Flashback: “Law, Citizenship, and the Right to be a Jackass”

November 17, 2011November 17, 2011 / Jack Marshall / Leave a comment

Wrong country, same gesture.

[The principal in this tale from a post early in Ethics Alarms’ existence just dicsovered it, and sent some additional detail in a comment. I am fairly certain that almost nobody read the original post, and I had completely forgotten about it myself. Its central point is still valid, however, and since it involves an ethics conflict that has frequently re-appeared here—the duty to respect law enforcement officials versus the right not to, and the proper handling of a citizen who is rude, abusive, or worse—I thought I’d revive it.

Much thanks is due to David Hackbart for his considerate comment.]

Three springs ago on the streets of Pittsburgh, David Hackbart was starting to parallel park when a car pulled up behind him. Don’t you hate that? Hackbart did too, and presented his flip-off finger to the anonymous driver in silent protest. “Don’t flip him off!” came a shouted edict from someone outside his car, and Hackbart, not in the mood for officious intermeddling, gave the anonymous civility referee The Finger as well. Continue reading →

Sexting Ethics

January 19, 2010 / Jack Marshall / 2 Comments

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Philadelphia, is taking on the question of whether it was appropriate to prosecute teenagers under child pornography laws for sending naked or otherwise sexually provocative photographs of themselves over the internet, sending the photos to friends via cellphone. or posting them on their Facebook pages. The practice is called sexting, a sort of cyber-flashing, and it is, as my grandmother used to say, “all the rage.” Except that she was talking about the jitterbug. Continue reading →

Protest Ethics: Christmas, the ACLU, and Ignorance

December 9, 2009 / Jack Marshall / 10 Comments

A silly e-mail is circulating again, as it has this time of year since 2005, encouraging recipients to engage in a pointless and ignorant protest against the American Civil Liberties Union.

It reads: Continue reading →