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Resources & Learning March 6, 2007

Top Ten Ethics Films

We have been batting this around for a while, and have come up with the following list: The Top Ten BEST ETHICS Movies of all time 1. Man for All Seasons Paul Scofield brilliantly plays Thomas More who stands up for his principals against the ultimate difficult boss, King Henry VIIII. In the end, h…

February 22, 2007

An Intelligent Lay Discussion of Conflicts of Interest

Here's an interesting, intelligent lay discussion about a particular alleged conflict of interest, and how to deal with local conflicts in general. It centers around an entry in a local-politics-oriented blog in Davis, California.

February 15, 2007

It Takes a Village: Behind the Indictment of Philadelphia's Vincent Fumo

Either the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is the head of a vicious manhunt unknown since the days of J. Edgar Hoover, or Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent J. Fumo has not only failed to apologize for all that he has done, but he has, like so many unethical politicians befor…

January 16, 2007

A Good Example of a Bad Government Organizational Culture

There's a lot of talk about organizational culture and the effect it can have on individuals' unethical conduct, but it's rare to find reported instances of poor organizational cultures that aren't extreme, such as Chicago. Even Enron had an excellent ethics program, and its misconduct appears to h…

January 4, 2007

Conflict of Interest or Expertise?

One thing that's good about local government is that so much of it is done by volunteers. Volunteers aren't professional politicians. They have something better to do with their time. Yes, most of them do. But for many, government service is central to what they do with the great bulk of their time…

Conflicts of Interest January 2, 2007

Ethics Rules for Local Government Attorneys?

Local government attorneys have special conflict of interest problems. Should there be ethics rules particularly aimed toward them? Here's a recent example of a situation that could have been prevented by such rules. In Reading, Pennsylvania, a city councilman asked the city's Board of Ethics for a…

December 29, 2006

Ford's Pardon of Nixon: The Importance of Thoughtful Ethics Enforcement

Gerald Ford's passing revives the memory of one of the least remembered parts of the story of the Watergate affair: the pardon of Richard Nixon. Remembering the pardon is important because it shows two important things about government ethics enforcement. First, how ethics rules are enforced is mor…

November 21, 2006

Libel and the Media's Role in Ethics Oversight

Open Letter to Illinois Chief Justice Robert R. Thomas: The news media are probably the most important single element in providing oversight in government ethics matters. And the most effective way to keep the news media from doing their job is to file a libel suit. The New York Times ran an excell…

July 4, 2006

Jacksonville Daily Record Interview - Carla Miller

From: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=45455 July 4, 2006Miller's ethics advice travels well by Bradley Parsons, Staff Writer As an ethical adviser to politicians, Carla Miller never has to worry about staying busy. Miller, a partner at Miller, Skinner & Jolly, also serves as th…

June 23, 2006

At Ethics Camp, Not-So-Tall Tales From the Dark Side

From the NY Times See the original online publication here: (note: may require membership)https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB091FF734550C708EDDAF0894DE404482 NATIONAL DESK By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN (NYT) 859 words Published: June 23, 2006CORRECTION APPENDED SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 21…

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