Ethics Exam 2

Give three examples of "serious errors" that are the result of incompetent defense lawyers.

1 in 4 inmates condemned to the death penalty were represented by court-appointed attorneys who had been disciplined for professional misconduct. Death row inmates have a 1 in 3 chance of being executed without having any claim of innocence or unfairness presented or heard by a competent attorney. 9.5% of inmates have received a new trial or sentencing because their attorneys' incompetence made the verdict unfair.

Give a clear, accurate explanation of Van Den Haag's consequentialist argument in favor of the death penalty.

Capital punishment deters crimes. Punishments are threatened in order to deter crime and imposed to make threats credible. Punishment and threats are necessary to deter, and deterrence sufficiently justifies them. Executing criminals who have committed murder can deter others from murdering, and this deterrence justifies capital punishment. Also, in committing their crime, criminals forfeit their right to life because they are aware that execution could be a consequence of their actions.

Give a clear accurate explanation of John Rawls version of Social Contract Theory. (Overview)

Correct moral principles are ones that result from some sort of social agreement, whether the agreement is conceived as being actual or hypothetical.

Give a clear accurate statement of the stages of judicial review in death penalty cases. Your answer should also include: a) the overall error rate and the percentage of error b) the average length of time it takes to determine whether a case is error free c) the two main implications—discussed by James S. Liebman, Jeffrey Fagan, Valerie West, and Jonathan Lloyd— that all of this has.

Death penalty cases are reviewed through a direct appeal which reviews issues from the trial in the state's highest court, a state post-conviction, in which the defendant presents issues surrounding the case that are outside of the record such as misconduct and new evidence, and a federal habeas corpus, which is limited to federal issues raised during State court appeals. Overall, the error rate of these stages is 68% and the cases take an average of 7 years to determine it error-free. This indicates a misuse of financial resources and shows that public faith in courts is a casualty.

Give a clear, accurate explanation of Nathanson's two arguments against The Law of Retribution.

Does not provide a measure of moral desert and does not provide an adequate criterion for determining appropriate levels of punishment. This principle would condone inappropriate verdicts, such as raping rapists or torturing torturers in some cases. In others, such as drunk driving, it cannot provide a clear verdict on punishment.

a clear accurate explanation of the veil of ignorance

Individuals in the original position are ignorant of things like their place in society, their status, how talented they are, and their conception of good.

Give an example of a "serious error" resulting from suppression of evidence by the prosecution.

Michael Wearry's conviction and death sentence were overturned by the US Supreme Court in 2016 because prosecutors withheld evidence that would have exonerated him, as well as deliberately fabricated evidence against him. However, he was executed in 2002 for a crime he did not commit.

Give three examples of facts related to poverty which would appear to be unjust.

More than 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty, or on less than $1.25 per day. 22,000 children die every day due to poverty. More than 750 million people lack access to clean drinking water, with diarrhea caused by inadequate drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene killing 842,000 people annually.

Give a clear, accurate explanation of Singer's drowning child thought experiment.

On your way to work you pass child drowning in a pond. If you pull him out, you will ruin your clothes and be late for work, but most would believe you would be immoral in not helping the child. This suggests that we ought to donate relatively small amounts of resources, like time or money, to save those who are dying from starvation, easily treatable diseases, etc.

a clear accurate explanation of the principle of equal liberty

One of two fundamental principles of justice that would be chosen by occupants within the original position. States that one has the right to as much liberty as is possible without compromising the liberty of others.

Give a clear accurate statement of Reiman's reasons for thinking that the view that "the risk of death by execution deters" is mistaken.

People who are contemplating crimes are already facing a substantial risk of death, whether by police apprehension or self-defense of their victims. He believes that criminals not deterred by the more immediate risk of death during the crime will not be deterred by the distant risk of death by execuation. He also suggests that people are not as deterred from actions due to the risk of death as we might think, since many people preform risky actions like not wearing seatbelts, despite the fact that they can make the difference between life and death.

Give a clear accurate statement of Reiman's reasons for thinking that the view that "a penalty that is feared more is a better deterrent" is mistaken.

