Law

Or maybe Spring ‘09.

Here’s a worrisome excerpt from Marsha Schuler’s article about the ethics board’s current state of paralysis:

Most of the seats on the Ethics Board could remain vacant well into October.

When the Speaker of the House of Representatives took the microphone last week in support of a 300% pay raise for legislators in Louisiana, one of his arguments was that the job had become full time. “It is a misconception that this is a part-time job,” he told his colleagues. So the question is simply this. Should Louisiana, or for that matter any state, have a full-time state legislature? I say no.

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You’ll remember back in March there were rumors the Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Pascal Calogero, was about to resign due to allegations the court’s decisions were being influenced by campaign contributions.

So far, Calogero has not resigned, but yesterday he launched a blistering broadside on Tulane Law School professor Vernon Valentine Palmer and Loyola University business professor John Levendis, whose research prompted the allegations.

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From the Advocate: Lake Charles lawyer Clayton Davis cites loss of board’s role in judging ethics cases, plans to run for judge as reason for leaving.

This is the first in what we expect to be a long running segment, CourtTVitter. The DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, has promised a circus and despite Vitter’s best efforts to deflect attention it seems inevitable that the image of yet another unethical Louisiana politician will be plastered across the nation’s TV screens. How much longer can this go on?

Rumors are swirling that the Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Pascal Calogero, may be about to resign because of accusations of corruption. Read more

There’s a delightfully deceitful bit of spin on the front page of the Dead Pelican currently. Its lead political story, which appears in the top left hand corner of the page, has the following headline:

“Groups tell Jindal to slow up on ethics provision”

Clearly, this is a reference to today’s call by the Council for a Better Louisiana, League of Women Voters, Louisiana Common Cause and the Public Affairs Research Council for Jindal to drop his demand that the state ethics board be stripped of its adjudicatory powers. The implication is that these widely respected government watchdogs are bad because they are trying to slow down ethics reform. The reality, however, is rather different. Read more

We know judges are whining about having to disclose their incomes, and we know their reasoning is inspired by Louisiana’s constitution, rather than any major skeletons in their closet. Louisiana judges, after all, are the ethical standards by which Louisiana’s other branches of government should be measured - as they’ve proven again, and again, and again.

The newest ethics-reform detractors border on the ridiculous: the Louisiana Restaurant Association is trying to raise the $50 ceiling to $100. As the Times-Pic says:

Obviously at the urging of some Baton Rouge members, the group wants the proposed limit to wine and dine legislators set at $100 per feast. That’s double the $50 limit Gov. Jindal proposed.

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During today’s House and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on House Bill 41 that seeks to shift the authority for hearing and ruling on ethics charges from the Louisiana Ethics Board to the Administrative Law Judges, State Representative Rosiland Jones thought to ask whether Administrative Law Judges would be held to the same proposed financial disclosure requirements as elected officials and members of the state ethics board.

The answer was no.

The legislature got the ethics ball rolling with HB1, which will require strict financial disclosure for pretty much everyone in the Louisiana government - even judges. And the judges are not happy, especially Justice Kimball.

They also eliminated free tickets, forced legislators to recuse themselves from votes where they might have a conflict of interest, and, among other disclosures, will have to explain purchases over $1000.

Another measure is more problematic: the effort to withhold pension funds from officials convicted of felonies raises some serious concerns. Namely, the bill could affect, for example, spouses and children of a teacher who is sentenced to prison, as well as Governor Edwards, if passed retroactively.

Ethics Board Chairman Hank Perret continued his campaign to keep the Ethics Board the way it is.

And, if you hadn’t heard, we have spies among us.