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A lie to protect oneself or to mislead others in one's own interest is as bald a conflict of interest as there can be. But since it usually involves no money, and since it is hard to prove the difference between a lie and a mistake in knowledge or interpretation (which is why the word "lie" is never used; "misrepresentation" and "false statement" are preferred terms), a lie is almost never a violation of a government ethics code. In addition, most people don't seem to think lying is such a bad...

Most local government ethics codes do not explicitly deal with settlement agreements, but most state ethics codes do. I left settlement agreements out of my first draft of the City Ethics Model Code, but I have just added a provision, Section 213(5). The language is based on that of several state ethics codes and rules, especially those of Ohio and Georgia.

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There are many ways for elected officials to undermine democracy, but trying to scare people away from registering to vote is among the most insidious.

This is what Jeffrey M. Frederick, member of the Virginia House of Delegates (legislature) and chair of the Virginia Republican Party (RPV), is doing. According to the RPV's own press release, "Even more troubling, Frederick said, was the opportunity for identity...

A good quote on government corruption from Rushworth M. Kidder, from his Ethics Newsline (which you can get as a weekly e-newsletter with links). I highly recommend his book Moral Courage, which I reviewed in...

A miscellany of interesting conflict of interest stories that don't merit their own blog entries:

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Money may be the root of all evil, but it's a nice way to spice up ethics training.

Take the Ethics Rock! program, designed for lawyers who have lots of money to spend on CLE credits. Ethics case studies are done to the tunes of such songs as "American Pie" and "A Day in the Life." The songs are performed by a professional singer-guitarist, on tour.

Local government ethics case study songs come to...