liked over 400,000. This goes to show there are good officers out there.
Mother Teresa
By blood, an Albanian, by citizenship, an Indian, by faith a Catholic nun, and as to my calling I belong to the world. (Missionaries of Charity, n.d.) Here is Mother Teresa, a life long Samaritan. In this picture Mother Teresa is accepting the Medal of Freedom award from President Ronald Reagan in 1985. Mother Teresa was widely known for caring for the poorest of the poor. She started many charities, travelled through war zones to help evacuate young patients, and opened homes for person tainted with the most deadliest diseases. By the year 1996 Mother Teresa had 517 missions in more than 100 countries.
Acts of civil disobedience—violating the law to change the law
An act done to illegally to protest a law.
Must be done openly or in public view.
Done to draw attention to a law or policy they hope to change.
Questions one must ask
Do you think the person(s) made the best decision, given the circumstances?
Could you see yourself doing the same, given the circumstances?
Service Dog
Here pictured is a service dog named Figo. In Brewster, NY Figo threw himself in front of a moving school bus to protect his blind owner, Audrey Stone. Even though the owner was still injured Figo took most of the impact and didn’t leave her side. Figo’s leg was cut down to the bone, he under went surgery and remained in veterinary hospital until Ms. Stone was able to care for him again.
Baltimore Riots
From early 205 through present day, there have been numerous incidents involving the civil rights of African American and law enforcement. In many cases law enforcement went too far thus causing loss of life to innocent people. Even with that a known fact, it does not excuse the lawlessness that has occurred in the Baltimore riots and other riots around the country. It is one thing to protest in a peaceful manner, but a whole nothing train of thought when a peaceful idea becomes violent; burning buildings, assaulting the innocent, and looting. Although riots and protests after the death of Freddie Gray, who was injured in police custody, brought national attention to the city (Hermann P., 2015)The questions asked here is what would you do in this case?
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Martin Luther King
One of the greatest men to ever peacefully disobey a law for a just cause, Dr. Martin Luther King. He lead a movement that struck a cord with everyone, but he did it the right way, with peace not violence. His civil disobedience cause was for fair civil rights for all not just a few select few. Even after James Earl Ray, a drifter, shot and killed Doctor King, his words can still be heard today, “I have a dream”. Would you do the same, given the circumstances?
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University of California
Many of the demonstrators were sitting on a campus pathway with arms linked in a protest against tuition hikes and income inequality (Nguyen, B., 2012). As they sat arms linked an officer walked along the students spraying pepper spray directly into the faces of the non violent protesters. This non-violent protest was to bring attention to what was considered an unfair practice of tuition hikes and income inequality. Many schools have different policies regarding funding and who gets it. The question remains, what would you do, given the circumstances?
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Any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime.
Vigilantism
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Kimberly Cunningham
Killed her daughter’s alleged rapist.
Found guilty of man slaughter.
Upon learning that her daughter was raped by a family member, in 2003 Kimberly Cunningham decided to take matters into her own hands by confronting the family member who would admit to the allegations. Cunningham proceeded to gun down the family member shooting him 10 times before turning herself into police custody.
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Luis Hernandez did not feel the police were properly handling the recent rash of robberies in the neighborhood. Hernandez apprehended the serial burglar and then shot him. Hernandez at the time thought he was making a citizen’s arrest.
Luis Hernandez
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Jonathan Edington
Pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter .
Jonathan Edington was a patent lawyer by profession. The 36-year old lawyer, who had pursued an engineering course in Syracuse University, graduated with a Juris Doctor from Fordham Law School in 2004. In addition, Edington performed patent law in Fairfield. On August 28, 2006, Jonathon Edington went to the house of his neighbor Barry James and surprisingly stabbed him thirteen times in cold blood. The motivation for his vigilante act was based on the indictments of molestation conveyed to him and his wife Christina Edington by their 2-year-old daughter. Apparently, Edington’s daughter alleged that Barry James molested her. However, prior to the trial and conviction of Edington, there was no proof indicating that their daughter had been molested by the suspected individual as reported
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Criminal acts committed by professionals
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Mary Kay Letourneau
Mary Kay Letourneau was imprisoned for having sex with a 12 year old student named Vili Fualaau. Mary was imprisoned from 1997 to 2004. after being released from prison Mary would marry Mr. Fualaau. Mary’s decision to sleep with a student went against the schools code of ethics.
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Conrad Murray
Dr. Conrad Murray was the physician of Michael Jackson at the time of his death. Dr. Murray became liable for Jackson’s death because he had authorization over the drugs taken knowing his client was abusing them. Dr. Murray was found guilty in 2011 and sentenced to four years in prison.
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Gary Webb
Webb was an investigative reporter for the San Jose Mercury News.
In 1996 Gary Webb published the article “Dark Alliance” detailing how the CIA was in cahoots with the Nicaraguan drug cartels in smuggling cocaine and other illegal drugs into the United States.
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As humans we all have different experiences when making ethical decisions. Some people may not have the resources or lack the courage to be good Samaritans, not every individual is perfect. People that are entrusted to uphold ethical codes can sometimes break those same codes they have sworn to and in the process lose their integrity. Our judicial system is built on ethics but in most cases it comes up short thus leading to vigilantism. As individuals we must make better ethical decisions but that’s easier said than done when emotions get involved.
Conclusion
References
Clark, S. J. (2012, November 29). Fox 4KC. Retrieved from Fox 4 News Web Site: http://fox4kc.com/2012/11/29/picture-of-ny-police-officers-random-act-of-kindness-goes-viral-inspires-thousands/
Missionaries of Charity. (n.d.). Short Biography. Retrieved from Mother Teresa of Calcutta Center: http://www.motherteres
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Civil+Disobedience
Hermann, Peter, 2015, Retrieved from, After rioters burned Baltimore, killings pile up largely under the radar, http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/violence-has-become- part-of-life-in-baltimore/2015/05/17/4909264a-f714-11e4-a13c- 193b1241d51a_story.html
Nguyen, Brian, 2012, Retrieved from, University of California to pay nearly $1 million in deal with 21 pepper-sprayed UC-Davis Occupy protesters, http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/26/14112860- university-of-california-to-pay-nearly-1-million-in-deal-with-21- pepper-sprayed-uc-davis-occupy-protesters?lite
