In the news

The Nevada legislative immunity appellate briefs have been filed, and they are worth reading for those interested in the intersection between government ethics enforcement and legislative immunity, an intersection where, in the last year, there have been a few collisions harmful to the cause of government ethics. Although this case involves a state legislator, it is in some ways applicable to local government legislators.

An important issue in local government ethics is how far jurisdiction should go. Recently, I did a blog entry on jurisdiction over those doing government-approved work. An article in today's New York Times raises another important jurisdictional question:  should a local government have ethics jurisdiction over those contracted...

One of the biggest problems people have with government ethics is acknowledging the difference between ethics enforcement and ethics practice. Ethics enforcement is legal. You cannot enforce rules that are not in the law. But when it comes to ethics practice, the law represents only the minimum requirement. The law is what you have to do, but an official can be more ethical, more open, more responsible than what is required. Officials have fiduciary duties that go far beyond the...

The saying goes that nice guys finish last. People who act ethically, especially in politics, are rarely remembered.

But there are, occasionally, exceptions. One of them, former Argentine president Raúl Alfonsín, died last week, and he is being memorialized all over the world for his decency.

Individuals and companies doing the work of government or work approved by government, even when they do not have a direct financial relationship with government, should be within the jurisdiction of a government's ethics code. This controversial position is strengthened by what happened to many Tennessee local governments, according to a front-page article in today's New York Times.

According to an article in today's New York Times, the reason that charges were dropped against Sen. Ted Stevens is that federal prosecutors repeatedly failed to disclose information that may have helped the defense. Most of the...