Examplification Case

In 2004 we were all stunned by the news of Martha Stewart, the celebrity homemaker, who was accused of insider trading. Martha, along with her high powered stock broker, was convicted and sentenced to five months in jail. Like Martha, there are many people who consider themselves to be law abiding citizens but break the law on a selective basis.

Trevor Good was the average teenager, whose plans for life were abundant. Trevor and his girlfriend attended a party at a friend's house and, although quite intoxicated decided to drive home. That night, alcohol combined with inexperience, caused a terrible accident and now Trevor is serving time in jail for breaking the law by driving while intoxicated. The worst end to this story is that Trevor's girlfriend and another friend lost their lives that night as well.

Not all decisions to break the law have a tragic ending. Basketball fans will remember Tim Donaghy, the rogue NBA referee, accused of game-fixing. Tim was accused of betting on games in the NBA which angered many people. It was unclear whether or not Tim betted against games he officiated or just against the games he did not. His actions resulted in threats on his life and the possibility of a witness protection program for Tim and his family.

I consider myself to be a model citizen, but driving in to work one morning, I made an impromptu decision to follow the actions of the driver in front of me. About one and a half miles away from my exit, I found myself being caught in traffic. The driver in front of me made the decision to drive on the shoulder to get to the exit. Not wanting to get to work late, I decided to follow him. Just before we got to the entrance of the exit, we did not observe a state trooper who was stuck in traffic just like we were. The trooper used the opportunity to ticket us both.

The decision I made, to drive on the shoulder was wrong, but I made the choice to do it anyway. I took a chance at something