Ethics in Law and Order: January 19, 2011

1. For your first weblog entry, please evaluate the episode of Law & Order that we watched in class in two ways: First, how realistic was the episode, based on what you know of real legal processes.

-I thought this episode of Law and Order was unrealistic, but still had some basic law proceedings right. The basic steps followed in the episode seemed to be correct: the victims were questioned about their experience, the persons of interest were arrested and brought to the station and interrogated, the evidence was reviewed, the suspects were charged, and a trial followed. The episode first lost its realistic edge when the detectives jumped to conclusions of sexual abuse following the young boy’s confession to wrestling. From there, the details of the legal proceeding of the episode became far-fetched. Although there was most likely some time elapse during the course of the episode, the overall course of events occurred entirely too quickly. The emotional attachment depicted in the episode was also fairly unreal. Part of a detective’s job is to stay detached from the situation in order to make good decisions- not make daily house calls and visits.

2. Second, how effective was it? (To answer this part of the question, you'll first have to identify a goal, again, based on what you know of it rather than research, then evaluate how well it achieves the goal.) Consider whether and to what extent the concessions to reality add or detract to the show's effectiveness.

- Because this was an episode of Law and Order, the main goal for the program was to be entertaining to the general public. Evaluating the episode based solely on its goal of entertainment, then the episode was very effective and successful in achieving its goal. The show really followed only the very basic law proceedings, which allowed for more entertainment than anything. An entire show of legal proceedings wouldn’t be as entertaining. Because the show is dramatized, the general public is more able to understand what is going on. Also by exempting some basic legal processes, the show is condensed into a length able to keep people’s attention.