Once again, a local government official's attempt to use a charity to
get around campaign finance laws has blown up in his face. According to
<a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/fulton-county-court-…
article</b></a> in the Atlanta <i>Journal-Constitution</i>, an Atlanta council
member was fined $25,000 by a state court for failing to register a

<b>Update</b>: October 16, 2009 (see below)<br>
In his New York Times legal affairs <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/us/13bar.html?_r=2&ref=politics&quot; target="”_blank”">column</b>
</a>today, Adam Liptak focused on what is known as "honest services
fraud," which is actually part of a definition of "scheme or artifice to

Here's an ugly little case study, based on an ethics complaint filed in
September in Hillborough County, the county which includes Tampa.
According to the complaint (attached; see below), the county
administrator wanted to give herself and the county attorney a 1%
salary increase. Salary increases in the county must be approved by the
Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). The county administrator asked
the county attorney if the raises would be legal without such approval,

<br>
<b>"I'm
following my own path." </b><br>
<br>
--Jean Sarkozy, 23-year-old son of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The young Sarkozy, who is studying law (he does not have a college
degree yet) </span><span class="opDefaultContent" id="opmodule_placeholder">is the main candidate for chair of EPAD, a
quasi-governmental agency that manages the La Defense financial
district on the western outskirts of Paris. His father held the same

Should elected officials be held to a higher standard than ordinary
people? And if so, who should decide?<br>
<br>
These questions are central to a dispute that has been simmering for
two years in El Paso. According to <a href="http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_13536686&quot; target="”_blank”"><b>an article</b></a> in
the El Paso <i>Times</i> yesterday, the local district attorney would not

How can a lawyer responsibly deal with the following situation? A
former city attorney, he has been general counsel to the city's <a href="http://www.houstonsports.org/&quot; target="”_blank”"><b>sports authority</b></a>, which
oversees three major sports with three stadiums (and there's talk of a

What's an ethics commission to do? Even ethics commissions with teeth,
that is, with the ability to fine officials, rarely have a way of
actually collecting the fines. And if they do have a way of collecting
fines, it can make things look unfair.<br>
<br>
Take South Carolina, whose ethics commission has jurisdiction over

Yesterday, according to <a href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/10/now_that_don_hills_b…; target="”_blank”"><b>an
article</b></a> in the Dallas <i>Observer</i>, Don Hill, a former Dallas council
member, and four of his associates were found guilty of participating
in an incredible extortion plot relating to affordable housing in South

There are limits on the legislative immunity of local government
officials, according to a decision yesterday by the Baltimore Circuit
Court in the Dixon case (attached; see below), involving the mayor of
Baltimore at the time she was president of the city council.<br>
<br>

<br>
<b>Update</b>: December 2, 2009 (see below)<br>
<br>
I have often complained about how local government officials and
attorneys approach government ethics matters in an overly
technical manner. Well, ethics commission attorneys can do this, too.<br>
<br>
In terms of the language in ethics codes, I think the rule should be,
If an ordinary person does not read language a certain way, an ethics
commission should not read it that way. If the ethics commission feels