Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said, “Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.” In the decision regarding Susan Atkins plea for “compassionate release” based on a terminal illness, I choose compassion.  But not in the way you might think. When I first read “Manson, Murder and Mercy”...

“I formed my opinion before finishing the second paragraph.” So began one of several observations regarding my July 1st commentary about a choice before the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation concerning convicted murderer Susan Atkins:  she would either continue to serve a life sentence or be given a “compassionate release” due to a terminal illness. A June 13, Los...

Here’s your dilemma: You are an ethicist who has been asked by a prison board to offer an opinion concerning the possible release of an inmate. A notorious prisoner – convicted of multiple murders – has served almost 40 years of a life sentence.  Recently, the prisoner has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and has petitioned the board to...

“The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security,” Pope Benedict XVI told the United Nations General Assembly in a speech Friday (April 18). “Indeed, the victims of hardship and despair, whose human dignity is violated with impunity, become easy prey to the call to violence… “…every...