Story Archives of 'Ethics'

Supreme Court punishment is 12 times longer than that sought by the judicial conduct committee. It comes as lawmakers ready for removal proceedings backed by Governor Lynch.

The measure has the backing of Governor Lynch and comes just days before the Supreme Court weighs whether a censure and 3 month suspension is proper punishment for Patricia Coffey’s admitted role in shielding her husband’s assets from creditors during his 2005 disbarment.

Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is doing quite well in Iowa, fueled by support from social conservatives.

The question in New Hampshire is how well he can move beyond that base.

Much of his appeal here is the sense that he’s an honest man.

But New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports during his ten years as governor, the issues of ethics did come up.

Trouble in pro sports is nothing new, but recently it dominates headlines from baseball to biking to basketball! We’ll talk with the author of a new book who says this trend of cheating, doping and bad behavior in sports reflects our hyper-competitive society – and what he calls “the erosion of the American sporting ethos”.

Guest

• Joel Nathan Rosen: author of “The Erosion of the American Sporting Ethos: Shifting Attitudes Towards Competition” and assistant professor of sociology at Moravian College in Pennsylvania

The story of a severely mentally and physically disabled Seattle girl known only as Ashley has rippled through the public conscience in recent weeks. Ashley's parents had a group of procedures they call "The Ashley Treatment" performed on the child to stunt her growth and remove her breast tissue and uterus so that she could be at a small enough size to allow her to continue to be part of the family. They say it is for her good so that she can be loved and cuddled and cared for, but others say it is just a matter of convenience for the parents, who would have a hard time dealing with a larger disabled child. Either way, this particular case has raised the discussion on where the line is with genetic alteration, what is acceptable, what is not, when it is for convenience and when it is for the health of the child. Today on The Exchange, we discuss the many medical and ethical questions raised by this case and get your thoughts as well.

Laura's guests are Dr. Sam Casella, Section Chief for Pediatric Endocrinology at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and Dr. Carl Cooley, Medical Director for Crotched Mountain, Developmental Pediatrician and Former Director of the Dartmouth Center for Genetics and Child Development.