In this week’s case study, we are tasked with learning about the story of Adam Allen, who posted explicit pictures of his ex-girlfriend to their friends and family, with the intention to embarrass her in the public eye. Consequently, he was labeled as a sex offender.
The Hasinhoff article mainly discusses the legalities of Allen’s case and the media response garnered. From the Markkula Center’s identification of different ethical approaches, the Rights approach is a fair catalyst to assess the outcome of the case. The Rights approach revolves around the fact that humans “have a dignity based on their human nature… on their ability to choose freely what they do with their lives”(Markkula Center, 2018). This approach is relative to this case because, although she was underage as humans and as young adults, we have the right to live our lives in the way we choose too; although the girl might have needed some parent supervision, not everyone has that opportunity. Furthermore, Allen broke an unspoken personal rule and the spoken rule of law regarding matters like this.
In my opinion, I believe the punishment given to Allen was fair. He made a terrible mistake and essentially ruined a young girls’ life because of it. Whether he had Ill intent or not, he deserved the full consequences of his actions, and the five years of probation combined with the other requirements for rehabilitation were fair. Although Allen publicly apologized, a crime of this magnitude would most likely have gained no sympathy from the girl’s family, and if I was in their shoes, I myself would most likely not have even wanted one. All in all, we are free to express ourselves; however we like, but we must also be mindful of others’ rights and work within the law regarding other people’s privacy.
Works cited:
Hasinoff, A. A. (2017). Sexting and privacy violations: A case study of sympathy and blame. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 11(2), 202–217. Retrieved from https://www.cybercrimejournal.com/Hasinoffvol11issue2IJCC2017.pdf (Links to an external site.). DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1037391
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. (2018). A Framework For Ethical Decision Making. Santa Clara University. Retrieved from https://www.scu.edu/media/ethics-center/ethical-decision-making/A-Framework-for-Ethical-Decision-Making.pdf
