write ae research paper on an important ethical subject where they develop and ethics policy. In essence, you have the opportunity to solve an ethical dilemma on a grand scale. Students should identify an ethical topic they are interested in studying and create a policy and/or a recommendation to a state governing agency about how this ethical issue should be handled moving forward. Your choices should be fueled by empirical research and scholarly sources on the subject. This ethical issue will impact more than just your own individual self—it will affect the lives of all those across the state or even the country. Your job is to write a research paper for the state governor to use as the basis for his/her decision on this issue.

As you write your paper, consider the moral rules that will support your decision.
 

General structure of your policy analysis
1. Conduct a brief review/synopsis of the relevant facts.
2. Identify what you believe to be the major ethical issues and the relevant underlying values of each opposing side.
3. Set forth your recommendations for the continued use, modification, or discontinuation of this policy. Your decision must have some sort of rationale behind it. This is where you will present an answer to the policy issue at hand. Before you can do this, you will have to decide on what ethical system underlies your analysis. There is no right/wrong system of ethics—choose the one with which you most closely identify. If you are a utilitarian, your stance may be very different than if you identify with ethical formalism or an ethic of care. But, as we know from our class exercises, despite our different ethical systems, we may encounter the same results.
 

Some topic suggestions:
 

1. A policy of racial profiling by police officers to reduce and prevent crime on the streets.
2. The use of plea-bargaining for defendants charged with felonies.
3. The waiver of very young offenders (namely, “kids that kill”) to adult court and making them subject to adult processing and punishment.
4. The use of rehabilitation as the dominant model for corrections.
5. The use of restorative justice programs.
6. The use of “chain gangs,” “tent city,” and other novel punishments and how they impact prisoner rights.