Death penalty dilemma

[2952-0-0]

You are an official at the US Department of Justice. Someone from the Chinese Embassy meets you with a request. A Communist Party official is on trial in China accused of taking millions in bribes and embezzling millions in public funds. The prosecution alleges that the dirty money was laundered and ended up in a bank account in New York. As a result, the embassy requests that you apply for a subpoena to order the bank to hand over statements. All legal experts agree that if the prosecution obtains the bank information, the official will be convicted, sentenced to death, and shot. Therefore, your dilemma is whether to fight for the subpoena, or whether to ignore the request.

Assume the trial is fair, and that there are no statutes or treaties constraining your actions.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'd resign.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Ignore the request.

[Countess Anya of the North Parish]

Ignore the request.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Ignore the request, but not because of any death penalty dilemna.

[minionofmidas]

Isn't it usually possible to cooperate with other countries' legal systems on condition that the death penalty not be an option. That's what happens when the US wants a murderer extradited from Europe, for instance.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Isn't it usually possible to cooperate with other countries' legal systems on condition that the death penalty not be an option. That's what happens when the US wants a murderer extradited from Europe, for instance.

This option would be the best one, but I doubt Chineses would accept.

[Franzl]

I would comply.

[Richard]

Comply and ask for the video of the execution so it can be put on Youtube.

[Dr. Cynic]

I would ignore or openly refuse the request.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Openly refuse the request.

[perdedor]

I request the subpeona. I am not in favor of the U.S. subverting foreign countries systems of justice.

[Ebowed]

Openly refuse the request.

Indeed.

[Mint]

Refuse.

[JSojourner]

Openly refuse the request.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Ignore the request. Based on the fact that a) it comes from the Chinese government and b) it involves the death penalty.

However, the real question is: Would this Chinese Embassy official be willing to bribe the American DOJ official in order to get the proof that the Communist Party official in question is corrupt?

[Torie]

I would follow US law on the matter in this instance. The sentence does not quite shock my conscience to a sufficient degree to resign, and even if I did resign, someone else would fulfill the request, so it would be kind of pointless to do as a faceless bureaucrat, but in a more extreme case (say the death penalty for someone who had an illegal second child or something), assuming it would not put my family into penury, I might resign if I thought I could make a media splash over it.

By the way, state department officials don't apply for subpoenas on behalf of foreign governments. Foreign governments hire their own lawyers, and go to court for that task, so as to the poll question, N/A.

If I was given discretion on the matter (is that implied by the question, that there is discretion, as opposed to this being a ministerial act by a faceless bureaucrat), then I would refuse.