TheRepublic.com - Political ethics News

Dem senator presses Pentagon on Guantanamo feeding

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:11:55 -0400

WASHINGTON - The force-feeding of terror suspects at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, runs counter to international standards, medical ethics and the practices at American prisons, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Wednesday in pressing the Pentagon to establish a more humane treatment.

Group decries Sri Lanka's proposed media code

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:01:11 -0400

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Rights groups are criticizing a code of media ethics proposed by Sri Lanka's government, saying Wednesday that the code could have a chilling effect on free speech in the Indian Ocean island nation.

Texas DA: veto doesn't take away ethics duties

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:36:20 -0400

AUSTIN, Texas - The Travis County district attorney on Tuesday said she remains legally responsible for investigating state ethics violations, despite Gov. Rick Perry's veto of funding for the Public Integrity Unit based in her office.

W.Va. Supreme Court yanks politico's law license

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:53:51 -0400

CHARLESTON, West Virginia - Calling his conduct reprehensible, West Virginia's Supreme Court stripped a veteran lawyer and frequent political candidate of his license Monday after he had someone involuntarily committed on mental health allegations later deemed untrue.

Texas Democrats complain about ethics, maps

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:37:18 -0400

AUSTIN, Texas - Democrats in the Texas House on Monday derided Gov. Rick Perry's veto of funding for the state's ethics watchdog and complained about Republican opposition to making any changes to the state's political maps.

Lobbyist reports say little on influence in Hawaii

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:56:58 -0400

HONOLULU - They're called lobbyist disclosure forms, but the truth in Hawaii is the records don't disclose much.

Panel: Gessler violated ethics rules over spending

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:52:40 -0400

DENVER - Republican Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a potential gubernatorial contender, was admonished Thursday by an ethics panel over spending office funds to attend political events, a black eye to his candidacy before it's officially launched.

Pence officials win clearance from ethics panel

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:34:04 -0400

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana State Ethics Commission cleared a pair of Pence administration officials Thursday to take new jobs at Purdue University and an Indianapolis law firm.

Michaud forming committee, eyes governor's race

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:08:12 -0400

PORTLAND, Maine - Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud is beginning to raise money and is forming an exploratory committee for a possible challenge of blunt-spoken Gov. Paul LePage, saying Thursday that Maine needs someone who can restore "civility" in the Maine State House.

Fla. legislators failed to disclose finances

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:40:04 -0400

TALLAHASSEE, Florida - The state's ethics commission says five current and former Florida legislators did not properly disclose their finances.

Court nixes activist's appeal of Haley ethics case

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:14:53 -0400

COLUMBIA, South Carolina - Legislators, not the legal system, should handle citizen complaints against their elected representatives, South Carolina's highest court ruled Wednesday, turning down a case accusing Gov. Nikki Haley of breaking ethics laws.

RI Senate OKs bill to give EDC new name, new rules

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:59:52 -0400

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island - State lawmakers endorsed another plan designed to refashion Rhode Island's Economic Development Corp. on Tuesday as questions and anger over the agency's failed investment in 38 Studios continues to resonate in the Statehouse.

Probe into possible forgery of judge's signature

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:48:25 -0400

SALT LAKE CITY - The FBI and a Utah prosecutor are trying to figure out who used a legislative computer to allegedly forge the signature of a state Supreme Court justice on an initiative petition.

SC's 2013 session ending with much left undone

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 19:06:14 -0400

COLUMBIA, South Carolina - The 2013 legislative session may be characterized more for what South Carolina lawmakers did not accomplish than the laws they passed.

Marion Barry got gifts from 2 DC contractors

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:00:37 -0400

WASHINGTON - D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry has reported receiving thousands of dollars in gifts from two construction firms that do business with the city, and the owner of one of the firms said Thursday he gave Barry the money to pay his bills because the former mayor was in a "tight crunch."

Ethics reform legislation dies in SC legislature

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 22:57:22 -0400

COLUMBIA, South Carolina - Months after South Carolina legislative leaders called ethics reform one of their top priorities, they conceded Wednesday that a proposed overhaul of the state's ethics laws was dead for the year.

Ore. lobbying bill may create unintended loophole

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:33:56 -0400

SALEM, Oregon - A bill tweaking Oregon's government ethics laws could end up creating a new loophole that would allow lobbyists to buy food, drinks and entertainment for senior state officials without reporting the expenditures.

Vt. group calls for gov't transparency, benchmarks

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 20:22:45 -0400

MONTPELIER, Vermont - The Campaign for Vermont public policy group on Tuesday called for a new system of performance benchmarks for state programs, as well as increased transparency to ensure the goals are being met.

NAACP protest against NC GOP policies draws 1000

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 21:38:14 -0400

RALEIGH, North Carolina - More than 100 people were arrested Monday at the largest demonstration yet of the North Carolina NAACP's weeks-long protest of the conservative policies of the Republican-led General Assembly.

Gambling expansion won't be called for vote

Fri, 31 May 2013 21:33:24 -0400

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois - A plan to establish five new casinos in Illinois, including in Chicago, was killed Friday as the bill's sponsor decided not to call it for a House vote with just hours left in the legislative session.

SC Sen. Ford resigns amid ethics investigation

Fri, 31 May 2013 18:31:32 -0400

COLUMBIA, South Carolina - State Sen. Robert Ford resigned Friday amid allegations that included spending campaign money at adult stores, and the Senate Ethics Committee afterward went along with a request from his lawyer to send the case to the state attorney general's office for review rather than taking action.

Maine subpoenas upheld for anti-gay marriage group

Thu, 30 May 2013 14:40:21 -0400

PORTLAND, Maine - Maine's supreme court on Thursday cleared the way for a state ethics commission to obtain the donor names of a national anti-gay marriage group that helped defeat a gay marriage law in 2009 before the practice was legalized by voters last year.

Oil, gas influence on Colorado politics questioned

Thu, 30 May 2013 12:56:36 -0400

DENVER - The oil and gas industry in Colorado exerts an outsize influence on state politics, and its generous political spending might be the reason, suggests a report out Thursday from a left-leaning watchdog group.

Olympia lobbyists pamper lawmakers with free meals

Wed, 29 May 2013 17:31:41 -0400

OLYMPIA, Washington - Washington ethics law prohibits public officials from accepting free meals on more than "infrequent occasions." Some state lawmakers, however, let lobbyists pick up the tab several times in a single week.

FIFA highlights reforms, Blatter salary a secret

Wed, 29 May 2013 07:23:24 -0400

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius - FIFA President Sepp Blatter's salary remained a secret on Wednesday while the money-spinning world football body still backed its reform process and insisted it was becoming more financially transparent.