Re:CIA black site detainee served as training prop to teach ...
by endominus on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @08:53PM
(#30693960)
Certainly, but it appeared to me that the post claiming that what the police did was wrong was indeed operating from the framework that a police department not subjecting itself to the laws it upheld was wrong in the deontological sense. Hence the claim "Yes, obviously. At the very least, they very obviously broke a law. They should file charges against themselves." That's not a utilitarian statement - it operates from the framework that the action itself regardless of circumstances was wrong, and while a jury or judge could exonerate them, they still have the duty to place themselves under arrest.
That...depends on your chosen deontological framework. In deontological ethics some acts are morally obligatory (or prohibited) independent of their effects on human welfare, but which acts are obligatory or prohibited depends on the deontological framework selected.
You could select a deontological framework where “obedience to the letter of the law” is always morally obligatory, but I think most people who subscribe to deontological ethics would nonetheless reject that framework.