{"id":3269,"date":"2013-06-24T15:01:04","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T21:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/?p=3269"},"modified":"2013-06-24T15:03:35","modified_gmt":"2013-06-24T21:03:35","slug":"state-needs-to-keep-awareness-of-ethics-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/?p=3269","title":{"rendered":"State needs to keep awareness of ethics high"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 24, 2013- Editorial in the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Both the public and officials should know someone is watching.<\/p>\n

Mark Lubbers and Mark Massa have been friends a long time. Now, Lubbers represents the developers of the proposed $2.8 billion coal-gasification plant in Rockport. And Massa is a sitting justice of the Indiana Supreme court, which is scheduled to hear a dispute over the case raised by opponents who say the plant will cost utility customers as much as $1.1 billion in higher rates.<\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/a>

Mark Massa<\/p><\/div>\n

The need for Massa to recuse himself from the case is obvious \u2013 the potential conflict of interest here is not subtle. But the fact is that Massa so far has not recused himself. In fact he hasn\u2019t even said whether he\u2019s considering the possibility.<\/p>\n

The case illustrates a limitation of ethics policies and guidelines that we don\u2019t often think about. No matter how strong the ethics infrastructure is \u2013 no matter how many panels we appoint, no matter how many rules we write \u2013 voters and taxpayers in the end have to trust the judgment of the people elected and appointed to office. There is no way to look into someone\u2019s mind to discover if \u201cYes, I can still be objective\u201d is a true statement or merely wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean the infrastructure isn\u2019t important. If nothing else, all the panels and the rules serve to keep ethics in the public mind, to let us know that someone in government is at least thinking about doing things fairly and justly and without hidden agendas. That knowledge is what helps us have faith in our government instead of viewing it as an evil outside force.<\/p>\n

They keep ethics in the minds of public officials, too, letting them know someone is watching. As much as they might like to, they can\u2019t operate on their own set of rules without being held accountable.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an important consideration in a state like Indiana that still has a part-time legislature. Most of our lawmakers earn their livelihoods at something other than their role as legislators, so every time the General Assembly convenes, it is rife with conflicts of interest and potential conflicts.<\/p>\n

The gasification case is set for arguments in the court in September, so Massa has some time to make up his mind. Lubbers says Massa will recuse himself if there is a reason to, because \u201chis ethical standards are above reproach.\u201d But University of Louisville law professor Les Abramson, who has written about judicial disqualification, says if a judge doesn\u2019t get off a case as soon as he or she is made aware of a disqualification issue, \u201cthat throws into question any ruling the judge participates in.\u201d So perhaps September isn\u2019t that far away after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 24, 2013- Editorial in the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel Both the public and officials should know someone is watching. Mark Lubbers and Mark Massa have been friends a long time. Now, Lubbers represents the developers of the proposed $2.8 billion … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3269"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3273,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3269\/revisions\/3273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}