In the news

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 more important than the rules themselves.

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 excellent article yesterday by Katharine Q. Seelye, which focused on a libel suit you brought against a small-town newspaper. Apparently, the paper accused you of having traded a vote for a political favor.

From the NY Times See the original online publication here: (note: may require membership)
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB091FF734550C708EDDAF0894DE404482



NATIONAL DESK By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN (NYT) 859 words
Published: June 23, 2006