The Educational Opportunities of a Local Ethics Case in Massachusetts
A settlement in a Massachusetts ethics proceeding can be used as
an educational opportunity in several ways.
Complaints/ Investigations/Hearings
Enforcement & Complaints
January 10, 2013
Restorative Justice in Government Ethics
Government ethics proceedings are usually not very satisfying for
those involved. Individuals rarely get to tell the entire story from
their point of view. Nor do they profit from hearing how others saw the situation or experienced the events. The format for ethics proceedings is
similar to the criminal justice system, with charges, a prosecution,
witnesses, documents, and the ethics commission as jury. Or a
settlement is reached, the equivalent of a plea bargain, and no
story is told at all.
Enforcement & Complaints
December 6, 2012
Intimidation in the Complaint Process
An
eye-opening report was published this week by the American
Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut. The report was based on a
survey of all the state's police departments regarding the filing of
complaints. Although complaints filed by the public against police
officers rarely involve conflicts of interest, some of the findings
are relevant to government ethics.
December 4, 2012
Taking Responsibility for COGEL Awards
Yesterday, at the annual conference of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL), the only association of state and local government ethics professionals, Judge Anthony Wilhoit was given the COGEL Award, which is
given annually to someone who has "made a significant, demonstrable,
and positive contribution to the fields of campaign finance,
elections, ethics, freedom of information or lobbying for a
significant period of time." As the executive director of the
Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission since 1997, Judge Wilhoit has
certainly made a substan
Enforcement & Complaints
November 9, 2012
Problems with the "Throw the Bums Out" Approach
The headline of a New York Times article today is, "Ethics in Play, Voters Oust Incumbents Under Inquiry." One's first impression upon reading the article is that people are throwing unethical politicians out of office. The system is working. But upon further thought, it doesn't seem to be working very well at all.
Local Government Practice
September 26, 2012
The Purposes Behind Revolving Door Provisions
An interesting case in Iowa raises questions about the purposes behind post-employment, or "revolving door," provisions, including whom they are
supposed to protect and why.
September 25, 2012
Ethics Watchdogs, Motives, and Georgia's Ethics Program Problem
The reason I haven't written about George Anderson is that he has
done too much, and been too controversial, for me to get a handle on him. In other words, laziness. He
has been an ethics and non-ethics watchdog in Georgia for many years, filing
numerous ethics and other sorts of complaints both at the state and at the local level. He
heads an organization called Ethics in Government, which does not
seem to have a website.
Enforcement & Complaints
September 10, 2012
The Real-Life Results of a Lack of Independence and Transparency in an Ethics Program
Last week, I wrote blog posts about how Chicago's ethics program
needs more
independence and more transparency than the Ethics Reform Task Force recommended.
Enforcement & Complaints
August 29, 2012
Issues Arising from an Iowa Complaint Dismissal
A number of important issues arise from a case before the Iowa Ethics and Campaign
Disclosure Board (ECDB) last week. The issues include: (1) how
to treat an inadequate complaint; (2) how to treat a complainant in
a proceeding, and (3) what to do when an ethics code and rules may
be inadequate to a situation where there is a strong appearance of
impropriety.
Enforcement & Complaints
August 15, 2012
The Problems with Requiring a Sworn Ethics Complaint Based on Personally Known Facts
Is it important that an ethics complaint be based on information
that is known personally? Some ethics codes require this. But the
fact is that many ethics violations are done secretly. It can take
some serious, professional investigation to obtain the facts and
relevant documents. This is why investigations by journalists are so
valuable. What they uncover is often used by citizens, good
government organizations, and others as the basis for an ethics
complaint.