Filling the Void in Ethics Laws

RALEIGH, N.C., April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Frank L. Perry, a veteran FBI agent and current director of investigations and public affairs for the Foundation for Ethics in Public Service, Inc., released the following statement today:

"Ethics commissions provide oversight regarding financial disclosure and conflicts of interest for public servants. Unfortunately, state and federal ethics laws have proven to be benign and of little consequence. The resulting 'ethics void', as Foundation for Ethics in Public Service executive director Les Merritt has previously written, should be filled by enacting clear, effective statutory measures that will reduce corruption in public service.

"A few such measures include:

• Ethics commissions must accept and act upon credible anonymous complaints. Many states require that complainants identify themselves and swear under oath that they are providing truthful information about alleged public corruption. This requirement puts a chilling effect on the complaint process and is not conducive to ethics in public service.
• Gift ban exceptions need to be removed from ethics laws. Because of them, ethics commission staff spend a great deal of time rendering advisory opinions on the exceptions rather than working cases. States should have an absolute gift ban, or a reasonable threshold (de minimus exception), without the need to qualify complex exceptions.
• Ethics commissions should have jurisdiction over all branches of government. A serious conflict of interest occurs when complaints about members of the legislative branch of the respective governments are sent back to the same body for consideration and action by the subject's colleagues.  The reason given for such referral is to respect separation of powers. Peer review works in some professions, but historically not in preventing corruption in government.  Accordingly, independent oversight should be required of the commissions themselves by, for example, having retired judges oversee the respective commissions.  
• The probable cause standard that is often required by ethics statutes to justify inquiries based on incoming complaints should be replaced. Most internal affairs and compliance entities may initiate inquiries based on a 'preponderance of evidence' standard (roughly 51%), as opposed to a 'probable cause' standard (60-90%). Knowingly filing a false complaint with an ethics commission should be a crime, perhaps a misdemeanor, much like filing a false police report. Reviews and their results must be public, without sacrificing fairness and due process.
• Statements of Economic Interest (SEIs) should include an oath that attests to the affirmative obligation by public servants to report all information which lends even the appearance of impropriety. SEIs will then be taken seriously and will fully inform the citizens who elect and pay the public servants.

"Ethics legislation should have the impact of an ethical admonishment from one's parent or grandparent, but it is doubtful that this will ever be the case. 'Ethics' commissions are in reality only 'compliance' commissions. Citizens demand a higher, different sort of ethics from their public servants:  namely acting for the moral good of those they represent, no matter what a 'compliance' law mandates. Citizens are the adults in this relationship, and it is surely for the greater good that public officials report to them as the subordinates they constitutionally and ethically are."

Frank L. Perry, Ph.D. is co-founder and Director of Investigations and Public Affairs for the Foundation for Ethics in Public Service, Inc.  Dr. Perry is a retired FBI Special Agent.  For more information or to reach Dr. Perry, visit www.reportpubliccorruption.org or call 919-832-6886.

SOURCE Foundation for Ethics in Public Service, Inc.