In the news | City Ethics

June 9, 2010

A Cincinnati Council Member's Situation Touches on a Number of Important Ethics Issues

There is a situation involving a Cincinnati council member that touches on many important government ethics issues, which I will deal with it in multiple blog posts over the next couple of days. In this post, I will set out the basic facts and the issues. The council member works for a development …

Local Government Practice February 2, 2010

Caring About Process

When the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives says, "the American people don’t care about process" in a news conference (the context was the process surrounding the health care bill), this topic, which is central not only to government ethics, but to our legal and political system, is worth…

December 7, 2009

An upcoming Supreme Court appeal holds interest for government ethics

Today's NY Times has an interesting article on the "honest-services fraud" statute: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/us/07honest.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=joun%20schwartz&st=cse (URL may require subscription) [Quote]: It has become an important tool for federal prosecutors, who used it successfully again…

Enforcement & Complaints September 25, 2009

Public Servants Should Not Take Action Against Those Who File Non-Frivolous Ethics Complaints Against Them

When a congressman goes after a lawyer whose organization filed an ethics complaint against him (in his capacity as Colorado's secretary of state), you know he is more interested in getting even than he is in the public interest. Getting even, however, is not what public servants should be doing. A…

July 20, 2009

He Zones, She Sells, and It's Legal (in Chicago)

No one does unethics like Chicago. It's been four months since I've written about the city, so it's long overdue. According to a recent article in the Chicago Sun-Times, Alderman Patrick O'Connor is the favorite for appointment to the chair of the board's second most powerful committee, the Zoning …

April 25, 2009

Patrick Fitzgerald on Solutions to Corruption

See Update Below At a University of Washington panel on Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, known most recently for his investigation and arrest of Gov. Blagojevich, spoke about corruption in government and what can be done about it. According to an…

February 9, 2009

The Death of an Ethical Administrator

It's good to see that, upon his death, attention is being given to the life of Donald C. Alexander, the IRS Commissioner who stood up to President Nixon at the end of Nixon's time in office. According to the New York Times obituary, among Alexander's accomplishments was disbanding the Special Servi…

January 11, 2009

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…

Ethics Codes & Reform January 4, 2009

Legal Does Not Mean Ethical

Roland Burris's acceptance of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's offer of Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat is based on a willful, self-serving misunderstanding about the difference between ethics and law. Here is what Burris told MSNBC in a December 31 interview (video and transcript): I hav…

October 7, 2008

Bailout Conflicts - The Treasury Speaks Softly and Carries a Small Stick

Update: Later in the day, according to a report in On the Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the Treasury Secretary to strengthen the conflict of interest requirements discussed below. The bailout, pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, is being contracted out to fina…

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