Law&Order Assignment for 3/8/11

Alex’s decisions on Law & Order:

Identify: In this episode, Alex is faced with the decision on whether or not she should follow public opinion and give the death penalty to Daniel, or whether she should offer a lesser sentence after discovering that his rampage was a result of not having been informed of his tertiary syphilis. The stakeholders in this case are both Daniel and the everyday civilian. As a result of his rampage, civilians were faced with fear and a few even lost loved ones. Alex could choose to deliver the death penalty or opt to label him as mentally inept to go to court, and place him in a mental hospital.

Analyze: From a consequentialist perspective, the death penalty for Daniel would be the best option. This approach looks at the greatest good for the greatest number of people, and since public opinion expressed that they would feel safer with Daniel dead, the death penalty would be the best option. If Daniel were to stay alive, it would only benefit him and his family. Using the deontological tool, Daniel also deserves to die. He killed innocent people and as a result, he should have to pay for his actions. Using the aspiration tool, the best decision would be to not give Daniel the death penalty. He was not made aware of his syphilis, so essentially it is not his fault that it reached the tertiary stage and caused him to kill others. I don’t think Alex would be able to feel good about her giving the death penalty later down the road while knowing that Daniel’s situation could have been prevented if the insurance company had been more honest.

Justify and Decide: I think the correct decision was made not to give Daniel the death penalty. Although it doesn’t benefit the greatest number of people, Daniel was deceived by the insurance company and did not have complete control of his actions as a result of his illness. Morally speaking, I think this was the only appropriate decision. The insurance company should have told Daniel from the beginning of his illness, but I think Alex made the correct decision in the end.