Ethics and Politics Featured in Variety of News and Opinion Pieces
Nov 16th, 2009 • Posted in: NewsEliot Spitzer back in spotlight with speech on ethics; New York Times editorializes about role of redistricting in creating “culture of corruption”; both sides tread carefully in opening of corruption case against Baltimore mayor
VARIOUS DATELINES
Ethical issues were prominent in the week’s top political news. Among the stories:
- Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer addressed a packed hall at a Harvard ethics center, reports the Boston Herald, amid criticism that his involvement in a prostitution scandal made him an unfit choice for an ethics lecturer. Spitzer largely avoided speaking about the incident, focusing instead on the role of government in regulating Wall Street.
- The New York Times last week editorialized about the ethics of redistricting in New York State’s political system. “Mapmaking in Albany,” the Times argues, “is a dark art form designed to make absolutely certain that incumbents in the majority party are safe from electoral competition (a k a democracy).” The piece claims that laws regarding that districts be reasonably compact — and not drawn in complex patterns that serve no purpose other than to isolate blocs of voters — are poorly enforced and full of loopholes. “There is little chance of changing Albany’s corrupt culture without real political competition and the possibility of a full legislative housecleaning,” the editorial continues. “The only way to do that is to wring much of the party politics and self-interest out of the redistricting process. New York lawmakers need to establish an independent mapmaking system that gives voters a real choice on Election Day.”
- Prosecutors and defense attorneys made their opening arguments last week in the corruption trial of Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon. The Christian Science Monitor reports that lawyers in the case are attempting not only to prove their side but to navigate the traditionally tricky waters of cases involving high-ranking officials. “There is a heightened scrutiny for everyone involved in the process when you’re prosecuting a public official,” Steven Levin, a Baltimore defense attorney and former federal prosecutor who handled public corruption cases, told the Monitor. “The spotlight is not just on the public official — it’s going to be on the prosecutors, the defense attorneys, the judge, the family in the audience. Everybody has to bring their A-game to the courtroom.” One special area of turmoil in this case: Prosecutors must prove to the jury that it’s worth the expense and disruption to the city to prosecute the case, since the charges against her allege that she misappropriated only about $1,500 in gift cards.
Sources: Boston Herald, Nov. 12 – New York Times, Nov. 12 – Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 12.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 26 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 12 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 12.
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