Some lawyers abuse or misrepresent the lawyer-client privilege and
client confidentiality to protect their own unethical conduct. But no
one does it better than elected government
officials who also happen to be lawyers, and have the ability to draft ethics laws.
The relationship between San Diego's council and ethics commission
continues to prove unhealthy. It shows how wrong it is for elected
officials to appoint and control the body that oversees their conduct.
Outside Ethics Commission Members
According to an
article in yesterday's Salisbury (MD) Daily Times, the mayor of
Snow Hill (pop. 2400) has decided to look outside his town for members of an ad hoc
ethics commission to deal with an ethics complaint arising from a
zoning appeals board decision.
The latest news from the federal trial of former New York state senate
majority leader Joseph Bruno's is sadly not surprising. According to an
Associated
Press article yesterday, former senate legal counsel told Bruno to
hand-deliver his financial disclosure forms so that there would not be
any problems with federal...