Reading - A Crime of Shadows

Knowledge I gained from the reading:
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Reading this article left me with disappointment and confusion. Everything happened in this case seemed to me as unethical and unlawful. The knowledge I gained by reading this article is that life is not always fair. Even though J committed or a despicable crime being a family man and created ethical issues by his questionable conduct, he did not commit a crime that he got punishment for. Most important knowledge I gained from this case is that, you are not always judged by your intention but mostly by your conduct.

Personal insights I am able to make from the reading:
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It seemed to me that J was caught between the law and unethical conduct. J got the punishment he deserved, for doing something no family man should do even though the way he was arrested by the police did not seem to be fair to him when we hear J’s side of the story. Personal insight in this story for me is, we should keep ourselves away from forbidden temptations and play by the rule and ethics.

Questions and challenges the reading has left me with:
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I could understand how strongly Michele Deery felt about arresting and putting online predators out of the streets and behind the bars. However, I felt that she did not play totally by the rules and her conduct of luring J into something he claimed he did not intend to do seemed to me as of a kind of abuse. The question this story left me with is that, why Deery did not stop communicating with J when over and over she saw that his interests were not along the line with what she was looking for in a predator. Another question I have is that why she was not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt by meeting with him first? She could have worn a wire and recorded their conversation and get his intention in record after meeting him for real.

Practical and personal applications I am able to make for the knowledge gained:
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Reading this story, I have learned that, one should never do anything unethical or something that is not widely accepted by the society. Law does not go by what we say our intention is but law requires evidence. So, one should always abide by the laws of a society.

Reference:
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Mark Bowden. (2009, December). A Crime of Shadows. Vanity Fair.