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Good samaritan law controversy
Pros and cons of the good samaritan law
Pros and cons of the good samaritan law
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A Good Samaritan Law is Never a Good Idea
Less than one year ago, the largest television audience since the series finale of M*A
*S*H tuned in to watch the last episode of Seinfeld As the nation watched, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer said farewell with the arrest, trial, and conviction of violating a Good Samaritan law. While this made for a hilarious television show, this law itself seems to both contradict its essence as well as violate the right to freedom of choice of a citizen. The Good Samaritan law, which requires a bystander to provide aid to those who are in harm’s way if there is no apparent immediate danger to the bystander, encroaches upon the rights of a citizen. This law is an inexcusable violation of American civil liberties and should be stricken from the records, leaving only people’s moral compasses as their guide.
The morality of this law is relatively simple: help those in trouble. Generally society
seems to consider it a moral obligation to prevent the injury of another person, sometimes even at risk to one’s self. People who do not help others in need are frequently bad examples for the rest of the world. For example, in Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge is infamous for his selfishness and disregard for the well-being of others such as Bob Cratchett and his family (barely paying him and not allowing him more than a day for Christmas). Scrooge’s partner, Jacob Marley, is damned for the same type of crimes. The only path to redemption for Ebeneezer is through helping others who are in need: giving food to the Cratchetts and caring for a sickly Tiny Tim.
While Scrooge had a moral reason to help others, there was no Constitutional burden to
do so. If the federal...
... middle of paper ...
...ce call buttons more accessible to the public since many are willing to contact the law enforcement officials.
Although Jerry and Elaine can not seem to provide more than a few jokes when seeing
their fellow man in trouble, the majority of Americans seem to be willing to help. Despite several incidents to the contrary, the morals of most people will guide them. These less-talked-about occasions in which people called the police, yelled for help, or even tried to physically stop attackers outweigh the apathetic few. With these facts in mind, this law presents unacceptable violations of the freedom of liberty. Ultimately, then, Good Samaritan laws are both unnecessary and dangerous.
Bibliography
“Good Samaritan Laws are Questionable.” alt.politics.lawenforcenieflt.Ca.Com (12 October 1998)
“Rapist-Murderer Case.” alt.adoption.com (03 September 1998).
... so is sacrificial to one’s rights, it puts them in an undesirable position where they may be harmed as well, and success at being an upstander is not guaranteed. Perpetrators tyrannize those who are unable to stand up for themselves; like how predators seek out the vulnerable preys. Hence, instead of having bystanders to stand up for the victim, the victim should stand up for him/herself. In addition, unlike what Lehrman believes, bystanders are not the most dangerous to the victim; the perpetrator is. Saying that bystanders are the most dangerous is is like saying that if one witnesses something, then he/she is a criminal. Consequently, saying that bystanders should stand up for victims against perpetrators is illogical and naive. Concisely, it is not another’s responsibility to ensure one’s safety and wellness; instead, it is one’s responsibility to do so.
Scrooge was and owner of a factory and made a whole bunch of money, but he did not care about anyone else. “Merry Christmas said his nephew, what right do have to be merry you are poor enough”. This shows that scrooge is mean to family and does not care about Christmas.
The prima facie duties that William David Ross has listed include duties of fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement, and non-maleficence. Duties of fidelity and reparation rest on previous acts that one has performed, and acting on these duties are acts such as promise-keeping (duties of fidelity) and making amends for previous wrongful acts (duties of reparation), while duties of gratitude rest on previous acts that others have performed. There is a duty associated with the distribution of pleasure or good regardless of its recipient, and this is termed as duties of justice. An additional duty rests on the mere fact that there are other beings in this world to whom we can be of assistance to: duties of beneficence. Duties of self-improvement claim that there are intrinsic moral reasons for one to improve oneself and finally, duties of non-maleficence states that there are intrinsic moral reasons to not harm others. Duties are placed on the list only when they have been judged to be basic moral reaso...
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Scrooge is a great example of the wealthy, who never gave to the poor and would rarely put money into charities. Dickens was appalled by the conditions the working class had to endure. “Dickens felt that self-interest, uncontrolled, subject to the passions and desires
Swift, Jonathan. "A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public." 1729. Rpt. in Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Ed. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. Boston, MA: St. Martin's 1996. 111-117.
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Scrooge answered the question by stating “Are there no prisons”?(Dickens 9) Scrooge viewed poor people as unimportant and useless to society. This outlook caused poor people to remain in the state of poverty.In this economy the poor remain poor and the rich remain rich. There is no way to get out of the poor state you are in. Scrooge was being selfish and not thinking about other people. However, at this stage of his life it 's hard for him to realize that the choices he is making is bad.”The chain I forged in life”.(Dickens 31) Marley was just like Scrooge in terms of he was only worried about himself and didn 't care about others. Now he is wearing chains and is condemned to misery after failing to benefit others and be of any use. Scrooge never realized that Marley was in this state and he doesn 't realize that he will be in the same position if he does not change. However, in the society the rich don 't necessarily realize the affect they have on others. In fact at first Scrooge refuses to believe that he actually sees Marley. Dickens uses this to symbolize how people can be blinded by reality. By not recognizing that what you are
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Introduction This paper examines the concept of charity from the ethical perspective and its impact on an individual and society as a whole. The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need as a humanitarian act. Charity is a vast concept; it can be understood as a form of practice or virtue. Thus, this paper will try to understand the religious, emotional, social and economical circumstances, which lead to charity, its importance and methods by which we can support it. Further, we will try to analyse whether charity fits the concept of Deontology or Consequencealism.
In Dick Wolf’s television show Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode entitled “Home Invasions” the writer conveys the message that people cannot take the law into their own hand. In the episode the detectives from the New York police department’s special victim’s unit investigate the homicide of a gay rights activist and her husband as well as the attempted homicide of their young daughter. As the investigation progressed throughout the show it is discovered that the father was sexually assaulting his daughter. As a result of this abuse the daughter confided in her housekeeper and the housekeepers brother. The daughter conspired with the housekeeper and the housekeeper’s brother to arrange the homicide of her parents. I agree with
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On a closing note, here is a copy of Indiana's Good Samaritan Law as an example of
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