Nevada Legislature Follow Louisiana's Example in Suing to Remove Themselves from Ethics Commission Jurisdiction
It's only been a few months since <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/450" target="”_blank”">the Louisiana state court
decision</a> that applied the constitutional Speech and Debate Clause
to remove state legislators from the state ethics commission's
jurisdiction, and already <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/28279454.html" target="”_blank”">a similar case</a> has
been filed in Nevada. In <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/450" target="”_blank”">my
blog entry</a> on the Louisiana decision, I suggested that, and
explained how, such a decision could also be applied to local
government council members and other local government officials acting
in a legislative capacity. The Nevada Commission on Ethics has
jurisdiction over local government
officials, but no local government official is involved in this matter.<br>
<br>
The Nevada case has been expedited, because the matter is scheduled to
be heard by the <a href="http://ethics.nv.gov/" target="”_blank”">Nevada Commission on
Ethics</a> on December 11. A court hearing is scheduled for November
24. I hope to be able to post pleadings when they have been filed.<br>
<br>
The situation is as follows. A state senator, Warren Hardy, is the
full-time president of the Las Vegas chapter of Associated Builders
and Contractors (ABC), a nonunion contractors association. The
allegations against him, filed by a citizen with union ties as well as
ties to the opposing political party, are that he did not sufficiently
disclose his relationship with ABC, did not recuse himself with respect
to certain matters and votes, and used his position to obtain
unwarranted privileges for himself and/or ABC. Most of the allegations
were dismissed, but the ethics commission found probable cause with
respect to allegations involving two legislative bills.<br>
<br>
As with the Louisiana case, this one does not necessarily involve any
limits on how the senator voted (which is what the Speech and Debate
Clause is supposed to protect), only on his voting at all. There is
disagreement over how to interpret the ethics statute, but this case
has little to do with interpretation, focusing as it does on the ethics
commission's jurisdiction. The Nevada legislature, like Louisiana's,
wants to handle its members' ethics issues itself, even though it
didn't specify this in its legislation, which it had every right to do
(and which other state legislatures have done). It apparently would
rather not be seen by voters as removing itself from the ethics
commission's jurisdiction; it would rather have a judge do the dirty
work for it. This casts a shadow on the ethics of the legislative
leaders in their decision to sue.<br>
<br>
I won't go further into the constitutional issues, because I did that
at length in <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/450" target="”_blank”">my blog entry</a>
on the Louisiana case.<br>
<br>
For those interested in the history of the case before the ethics
commission, here are the documents:<br>
<a href="http://www.ethics.nv.gov/PANEL%20DETERMINATIONS/2008/040308%20Report%20…; target="”_blank”">Executive
Director's Report and Recommendations</a><br>
<a href="http://www.ethics.nv.gov/PANEL%20DETERMINATIONS/2008/supplement%20pdc.p…; target="”_blank”">Executive
Director's Supplemental Report and Recommendation</a><br>
<a href="http://www.ethics.nv.gov/PANEL%20DETERMINATIONS/2008/Hardy%20Notice%20&…; target="”_blank”">Panel
Determination</a> (probable cause)<br>
<a href="http://www.ethics.nv.gov/PANEL%20DETERMINATIONS/2008/Hardy%201st%20Amd%…; target="”_blank”">Amended
Panel Determination</a><br>
<br>
And here are three newspaper articles on the case:<br>
<a href="http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2008/03/17/news/iq_20275926.txt…; target="”_blank”">Las
Vegas Business Press, 3/17/08</a><br>
<a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/22854514.html" target="”_blank”">Las Vegas Review
Journal, 7/3/08</a><br>
<a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/28279454.html" target="”_blank”">Las Vegas Review
Journal, 9/12/08</a><br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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