Posts with the tag 1992 censure
Last Thursday, the US Senate Select Committee on Ethics issued its "Public Letter of Qualified Admonition" to Senator Domenici for pressuring then US Attorney David Iglesias to move quickly on the Bernalillo County courthouse scandal.
It's worth noting that this same committee issued the exact same type of letter - the "Public Letter of Qualified Admonition" -- to Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, for his misconduct in a public restroom last summer.
I wonder - can a legislative body police itself effectively? It's an honest question, and one that is in play as the New Mexico legislature struggles with the question of whether to constitute an independent ethics commission to handle alleged ethics violations of its members. So far, the Legislature has failed to pass this ethics proposal.
The US Senate's issuance of these two letters proves that at minimum, the body is capable of raising strong questions about the actions of its members. On the other hand, there is a legitimate argument to be made that the "Admonition" letters do not do justice to the actions they attempted to address.
The New Mexico Legislature actually has a similar, in-house ethics body. It's called the "Interim Legislative Ethics Committee" and it "convenes only upon the receipt of a complaint or a request for an advisory opinion." A quick check of the state's website reveals no previous agendas or previous minutes posted for this committee. I've only been in New Mexico for 13 years but I talked to a lot of folks during the past two legislative sessions about this Interim Ethics Committee. No one could recall this committee taking up a serious ethics issue in recent history.
However, those with really long memories remember the case of State Representative Ron Olguin. Read More »
It's worth noting that this same committee issued the exact same type of letter - the "Public Letter of Qualified Admonition" -- to Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, for his misconduct in a public restroom last summer.
I wonder - can a legislative body police itself effectively? It's an honest question, and one that is in play as the New Mexico legislature struggles with the question of whether to constitute an independent ethics commission to handle alleged ethics violations of its members. So far, the Legislature has failed to pass this ethics proposal.
The US Senate's issuance of these two letters proves that at minimum, the body is capable of raising strong questions about the actions of its members. On the other hand, there is a legitimate argument to be made that the "Admonition" letters do not do justice to the actions they attempted to address.
The New Mexico Legislature actually has a similar, in-house ethics body. It's called the "Interim Legislative Ethics Committee" and it "convenes only upon the receipt of a complaint or a request for an advisory opinion." A quick check of the state's website reveals no previous agendas or previous minutes posted for this committee. I've only been in New Mexico for 13 years but I talked to a lot of folks during the past two legislative sessions about this Interim Ethics Committee. No one could recall this committee taking up a serious ethics issue in recent history.
However, those with really long memories remember the case of State Representative Ron Olguin. Read More »
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