When people support ethics programs that feature toothless enforcement,
reel off the names of the countries that support toothless enforcement
of the <a href="http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/index.html">UN
Convention against Corruption</a> (according to <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=…

I think it's safe to say that a local government ethics "first" has
occurred in Montgomery County, Maryland. A transgendered council aide
has filed a complaint against the <a href="http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgtmpl.asp?url=/ethics/index.asp&quot; target="”_blank”">county
ethics commission</a> on the grounds that the EC investigated her

<br>
<b>“People seem to listen to you more when you’ve got a bagful of cash.”</b><br>
<br>
—<a href="http://www.uschamber.com/about/management/donohue.htm&quot; target="”_blank”">Thomas

<b>Update:</b> November 20, 2009 (see below)<br>
<br>
The latest news from the federal trial of former New York state senate
majority leader Joseph Bruno's is sadly not surprising. According to an
<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jPxZbZxMboqXl0tLHNpTF…; target="”_blank”">Associated
Press article</a> yesterday, former senate legal counsel told Bruno to

One can learn a
lot about local government (and judicial) ethics by listening to local
officials talk about a conflict situation
they're in. Here's one from Dallas County,  where
the district attorney's wife is a political
consultant for the campaigns of seven judges before whom the D.A.'s
office
practices.<br>
<br>

Since my <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/787&quot; target="”_blank”">exchange</a>
with an attorney for the Michigan Townships Association in June, I've
been wondering about the inherent conflicts involved in local
government associations. The bottom line is, Is there any relationship
between who sits on the boards of such associations and laws such as

The mayor of Baltimore is on trial for stealing $1,500 in gift cards,
allegedly intended for poor Baltimore residents. A <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bal-dixonletter…; target="”_blank”">letter
to the editor</a> of the Baltimore <i>Sun</i> proposes a better approach
than a trial costing hundreds of thousands of dollars:<br>
<br>

Ethics is a funny thing. So is character. If you violate a law, you're
unethical beyond redeem, and your character is worthless. It's so
worthless, that you have no right to talk about ethics or character,
even though you've been through the ethics grinder and have thought
about it far more than the average person.<br>
<br>
This is the situation that faces Eliot Spitzer. Nearly every article
about a lecture he gave on Friday at Harvard's Safra Foundation Center

I recently <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/new-michigan-model-local-government-e…; target="”_blank”">critiqued</a>
the new <a href="http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34391-218887--,00.html&quot; target="”_blank”">Michigan
model local government ethics ordinance</a>. Mark Liss, a council

"You can buy Supreme Court races" under the current system, said Rep.
Pedro Colón (D-Milwaukee). "The sign is outside: 'This court is
for
sale.'" (from <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/69304827.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article in the Milwaukee <i>Journal Sentinel</i></a> last week)<br>
<br>
Nobody wants this to be said, at least nobody but four of the seven