Hans Cuff, a Federal agent working with an informant on drug dealers, was caught off guard by his informant (Mookie), Ramirez, and Dreadford. The information on the drug investigation operation had only been divulged to officers within the Sherriff’s department. It was a surprise when he was ambushed only for the informant to divulge that an officer (Badpenny) had leaked information on the operation. Investigations into the matter revealed that Badpenny had obtained documents for Dreadford regarding the drug investigations. After reading the whole prologue, it becomes evident that the case on why that explains why Badpenny’s gave Dreadford confidential information c a n be explained through the ethical system of virtue ethics.
Virtue ethics is one of the major ethical systems that are used in resolving ethical dilemmas. Virtue ethics falls under the broad category of normative ethics, which are used to inform human beings wh at they ought to do and why things are done in a specific way ( McCartney, 2015 ). Normative ethics will form ethical systems because they provide systems for people to determine their ethical actions and that of others. Virtue ethics was developed by Aristotle, who believed th at good acts were an automatic response that required little to no effort to be executed ( Ainley, 2017 ). The ethical system believed that people would do the right thing based on the good character they demonstrate throughout their life. Virtue ethics can be applied to law enforcement officers as it necessitates individuals to have virtues that ensure their efficiency and success at work.
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In the case of Badpenny, we see that she fell short of the virtues encompassed in virtue ethics. She lacked integrity, honesty, and self-control, which are some of the main expectations of society to law enforcement officers ( Ainley, 2017 ). She could also not demonstrate perseverance as she failed at reporting her boyfriend’s illegal activities and divulged to him confidential information that would have resulted in the harm and possible death of a fellow officer. Badpenny was unable to practice virtue in all her doings as she dated a criminal ( McCartney, 2015 ). Moreover, this affected her ability to act in a virtuous manner as she decided to measure the morality of her actions by looking at the impact it would have on her relationship versus her workplace.
When an individual is so poor that they cannot afford basic necessities, they are said to be in a state of indigency. In the legal world, indigency means that the individual cannot afford to pay for attorneys’ advocacy, thus ending up being represented by public defenders ( Schulhofer, 2015 ). Indigency affects a lawbreaker’s ability to receive a competent council because the American legal system is antagonistic. The quality of representation a client gets is highly related to the outcomes of court decisions ( Schulhofer, 2015 ). Indigent defendants are unable to pay for skilled lawyers and end up with overwhelmed attorneys. Public defendants are normally swamped with numerous caseloads, which they need to tend to, making it quite impossible to prepare well for their cases ( Schulhofer, 2015 ). This, in turn, affects their ability to properly defend the client who may end up incarcerated.
There is a possibility of a conflict of interest arising with the attorneys and the judge in this case. For a long time, Badpenny has lived within the community and been a law officer who has had numerous interactions with each of these individuals. The attorneys and judge may be conflicted on arguing and hearing the case, especially because of her offense which directly put an office in jeopardy. Both the lawyers and the judge may face a conflict of interest if they personally know her as they feel the need to ensure justice prevails while also struggling to help her not get incarcerated. The judge could also face a conflict of interest when hearing the case as she may want to use her as an example to other law enforcement to deter such acts from happening. These individuals will have a conflict of interest as they try to act fairly and impartially towards Badpenny.
References
Ainley, K. (2017). Virtue ethics. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/69534/1/Ainley_Virtue%20ethics_author_2017%20LSERO.pdf
McCartney, S. (2015). Ethics in law enforcement . BCcampus Open Textbooks. https://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/
Schulhofer, S. J. (2015). Client Choice for Indigent Criminal Defendants: Theory and Implementation. Ohio St. J. Crim. L. , 12 , 505. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/159607696.pdf
