media law and ethics 300: ethics paper

8/12/2019 Media Law and Ethics 300: Ethics Paper

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Stephanie Probert

Ethics Paper

Comms 300 Media Ethics

Whisenant

Due: February 11, 2013

A judge has declared Ronell Wilson eligible for the death sentence for the murder

of two New York City police officers. The case has been on hold for years, but was

recently brought back into the media spotlight because there was speculation that Wilson

might be considered mentally retarded, which would lessen his punishment. After

numerous IQ tests, it was found that he is not retarded and is mentally capable and

functional.

If Wilson were declared mentally retarded it would have been illegal to sentence

him to death because of the Eight Amendment, which would deem the sentence as cruel

and unusual punishment. Wilson would also be covered by the Federal Death Penalty Act

which states that a sentence of death shall not be carried out upon a person who is

mentally retarded.

Multiple issues can be identified from this case. Is the death penalty ethical?

Does the state have the power to take lives of citizens? Can people claim mental illness to

avoid punishment? Can the state put a number on someones intellectual ability? With all

of these ethical issues, there is one that I will focus on in this paper. The ethical issue here

is that some people are covered, while others are not, despite the fact that they all are not

at a full mental capacity.

According to Death Penalty Focus, mental illness is defined as any of various

conditions characterized by impairment of an individual's normal cognitive, emotional, or

behavioral functioning, and caused by social, psychological, biochemical, genetic, or


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With ethical issues such as this one it is extremely difficult to draw a fine line of

what is acceptable and what is not. There are so many factors and each case is unique.

However, applying ethical constructs can help us make hard ethical decisions.

media law and ethics 300: ethics paper

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