Unit 6 Assignment
Unit 6: Scenario Analysis
Kraig Henry Sr.
Kaplan University
CJ340
Prof. Selves
Lon L. Fuller, former Carter Professor of Jurisprudence at Harvard Law School, observed in The Morality of Law, “Even if a man is answerable only to his conscience, he will answer more responsibly if he is compelled to articulate principles on which he acts.”
Source: Fuller, L. (1975). The morality of law. (p. 159). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Scenario 1: Drugs at a Friend’s House
You are an off-duty police officer at a party at the house of an old high school friend. Everyone is still in the backyard drinking. You go into the house to use the restroom and observe several of your friend’s friends (whom you do not know) snorting cocaine. You do not know whether your friend has knowledge that people are using drugs in his house.
There are a couple moral problems presented in this scenario. As a police officer you do not want to be present where illegal activity is being conducted, that’s a serious conflict of interest. Another is, you can’t dictate what types of behavior goes on in your friends house, if it were your house that would be something different. If you were on duty there would be a legal requirement for you to get involved, friend or no friend. The fact that you are off duty allows for a certain level of flexibility as well. Not knowing how much cocaine is there, the number of people inside the house, officer safety issues, etc. there’s a level of discretion to be considered. As a friend I’d inform my friend of the activity that I witnessed taking place inside of his house and the position that that puts me in. As a police officer, I’d inform my friend of the potential loses that he/she could incur should the police get called to the house. I’d also let the friend know that if this is the type of activity that goes on at their parties, that they should take my name off of the list of invitees.
Scenario 2: Accepting a Gift
It
Kraig Henry Sr.
Kaplan University
CJ340
Prof. Selves
Lon L. Fuller, former Carter Professor of Jurisprudence at Harvard Law School, observed in The Morality of Law, “Even if a man is answerable only to his conscience, he will answer more responsibly if he is compelled to articulate principles on which he acts.”
Source: Fuller, L. (1975). The morality of law. (p. 159). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Scenario 1: Drugs at a Friend’s House
You are an off-duty police officer at a party at the house of an old high school friend. Everyone is still in the backyard drinking. You go into the house to use the restroom and observe several of your friend’s friends (whom you do not know) snorting cocaine. You do not know whether your friend has knowledge that people are using drugs in his house.
There are a couple moral problems presented in this scenario. As a police officer you do not want to be present where illegal activity is being conducted, that’s a serious conflict of interest. Another is, you can’t dictate what types of behavior goes on in your friends house, if it were your house that would be something different. If you were on duty there would be a legal requirement for you to get involved, friend or no friend. The fact that you are off duty allows for a certain level of flexibility as well. Not knowing how much cocaine is there, the number of people inside the house, officer safety issues, etc. there’s a level of discretion to be considered. As a friend I’d inform my friend of the activity that I witnessed taking place inside of his house and the position that that puts me in. As a police officer, I’d inform my friend of the potential loses that he/she could incur should the police get called to the house. I’d also let the friend know that if this is the type of activity that goes on at their parties, that they should take my name off of the list of invitees.
Scenario 2: Accepting a Gift
It