Ethics Focus: Justice or Mercy?
You are a member of a state parole board. You and the other members have the power to grant medical parole or compassionate release. You have a decision to make. Doctors have declared that an inmate is in the final stages of brain cancer. This inmate is a virtual invalid. He is bedridden, barely conscious, and presents no threat to staff or the other inmates. The only liability he seems to pose at this time is the cost to the prison system for his medical care, which is enormous.
The inmate is serving a long prison sentence for rape. Although he has served several years, he has several more years to serve before his sentence has been completed, and he will not live to complete his sentence. The inmate's family is begging you and the other parole board members to allow his release so he can spend his dying days in their home. You are also besieged with the same request from prisoners' rights groups. However, the victim, still traumatized even years after the rape occurred, is urging you to deny his release. That sentiment is shared by victims' rights groups in your state who maintain that the inmate deserves to die in prison, and that he showed no compassion for his victim while raping her. Prison authorities want to rid themselves of the cost and labor required to care for this inmate who poses no threat to society if released. You are feeling pressure from all sides.
-What are some of the factors that would lead you to recommend his compassionate release?

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The Answer of Ethics Focus: Justice or Mercy?
You are a member of a state parole board. You and the other members have the power to grant medical parole or compassionate release. You have a decision to make. Doctors have declared that an inmate is in the final stages of brain cancer. This inmate is a virtual invalid. He is bedridden, barely conscious, and presents no threat to staff or the other inmates. The only liability he seems to pose at this time is the cost to the prison system for his medical care, which is enormous.
The inmate is serving a long prison sentence for rape. Although he has served several years, he has several more years to serve before his sentence has been completed, and he will not live to complete his sentence. The inmate's family is begging you and the other parole board members to allow his release so he can spend his dying days in their home. You are also besieged with the same request from prisoners' rights groups. However, the victim, still traumatized even years after the rape occurred, is urging you to deny his release. That sentiment is shared by victims' rights groups in your state who maintain that the inmate deserves to die in prison, and that he showed no compassion for his victim while raping her. Prison authorities want to rid themselves of the cost and labor required to care for this inmate who poses no threat to society if released. You are feeling pressure from all sides.
-What are some of the factors that would lead you to recommend his compassionate release?