Steven Lee Miller

Heroes or Despicable Scoundrels? Steven Lee Miller

In 1967, Iowa farmhouse owner Edward Briney, was concerned about the recent burglaries in his rural community. He boarded up his house, placed no trespassing signs around the property's perimeter, and rigged a 20-gauge shotgun to go off at the knees of any unwanted intruder opening a closed interior bedroom door. A month later, the farmhouse was broken into by Marvin Katko, who was shot in his legs. Katko, the burglar, sued Briney and won the case for his injuries and was awarded the entire Briney farm. The case was appealed all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court, where the decision was affirmed. Did good prevail over bad? Was this the correct decision?Tyler Short is unhappy with the pay and prospects of his current career. He is afraid of taking on new risks, yet considers a new opportunity to making a living, one that his father has moral issues with. Tyler is referred to 92-year-old Thornton Howard III, considered a trusted community member, man of great wisdom, and professional ethicist. Rather than simply telling Tyler, 'yes it is, or not it isn't ethical', Thornton uses a method of telling stories of others, also confronted with ethical dilemmas, and allows Tyler to make the decision on his own. The stories in this book are snapshots of fictional people making choices-some justified, some evil, and some where the actor, just doesn't know. Can we be good people that have done bad things? Can bad people do good things? Our challenge is to distinguish good from bad in a life of gray.