Law & Ethics Mark Quiner, Director NCSL Center for Ethics in Government, February, 2017
Ethics in the News WA Rep. Stambaugh welcomes ethics board into 21 st century US Supreme Court overturns VA Gov. McDonnell conviction Ethics Director resigns; Trump waives ethics requirements for 17 Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Indicted
Today s Ethics News Ethical hacking course: combat cybercrime Millennials want ethical snacks to go Ethics Teachers Training Course in Mongolia Shape app helps you learn how to invest the ethical way
Ethics Principles: integrity, trust & honesty; doing the right thing Professional and personal standards of conduct A system of moral principles
Law-Based Ethics (little e ) Oversight Conflicts of interest Gifts Disclosure Open meetings Formal written laws, rules
Value-Based Ethics (Big E ) Standards of conduct Moral judgment Adherence to laws and rules Core values, principles Public perception
Two Types of Ethics Law-based ethics (little e ) Right versus wrong Laws, rules, policies, guidelines What must we do? Why do good people still make bad choices? Value-based ethics (Big E ) Right versus right No formal guidance values or principles What should we do? Gray areas can be confusing
Character vs. Reputation Character who you are in the dark Reputation who you are in the light Vegas is wrong! Public vs. private life Big E vs. little e GOAL = Authentic life
Ethical Decisions Which Way to Go?
What Guides Your Use of Social Media? Laws? Policies? Rules? Values? Principles?
Ethical Choices/Social Media: Feeling: make me/supervisor uncomfortable? Appearance: of impropriety? Integrity: intact? Risk: anyone at risk?
Rules of Social Media Use Avoid the appearance of impropriety Think, think, think again; act or react Don t be mean simply be nice Ethan Wilson, NCSL
Suggestions from NCSL's Center for Ethics in Government Protect the integrity of the institution. Be prudent. Be responsible for what you write. Respect the audience. Be authentic.
Dangers of social media 80%% of burglars will utilize social media to determine their next victims Insurance companies are increasingly denying claims for criminal loss of property where the insured posted information on social media making them an easy target
Suggestions: Don t post pictures online of gifts or valuables. Don t post pictures inside or outside your home. Wait until you re back home from a vacation before posting vacation pics/videos. Don t check in on social media as to your whereabouts. Review the share "settings on social media. The Wyoming Lawyer Magazine
One last tip - when things go wrong Controversial comments Address comment Offline contact Discuss resolution Explanation Issue Apology Do it quickly Be respectful "I'm sorry."
How Do I Make Ethical Choices? Do what is best for the most people. Follow your highest sense of principle. Do what you want others to do to you. Pit of your stomach?
Case Study: To Hire or Not? You are interviewing job candidates to be your intern. One candidate in particular stands out as being the most qualified, and knocked the interview out of the park. You are almost ready to call him to offer him the job when you decide to run a last minute Google check on his name. Google leads you to a Facebook page where the candidate has demonstrated some questionable judgment. You find pictures posted of him at college fraternity parties, see comments from his friends that reference less-thancircumspect behavior, and note that some of his likes and activities and interests are bordering on inappropriate. Some of his friends include well-known capitol lobbyists. He does not discuss much in the way of politics, however, and there is no mention of his job history, nor does he discuss his job as far as you can tell. It seems he keeps his page for mainly personal use. Do you have an ethical dilemma? What values may be in conflict? Should a legislative job candidate s Facebook profile be a factor in the hiring decision? What if he did discuss politics or work on his page? Is it ok for a legislative staffer to have friends who are lobbyists? Would you feel comfortable allowing an intern to discuss his job and work on his personal social media sites? What do you do? Do you even mention it to him?
Discuss and Debate
Making Ethical Choices Involves: Moral judgment and ethical decisions Mismatched duties & conflicting claims Ethical, legal, practical considerations Motive Seriousness of issue/offense Price tag: career, cost, courage
Ethical Dilemma: How Do You Know? Mom or child test Headline test Stench Gut test
Getting Guidance Apply legal and rule guidelines. Know your personal and professional values. Get advice from a trusted advisor: staff attorney, colleague, spouse, friend. Look for on-the-job lessons. Anticipate ethical hot spots.
When Faced with an Ethical Dilemma Recognize there is an ethical issue. Gather facts and define the problem. Can rules or laws solve it? If not, what values conflict? Analyze your options. Act. Reflect.
Ethics Takes Courage Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without courage you can t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but not consistently without courage. Maya Angelou
Do ethics matter?
Life goes on.
More info found at: Thank you! ncsl.org/research/ethics Mark.quiner@ncsl.org