Reiman believes that just because one penalty is feared more than another doesn't mean it will deter more than the less feared penalty, unless we know that the less feared penalty is not enough to deter anyone who can be deterred. However, this is unknown with regards to the death penalty. He argues that life imprisonment poses an equal deterrent effect and that people are undeterred from leaving their homes and going about their daily lives because of small threats of death.

Give a clear accurate statement of Reiman's reasons for thinking that refusal to execute has a civilizing effect and teaches the wrongfulness of murder.

Reiman believes that the refusal to execute establishes a deterrent effect by teaching members of society that it is wrong to commit murder under any circumstances. This is shown through research that suggests that the death penalty fails to increase deterrence. While the absence of the risk of execution may weaken the deterrent for some, it would strengthen the deterrent for others, risking innocent lives either way. However, we ought to choose the course of action that refrains from purposefully imposing suffering on others.

Give a clear accurate statement Hardin's Lifeboat Metaphor. Your answer should include: a) a clear accurate statement of the unlimited sharing option b) a clear accurate statement of the selective sharing option c) and a clear accurate statement of the no sharing option.

Rich nations are lifeboats full of rich people, and poor nations are more crowded lifeboats full of poor people. Because of the overcrowding, people in the poor lifeboats begin to fall into the water and swim to the rich lifeboat for to be admitted or for resources. However, if the rich lifeboat has 50 people on it and the maximum is 60, and there are 100 poor people in the boat, there are three options that the rich lifeboat can choose from: unlimited sharing, selective sharing, and no sharing. If all 100 people are allowed on the boat (unlimited sharing), the carrying capacity will be exceeded and everyone will drown. If the rich lifeboat decides to allow ten people onto the boat (selective sharing), they will have to create a selection method for those ten which will ultimately be arbitrary. If nobody is let on the boat (no sharing), Hardin argues that this is the best possible outcome because it ensures the survival of the people on the rich lifeboat without having to create arbitrary rules.

a clear accurate explanation of the difference principle

States that inequalities are to be arranged so that they are to everyone's advantage and attached to positions and offices open to all.

Give a clear, accurate statement of the Consequentialist Theory of Punishment. Your answer should also include the two supplemental claims that accompany the Consequentialist Theory of Punishment.

States that punishment as a response to crime is morally justified if and only if this practice, compared to any other response to crime, will likely produce as much overall intrinsic value as would any other response AND if and only if it would likely produce as much overall intrinsic value as would any other alternative punishment.

Give a clear, accurate statement of the Retributive Theory of Punishment.

States that the punishment of wrongdoers is morally justified because those who break the law deserve to be punished. The punishment for a particular offense against the law should "fit" the crime.

Give a clear accurate statement Singer's philosophical argument that has as its conclusion that if you do not donate to aid agencies, you are doing something wrong.

Suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad. If it is in your power to prevent something bad from happening, without sacrificing anything nearly as important, it is wrong not to do so. By donating to aid agencies, you can prevent suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care, without sacrificing anything nearly as important.

Give a clear, accurate statement of the two views presented in class on how a punishment might "fit" the crime.

The Law of Retribution states that for a punishment to fit the crime, the same kind of action must be done to the wrongdoer that he or she did to the victims. The Principle of Proportionality states that the punishment should be in proportion to the crime.

One objection to Van Den Haag appeals to facts about deterrence. Explain this objection and also include Van Den Haag's response.

The deterrence objection states that the death penalty is not a better deterrent than a punishment such as life imprisonment. Van Den Haag responds that the death penalty is feared more than life imprisonment and deters some prospective murderers not deterred by the threat of imprisonment. He believes that sparing the lives of a few prospective victims is more important than preserving the lives if convicted murderers, even if some are not deterred from murder because of the threat of capital punishment.

One objection to Van Den Haag appeals to facts about the distribution of the death penalty. Explain this objection and also include Van Den Haag's two responses.

