Nevada Commission on Ethics Appeals Ruling re Its Jurisdiction Over State Legislators

According to an article in yesterday's Nevada Appeal, the Nevada Commission on Ethics has appealed the district court decision which removed its jurisdiction over state legislators participating in legislative conduct. The Commission believes that the legislature waived its sole power to punish its members by recognizing the commission's authority over them in many past cases.

There is a bill before the legislature to create a legislative ethics commission (sorry, I haven't been able to find it, so no link yet). Therefore, even if the appeal were successful, the state ethics commission would lose its jurisdiction over legislators. But EC executive director Patty Cafferata says that the decision to appeal was made before the bill was listed, and it is a matter of principle.

The article suggests that the EC is the problem here. But the legislature could have created a legislative ethics commission without any court decision. It clearly only wanted the court decision so that no one could say the legislators were responsible for taking jursidiction over themselves. But, in fact, they are. And they are also not willing to be held accountable for it. Denying responsibility is a nice ethical start for the legislature's regulation of its own ethics.