When I saw the lead headline in Wednesday's New York <span>Times,</span> "In Adopting Harsh Tactics,
No Inquiry into Past Use," I thought of local government ethics, even
though the article was about torture. Okay, I suppose I spend too much
time thinking about local government ethics, but bear with me for a
minute.<br>
<br>
The C.I.A. used, and the Justice Department approved, interrogation
methods that were used in American military training. If the methods

According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/us/politics/21lobby.html&quot; target="”_blank”">an
article</a> in Tuesday's New York <span>Times,</span>
nonprofits are seeking an exception to the Obama administration's rule
that lobbyists cannot serve in areas where they have lobbied. This raises
the issue of the purpose of revolving-door provisions, which are common
in local government ethics codes.<br>

The <a href="http://www.nvsupremecourt.us/info/audio/04.20.09_53064.php&quot; target="”_blank”">oral
arguments</a> before the Nevada Supreme Court in the Commission on
Ethics v. Hardy appeal are now available in MP3 format, suitable for
your media player.<br>
<br>
It doesn't look as if the decision will be a good one for government

Once again, it has been proven that placing ethics in the hands of prosecutors can be damaging
to the cause of government ethics. The proof this time is in the state prosecutor's
opposition to the Baltimore mayor's motion to dismiss criminal ethics
charges against her, partially on account of legislative immunity.<br>
<br>

Yesterday, the Nevada legislative immunity case was argued before the
state Supreme Court. The <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/apr/21/justices-queries-please-sen…; target="”_blank”">Las
Vegas Sun reporter</a> felt that the judges' questions favored the state legislator
rather than the ethics commission. I'll let people know when the oral

Booms and busts are common not only in a financial system. They are
also common in government ethics.<br>
<br>
Booms are when things are good, when local politicians seem worthy of
our trust. Busts are when we find out that things aren't what they
seemed. In other words, when there's a scandal.<br>
<br>

Who is covered by an ethics code can be very important. In Baltimore,
for instance, as I wrote in <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/706&quot; target="”_blank”">a recent blog entry</a>, the
city solicitor has interpreted the ethics code to require disclosure of
gifts only from companies doing business with the city, not from their
owners, officers, or employees.<br>
<br>

Government officials should, I think, focus more on what their actions
teach Americans. In effect, each of them is teaching an ongoing civics
course.<br>
<br>
For many years, Congress have been giving us a course on how
self-regulation in the ethics sphere simply doesn't work.<br>
<br>

It had to happen soon:  a legislative immunity defense has been
used in a local government ethics matter, albeit in a city where violations
are criminally prosecuted. I happened upon it in my research on my last
blog entry, about the Baltimore mayor's defenses of her taking gifts
from a city developer when she was president of the city council.<br>
<br>

<b>Update below</b>:<br>
The controversy in Baltimore over the mayor's acceptance of gifts from
a developer whose companies have received a great deal of funding from
the city appears now to be focused on whether or not the mayor was required to disclose these gifts, since the developer did not personally do business with the city.<br>
<br>