If you were a sitting judge, and a young attorney came to you with an improper request, not offering money in exchange, would you, as an older, wiser mentor, immediately admonish him to refrain from his course, or would you play along and eventually ask for a sum of money if you performed the request, wearing wiretaps in the process?
Doesn't ethics precede law? Ethics can be defined as the extra-legal rules that govern our behavior.
At a specific moment in time, Judge Henry Lackey must have thought it best to see where things might lead, instead of pre-empting a possible bribe. He had the choice to prevent a more serious crime from being commited, or to lead the attorney down the primrose path.
If my daughter came to me telling me that she wanted to be a prostitute, I would do all I could to stop her from doing so. If I were a coach and one of my players came to me and told me he knew the sideline signals of the oppossing team, I would stop him in his tracks. If I were Captain in the Army and one of my soldiers wanted to execute a prisoner of war, I would, of course, stop him.
If I were a judge, and someone asked a favor, not a bribe, but an improper favor, would I stop him in his tracks as a leader and mentor, or play along until I finally had to ask for money myself? I would admonish him to refrain from his improper approach to me. Not play along.
