Rhode Island Legislative Immunity Brief
I just obtained <a href="http://www.northhaveninfo.org/resources/RI+Memo.pdf" target="”_blank”">the Rhode
Island Ethics Commission's memorandum</a> in support of its
jurisdiction over legislators, which was contested by the former state
senate president William V. Irons, as discussed in <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/562" target="”_blank”">an earlier blog entry</a>.
The argument of the EC's brief is not typical, because the ethics
commission and code were created pursuant to a 1986 constitutional
amendment. Therefore, the principal argument for legislative immunity
involves the harmonizing of the state's Speech in Debate clause with
the amendment. The court, however, harmonized the two differently,
considering it more important to preserve two apparently conflicting
provisions wherever possible. Of course, the judge didn't do this, but
actually eviscerated one of the most important parts of the ethics
amendment, because state legislators' misconduct was central to the writing and passing of the ethics amendment.<br>
<br>
We should know soon whether the Ethics Commission will be appealing the
decision, and if so, on what grounds.<br>