Is it ethical to turn your brother in for a murder?

Yes

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by Dean Ralph

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Under most circumstances this would be a definite yes. There are those circumstances in which self defense would be a viable argument where you may or may not feel that the person killed was deserving of the crime. Morally and probably ethically you should either turn your brother in to the authorities or convince them to turn themselves in. However, with the uncertainty involved in trials, one could understand not turning him in.

If I was aware that one of my brothers had committed murder, the proper thing to do from a family standpoint is to speak with them and try to convince them to do the right thing and turn themselves in. Explain to them that in the eyes of the authorities and the courts, it would show at least a little responsibility on their part. This, in turn, could mean the difference between life and life without parole or in some cases death. It would also eliminate the possibility of your family member being harmed during arrest.

There may even be those cases where you fear for your life or the lives of others if your brother were to remain free after committing a murder. In these cases I would recommend going to the authorities and not talking to the brother first. In any of the above circumstances one has the moral and ethical obligation to society to remove the threat of further violence from your brother. It is reasonable to assume that if a person commits out right murder, that person is capable and, most likely, willing to do it again. especially if they have gotten away with it before.

There is also one more factor to take into consideration. Justice for the victim and justice for the surviving family members. Consider how you and your family would feel if one of yours had been murdered and no one had been brought to justice. For the sole purpose of peace of mind for the survivors, all people with knowledge of a crime such as murder or rape, has the moral obligation to assist authorities in bringing justice to the perpetrator of the crime, regardless of their relationship to that person.

There are laws in place to prevent people from attempting to cover a crime, whether they cover by their direct assistance or by ommission of information to authorities. Aiding and abetting, Harboring and obstruction of justice are crimes that are usually only used as bargaining chips on the part of authorities to persuade people into doing the right thing. Depending on the nature of the original crime, these crimes can carry just a fine or even prison terms of 10 years. or sometimes even longer. Just the fact that these laws are needed shows how ideas of ethics and morality can differ among what would normally be considered 'Law abiding citizens'. If these laws were not needed, there would be no need for this topic either.

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