Legislative Ethics

“This court gave the General Assembly an opportunity to draw remedial maps and cure their prior constitutional violations,” attorney Eddie Speas wrote for the Common Cause plaintiffs. “Although its process was not without flaws, the Senate has done so. But the House has not.”

“It’s really just a system of self-policing,” said Julia Vaughn, policy director of Common Cause Indiana, a government watchdog group. “Obviously, the individuals have widely varying abilities to police this . . . widely varying in their sensitivity to what constitutes a conflict or not. In their mind, they’re protecting the institution in that way,” Vaughn added. “I think, long term, just the opposite happens. The institution is hurt when we constantly have these kinds of situations when everybody outside the statehouse seems to see a conflict of interest, but nobody inside the statehouse can see it.”

Julia Vaughn, the policy director for the political watchdog group Common Cause Indiana, has routinely criticized Indiana law on matters concerning lawmakers’ conflict of interest for its vagueness and because it allows individual lawmakers to determine their need for an ethics hearing. "Ultimately I think Sen. Perfect's constituents should be able to decide if this is outside the boundaries, or if it's not," she said, arguing transparency is the most important aspect of the process.

"We see strong support for these initiatives from independents, Democrats and Republicans," said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. "The question is whether incumbent officials will wake up to understand that people really do want democracy and that power belongs to the people."

Heather Ferguson, executive director of New Mexico Common Cause, said an ethics commission will help build trust in government. Aside from investigating possible corruption, she told the Santa Fe New Mexican that a commission would serve as an educational tool for officials seeking to avoid violating laws. She said the panel should be able to provide opinions much faster than the state attorney general's office, which also weighs in on questions from lawmakers and others.

"These Cruz campaign mailers are slimy but seemingly legal," said Paul Ryan, a top lawyer with the watchdog group Common Cause. "The FEC has long held that an accurate 'paid for by' disclaimer on a candidate communication is a complete defense against any allegation of fraudulent misrepresentation."