Report On Need For A US Supreme Court Ethics Code Reminds Of Pending NJ Ethics Challenges

NJ State Ethics Commission Apparently Yet To Rule On Murphy DEP Officials

I was pleasantly surprised this morning listening to a National Public Radio (NPR) story on a Report by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO): (be sure to read the whole thing – it is excellent!)

• Model Code of Conduct for U.S. Supreme Court Justices

Of all the country’s state and federal courts, only the Supreme Court lacks a code of conduct. Instead, existing rules found in the U.S. Code provide standards concerning financial disclosures and recusals. But this set of standards is limited. And compliance with them, along with all other decisions related to ethical conduct, is left to each Justice’s discretion.

That NPR story reminded me that, in contrast to the US Supreme Court, here in NJ, we have a State Ethics law.

The law establishes an ethics code and standards that some executive branch State officials are subject to and a State Ethics Commission to enforce the law.

In fact, I recently filed 3 significant ethics complaints seeking enforcement of that State ethics law against Murphy DEP Commissioner LaTourette and DEP Assistant Commissioner Cecil.

The important ethics issues in those complaints involve failure to file disclosure and recusal statements, failure to recuse, “regulatory capture”, and “revolving door” abuses – all of which were raised in the POGO Report on a US Supreme Court Model Code, see:

• Ethics Complaint Filed Against Murphy DEP Commissioner LaTourette For Failure To Disclose And Recuse On Legal Work For Toxic Polluter Essex Chemical Corporation

• Ethics Commission Asked To Issue Advisory Opinion On Murphy DEP Commissioner Latourette’s Revolving Door And Regulatory Capture Conflicts As Exposed By BASF Toms River Settlement

• Ethics Complaint Filed Against Murphy DEP Assistant Commissioner John Cecil

The State Ethics Commission apparently has not resolved any of them – I say “apparently” because it is impossible for me to know for sure, because the ethics review and decisionmaking process is confidential, a black box. Zero transparency and accountability.

We can do better.

Calling all cars….

[Full Disclosure: POGO was a member of my legal defense team in response to Gov. Whitman’s DEP retaliation for my whistleblowing case, way back in 1994, see:

• Ellsberg And Me: How The Cowards In The NJ Press Corps Knee-Capped Me And Allowed Liars To Remain In Government