LSN: Ethical Issues (Topic)最新文献

{"title":"The Criminal Conflicts Paradox","authors":"D. McGowan","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3103181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3103181","url":null,"abstract":"Prosecutors may seek to disqualify defense counsel based on conflicts among defendants. In doing so prosecutors do not assert rights of current, former, or prospective clients, as in the usual conflicts assertion. They instead assert other interests, the most concrete of which is the interest in not wasting resources in a retrial if a conviction is tainted by a conflict. Wheat v. United States sets a lenient standard for assessing such assertions. Judges may disqualify defense counsel even if the relevant parties are willing to waive conflicts that should be waivable as both a positive and normative matter. Wheat rested this standard on a set of concerns that are insufficient to justify its holding. As colloquy at argument showed, the Court was particularly concerned that defendants would not be held to waivers but instead would challenge on appeal even knowing and intelligent waivers of waivable conflicts. Wheat was wrong on the facts, wrong on the law, and sets bad policy. It was wrong on the facts because the conflict at issue was waivable and the trial court abused its discretion in holding that it was not. It was wrong on the law because it collapsed materially different conflicts into one category and because it refused to decide whether a knowing waiver would bind a court. It set bad policy because it sought to offset the free option of appeal with a free option to prosecutors to challenge defense counsel. The Court's concern illustrates the risk to defendants of permissive standards of appeal. A defendant unable to commit credibly to a waiver may lose the benefits a waiver would provide, with little or no gain to offset the loss. This paper frames the problem of permissive standards of appeal by drawing a partial analogy to the familiar \"lemons\" framework. The problem is discussed more fully in future work.","PeriodicalId":364523,"journal":{"name":"LSN: Ethical Issues (Topic)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129778044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Attitudes Toward Tax Evasion: A Demographic Study of Switzerland","authors":"Robert W. McGee, A. Ross","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2410556","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2410556","url":null,"abstract":"A number of studies have examined the relationship between tax collection and various demographic variables. However, until recently most of those studies have involved a United States sample population. The Internal Revenue Service provides demographic data for researchers on a regular basis. The present study goes beyond those studies in several important ways. For one, it uses data on Switzerland taken from the World Values database. Not much work has been done on the Swiss tax or public finance system. Thus, the present study expands on the very limited research done on Swiss public finance. The present study expands on existing literature in at least two other ways as well. For one, it examines how various demographics interact with attitudes toward tax evasion. Secondly, we examine several demographic variables that were not examined in prior studies. One of the questions in the World Values database asked whether it would be justifiable to cheat on taxes if it were possible to do so. Respondents were asked to choose a number from 1 to 10 to indicate the extent of their support for tax evasion. This study examines those responses, both overall and through the prism of more than 20 demographic variables. A trend analysis is also done to determine whether Swiss attitudes regarding tax evasion have changed in recent years. A comparison is made with other ethical issues to determine the relative seriousness of tax evasion. The study found that attitudes toward the justifiability of tax evasion often do differ by demographic variable. Tax evasion was found to be a less serious offense than claiming government benefits to which you are not entitled, taking a bribe, wife beating, and avoiding a fare on public transport and more serious than suicide, prostitution, abortion, euthanasia, divorce and homosexuality. The trend of opinion on the justifiability of tax evasion has been mixed since the first Swiss survey was taken in 1989. General attitudes because more acceptable toward tax evasion in the 1990s, then because far less acceptable toward the practice in the following decade. Although the present study focuses on Switzerland, the methodology used in the present study could serve as a template for research on other countries or regions. A bibliography of further reading is also included, along with links to more than 80 other tax evasion studies.","PeriodicalId":364523,"journal":{"name":"LSN: Ethical Issues (Topic)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126072756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Attorney Ethics","authors":"R. Bernhardt","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2227185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2227185","url":null,"abstract":"Commentary on a recent California decision sanctioning an attorney for charging fees in advance for loan modification services and criticism of the requirement in light of its deterrent effect on lawyer’s willingness to undertake such services for low income borrowers.","PeriodicalId":364523,"journal":{"name":"LSN: Ethical Issues (Topic)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126058035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}