I decided to select chapter 15 to discuss the film, because this chapter covers ethics I felt

there'd be a lot to chew on from an ethical standpoint about all facets of the case concerning
Anthony Porter.

Ethically speaking, what Protess and Ciliano did was abhorrent from nearly every angle. They
violated a man's constitutional rights, impersonated officers, and much more that I don't care to
list in the interest of time.

Protess was clearly an 'ends justify the means' type of man. Machiavelli would be the only figure
from the chapter to endorse the course of action taken in this botched attempt tp undermine
capital punishment. He would have been admonished by Aristotle and his golden mean, falling
squarely on the very end of extremism. Utilitarianism could potentially uphold his actions if one
can definitively prove that overturning the death penalty would lead to greater good for a larger
number of people than those harmed in the process. But the entire debate around the death
penalty is so nebulous that it would be impossible to prove numerically the value or either
having it or not having it, or of how any innocent men would need to be incarcerated in order to
facilitate its removal from law.

The specific scene I chose was when Simon said to the interviewer that he was afraid to go to
court because of the press surrounding the case. his confession tape, which was told to him
would go to the prosecuting attorney's eyes and no others, was instead sold to CBS and aired
everywhere. Courts face a tough line if trying to keep media coverage from interfering with a
verdict, but with a case as sensational as this one was in its heyday you'd have to go to a
remote Buddhist temple to find a jury that was not already familiar and biased with the details.
The debate of the media's role in ethical behavior is less muddy here. What was done was
lying, plain and simple. It was motivated by greed and it trampled and stole years from a man's
life. And it was also in some ways I am sure, illegal. But unfortunately due to the statute of
limitations no charges were brought against them, from what I could tell from the documentary.

All I can say is if Machiavelli is the only guy in your corner, you might want to rethink your
motives.