Tag Archives: Clarence Darrow

First Amendment Ethics and the Conundrum of the Despicable Blogger

We have to defend the rights of those who abuse the First Amendment; Continue reading

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Filed under Character, Citizenship, Journalism & Media, Law & Law Enforcement, The Internet, U.S. Society

Incompetent Elected Official of the Month: North Carolina Governor Beverly Purdue

Gov. Perdue was really advocating the suspension of election….which means she is irresponsible and untrustworthy. I don’t want people in elected positions of leadership advocating the suspension of elections. I’m funny that way. Continue reading

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Filed under Citizenship, Government & Politics, Incompetent Elected Officials, Professions, U.S. Society

Ethics Quote of the Month: Clarence Darrow’s Closing Argument in the Trial of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb (1924)

Here is one of the great orators of the 20th Century, one of the great progressive thinkers in our history, and the greatest trial lawyer who ever lived, arguing for the life of two murderers and for the soul of our civilization. I do not share Darrow’s absolute rejection of the death penalty, but I wouldn’t want to have to argue against him either. Continue reading

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Filed under Citizenship, Ethics Quotes, Government & Politics, History, Law & Law Enforcement, U.S. Society

Ethics Train Wreck Warning: Affirmative Action for the Hideous

It is rare that an ethics train wreck of culture-wide proportions can be prevented with a firm, “Shut up, and go away!” This appears to be one of those times, however, and if anyone is reluctant, I hereby volunteer for the job. Continue reading

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Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Business & Commercial, Citizenship, Daily Life, Etiquette and manners, Gender and Sex, Government & Politics, Health and Medicine, History, Law & Law Enforcement, Leadership, Literature, Popular Culture, Professions, Research and Scholarship, U.S. Society, Workplace

Ethics and the Case of the “Large-Breasted Woman”

So was the “large-breasted woman” at counsel’s table an unethical distraction? An Illinois attorney thought it was. Continue reading

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Filed under Gender and Sex, Law & Law Enforcement, Professions

Sending Teenagers To Prison Forever

It is inherently unfair and unjust not to leave at least the possibility of reform and redemption when an individual has committed a heinous crime before he was an adult. Continue reading

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Filed under History, Law & Law Enforcement, Love, Religion and Philosophy, Research and Scholarship, U.S. Society

Is Flogging More Ethical Than Incarceration?

Like reformer/ lawyer Clarence Darrow, who did not believe in free will, Moskos regards criminals as “a class,” and prison as a form of government-sponsored apartheid. Flogging makes sense if one regards that supposed criminal class as a species of animal that can be “trained” to behave lawfully among us by the judicious use of pain, much like Malcolm McDowell’s reprogramming in “A Clockwork Orange.” Continue reading

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Filed under U.S. Society

Terry Jones’ Next Irresponsible Protest: Legal? Sure. Stupid? Yes. Ethical? Of Course Not.

Like Fred Phelps and his cult’s putrid disruptions of veteran funerals, Rev. Terry Jones is an example of how America is bound to permit irresponsible as well as responsible speech under the protection of the First Amendment. Continue reading

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Filed under Around the World, Citizenship, Etiquette and manners, Government & Politics, Law & Law Enforcement, Religion and Philosophy, U.S. Society

The Tears of Keith Ellison

The statement by Ellison, who converted to Islam, and the tears that accompanied it, raised a few ethical issues, beginning with the Ethics Alarms standard, “What’s going on here?” Continue reading

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Filed under Around the World, Citizenship, Government & Politics, Journalism & Media, Law & Law Enforcement, Leadership, Professions, Religion and Philosophy, The Internet, U.S. Society, War and the Military

The Second Annual Ethics Alarms Awards: The BEST of Ethics 2010

Depp, Stewart, Graham, Joyce, Coco—-The Best in Ethics 2010. Not nearly long enough…but still a lot of men, women and deeds worth celebrating. Continue reading

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