The distribution objection argues that the race of the victims is an influencing factor in the likelihood of being charged with the death penalty, where individuals who murdered whites most likely to be executed. Van Den Haag argues that maldistribution of any punishment among those who deserve it is irrelevant to the justice of morality, because justice requires that as many of the guilty be punished as possible regardless of whether others have avoided punishment. He also argues that because most black murderers kill blacks, black murderers ae spared the death penalty more often than white murderers because their victims are less likely to be white.

a clear accurate explanation of the original position

The hypothetical scenario where everyone is deciding on guiding social principles with the intention of advancing their own interests.

Given a clear accurate explanation of the World Food Bank proposal.

The idea to create a commons in the form of an international food reserve depository in which nations contribute according to their abilities and draw from it according to their needs. However, this proposal failed due to the inabilities of food short countries, like India, to pay their debts. Hardin thus argues that each country should be responsible for its own wellbeing and that poorly managed countries can learn from their experiences of hardship. Otherwise, countries can take resources when they need to without being motivated to save their own resources since they can be bailed out.

Give a clear accurate account of the "We're all entitled to our beliefs" objection to Singer and Singer's response.

The moral relativism objection states that because we are all entitled to our beliefs, individuals can determine their obligation to the poor. However, Singer responds that moral relativism excuses horrible actions, like lighting a cat on fire. Most wouldn't consider that to be permissible because the person is entitled to their beliefs, and if we reject moral relativism in some cases, we should reject it in all cases.

a clear accurate explanation of justice as fairness

The principles of justice are those principles that free and rational persons would accept in an initial position of equality.

Give a clear accurate explanation of the ratchet effect.

The ratchet effect describes how when aid is provided to a struggling country during an emergency, the emergency which stemmed from overpopulation in the first place, will not check the population. Instead, the aid provided saves lives that continue to contribute to overpopulation.

One objection to Van Den Haag appeals to the suffering of people given the death penalty. Explain this objection and also include Van Den Haag's two responses.

The suffering objection states that the imposition of the death penalty may encourage and endorse unlawful killing, and that murderers who receive the death penalty suffer more than their victims. Van Den Haag responds that the death penalty doesn't legitimize killing any more than imprisonment for kidnapping legitimizes kidnapping. He also states that its uncertain whether a death row murderer suffers more than the victim, but the victim did not deserve suffering. In addition, punishment is to uphold the law and social order, not to offset harm or suffering.

Give a clear accurate account of the "We have a right to our hard-earned money" objection to Singer and Singer's response.

This objection states that because we work for our own money, we ought to be able to spend it however we want. Singer responds that having the right to do something doesn't settle the question of what you should do.

Give a clear accurate explanation of the Tragedy of the Commons.

Under a system of private ownership, the property owner recognizes that they have a responsibility to take care of their property or else they will suffer. However, if property is shared by many people, it only takes one person to ruin it by overloading the resources the property can offer, ruining it for everyone else as well.

Give a clear accurate statement of Reiman's reasons for thinking that Van Den Haag's argument proves too much.

Van Den Haag's argument that death is more fearful than life imprisonment is shown in the fact that most people sentenced to death try to change their sentences to life in prison. It follows that capital punishment is a deterrent for some. However, people would try to get their sentences changed to simple execution if the most fearful punishment available was being tortured to death. Thus, Reiman concludes that Van Den Haag's argument creates a dilemma in which, while we do not know whether the death penalty is a greater deterrent than life imprisonment, the death penalty should either be abolished, or we must follow common sense and torture criminals to death.

Give a clear accurate explanation of Nathanson's discussion of the principle of proportionality. Your answer should include: a) his view on how we determine whether a punishment is in proportion to a crime. b) his view that the principle of proportionality doesn't require the death penalty.

We determine whether a punishment is in proportion to a crime by ranking crimes in order of seriousness, then constructing a scale of punishments that correlates to the rankings. Punishments would be proportionate to crimes if a person who committed a more seriously ranked crimes was administered a more seriously ranked punishment. It doesn't require the death penalty because the upper limit of the punishment scale can exclude it in favor of establishing a maximally severe punishment like a life sentence.