Criminal Justice - Do you consider police deception during interrogation to be ethically justified? Identify the ethical system(s) you are using to support your stance.

Running head : ETHICAL LYING

The Morality of the Police Lying to People Being Interrogated

John Q . Student

Wright State University

Abstract

The Morality of the Police Lying to People Being Interrogated

On a purely utilitarian basis it is clear that society as a whole would benefit if the act of lying to a person during an interrogation resulted in discovering the truth . Of course the weakness of a utilitarian ethical system is that it fails to account for the rights of an individual , in this case the person with rights

that might be violated would be the person being interrogated

One must determine if an individual has the right to be told the truth If there is such a right then there is a corresponding duty for someone to tell the truth to him or her

One must ask him or herself where this alleged right to be told the truth comes from . In Judeo-Christian literature there is a proscription that may apply . In the Ten Commandments the ninth commandment requires that one not make false testimony against one 's neighbor . Does this requirement prohibit lying ? It is clear that all false testimony would be a lie , but it is also just as clear that there are many lies that have nothing to do with making false testimony . If woman asks her husband if he likes her new hairstyle which he thinks is hideous , and he tells her that he does , it is a lie , but does not appear to be false testimony . Even if the Ninth Commandment did prohibit lying , the prohibition does not necessitate that someone has the right to be told the truth

Another possible for such a write may be a natural right . In the Declaration of Independence , Jefferson lists some of these : life liberty , and the pursuit of happiness . There does not appear to be a provision for a right to be told the truth

The last place where such a right may be proscribed is in the Bill of Rights . The First Amendment provides "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech . or the right of the people peacefully to assemble , and to petition the Government for redress of grievances " One would think that if the Founding Fathers wanted to specify a right to be told the truth they would have done so here where they were specifying other rights . They did not do so . Therefore there does not appear to be a Constitutional Right to be told the truth

In conclusion , it appears that the police lying to persons they are interrogating may provide the greatest good for the people as a whole and that doing so does not violate any rights of the person being question . Therefore , it is not immoral for the police to lie to a person being interrogated

POLICE LYING

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