Ontological_Ethics

Ontology is the study of the natural existence. (Dictionary, 2010) Ontological ethics is the existence of ethics. In the case of Thomas Miller-El ontological ethics is the examination of the factual and ethical information. Thomas Miller-El stood trial and was convicted of shooting two hotel clerks, one of which died. The jurors who convicted Miller-El guilty were nine whites, one Filipino, one Hispanic, and one African American. Miller-El took an ontology ethical stand when he noticed the lack of minorities on his jury. Miller-El asked the Texas Board of Pardons to commute his sentence and appeal his case to the U.S. Supreme Court on the ground that the jury that convicted him was chosen using racial discriminatory standards that have been applied by the Dallas County district attorney’s office in many cases. (Banks, 2009) Two other cases support the ethical ontology of Miller-El’s claim; the Batson v. Kentucky case in 1986 and an article that was published in 1963. The Baston v. Kentucky case consisted of prosecutors excluding minorities in court cases. The article published in 1963 contained information on four former prosecutors who served during 1977-1989 and used discrimination in the jury selection. The facts are there. Ontological ethics in the Thomas Miller-El is the existence of the unethical actions taken by the prosecutors during jury selections. References Banks, C. (2009). Criminal justice ethics: Theory and practice (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. Dictionary. Ontology. 2010. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ontology