Administrative Responsibility

Project description
This week, we are talking about scandals in public administration and what better way than to lead off with the recent Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, where several U.S. Secret Service agents were engaging in not only unethical but illegal (in the United States) behavior just before the President arrived. What is perhaps most important for our purposes in this final forum is what happened after the agents came back. Several were relieved of duty, others are fighting charges against them.

For our discussion, your response should attempt to answer the following question: what actions should an administrative agency take when its employees engage in unethical or unlawful behavior, either on or off duty, in the U.S. or abroad. The question may not be as easy to answer as you think. Review the defenses of the Secret Service agents, which you can research online, and consider the merits of their arguments.