Advisory Opinions

One of the things that always fascinates me is that, while politicians have no problem asking experts legal, financial,
engineering, or human resource questions, they feel they know what
they need to know about government ethics questions.<br>
<br>
Take D.C. council member Vincent Orange. According to <a href="http://wamu.org/news/12/06/11/orange_proposes_dc_income_tax_exemption_f…; target="”_blank”">an

<b>Update:</b> June 20, 2012 (see below)<br>
<br>
The saying goes that there are two sides to every story. But more
commonly there is a story and ways to spin the story. The problem
is telling them apart.<br>
<br>
This week, <a href="http://newsok.com/oklahoma-ethics-commission-needs-clear-consistent-rul…; target="”_blank”">a

I was on a panel this week as part of the annual Citywide Seminar on
Ethics in New York City Government, co-sponsored by the New York
City Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) and the Center for New York
City Law at the New York Law School. The panel was called
"Challenges & Solutions in Government Ethics in Other
Municipalities."<br>
<br>
I want to share two ideas that were raised by other members of the
panel, who included Mark Davies, the executive director of the COIB;

On Saturday, I attended a one-day conference on Institutional
Corruption sponsored by the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard
University (<a href="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid59085832001&quot; target="”_blank”">videos
of it will eventually appear here</a>). Although local government
was scarcely mentioned (there was one image of a painting that
portrayed the 1930s machine in Kansas City, MO), many ideas that

In his book <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Congress-Individual-Institutional-Corrupti…; target="”_blank”">Ethics in Congress: From Individual to Institutional Corruption</a></b>,
Dennis Thompson discusses two tendencies that lead to the
overlooking or obscuring of institutional corruption’s significance.
Those who bring or judge charges tend to individualize misconduct.

<br>Looking at government ethics through the appearance standard, as
Dennis Thompson did in his book <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Congress-Individual-Institutional-Corrupti…; target="”_blank”">Ethics in Congress: From Individual to Institutional Corruption</a></b>,
reveals the great importance of independence to ethics advice and
enforcement. No one is in a worse position to see appearances of

<a href="http://sogweb.sog.unc.edu/blogs/localgovt/?p=5018&quot; target="”_blank”">A post
yesterday in Coates' Canons: NC Local Government Law Blog </a>raises
an interesting issue about the situation of a local government
candidate who has an interest in a contract with the local government
which, by NC law, is prohibited not for candidates, but for a winning
candidate the day he or she takes office. This provides a good occasion

<b>Update: June 30, 2011</b> (see below)<br>
<br>
One thing you can say for James Bopp, Jr. (an attorney who has taken
many campaign finance cases to the Supreme Court for organizations that
oppose certain campaign finance regulations) is that he doesn't beat
around the bush. He's a straight shooter. The problem is the "shooter"
part. Shooting is not what people should do when it comes to ethics advice.<br>
<br>

Good news:  Westminster is not alone. No, I am not referring to
the British Parliament or the New York dog show. I am referring to the
Westminster, CO law that says that a campaign contributor has a relationship with the recipient of a sizeable campaign contribution
that gives rise to a conflict of interest and requires the recipient's withdrawal from participation

There are two morals to the following story. One involves law, the
other ethics.<br>
<br>
Last August, <a href="http://www.npri.org/publications/nevada-schools-billiondollar-blind-spo…; target="”_blank”">the
Nevada Policy Research Institute ran a long commentary</a> on the fact
that Nevada's 17 school superintendents were not filing financial
disclosure statements with the state ethics commission, something