How to fix Florida's weak laws on public corruption By Howard Troxler, St Pete Times Columnist

[anobserver2]

I would like to suggest a new topic on the DU sidebar: "Public Corruption."


In that topic, people can post all the ways that corrupt politicians enact laws to prevent honest citizens from being heard in complaints about crimes by public officials which constitute public corruption. BTW, Florida is ranked #1 in the country for public corruption, and New York is ranked #2, according to a Dec 2010 report commissioned by out-going FL Governor Charlie Crist.

This is a really fascinating report, well worth reading. Here is an editorial about it recently published in the St Pete Times.
My comments follow.

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/how-to-fix-floridas-weak-laws-on-public-corruption/1144371#comments

How to fix Florida's weak laws on public corruption

By Howard Troxler, Times Columnist
In Print: Sunday, January 9, 2011

We're No. 1!

Florida led the nation in the number of public officials convicted in federal corruption cases from 1998 to 2007, according to a recent report.

In another tally, counting from 2000 forward, Florida still had more federal public corruption convictions than any other state.

First place. A source of state pride, surely.

This report comes from an outfit known as the Statewide Grand Jury, which spent last year looking at public corruption at the request of then-Gov. Charlie Crist.

The grand jury released its findings on Dec. 17, a week before Christmas — an easy time to get lost in the news.

But this 127-page report deserves ongoing attention. Take a look on Attorney General Pam Bondi's website: www.myfloridalegal.com. (Click the link titled, "Public Corruption.&quot

Although federal cases are plentiful, the grand jury found four main reasons that public corruption is not adequately policed in our state system:

• The act simply is not illegal under Florida law.

• The wording of the law is too vague for prosecutors to use.

• Punishments in the law are too lenient, or do not fit the crime.

• For those reasons, prosecutors tend to take plea deals or settle for other charges.

Hear, hear!

For example, you know the worst thing the Legislature ever did? It created something called a state "Code of Ethics."

Sounds good, and we brag about it. Yet most violations of this "ethics" code are not a crime. One of the grand jury's key recommendations is to make them so, especially on serious conflicts of interest.

We have a state Ethics Commission, but it's widely mocked as toothless. It can't even start its own cases — it has to wait for a citizen to file a complaint. That's another recommended change.

The maximum penalty for an ethics violation should rise from $10,000 to $100,000.

Our law is woefully behind the times when it comes to privatization. As a result, contractors and other agents of the government, clearly using tax dollars for a public function, have escaped prosecution because they are not defined as "public servants."

"The time has come," the grand jurors concluded, "for the Legislature to close this appalling loophole."

Even Florida's laws for the most serious corruption offenses are vague, the grand jury found — an act is not illegal without proof it was done "with corrupt intent." So several recommendations say: Just make the act illegal, and be done with it.

Here's one that practically made me stand up and cheer:

If you're a state vendor who commits a crime, you should be suspended from getting state business — and if you're guilty of a crime that directly relates to getting that state business, you're barred for life.

This only scratches the surface of the grand jury's report. It proposes a strong system for state inspectors general. It gives more power to the state Elections Commission. It toughens the rules for financial disclosure, and the penalty for violations. It says all public officers should undergo ethics training with annual refresher courses.

"The cadets at our nation's military academies swear an oath to neither lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do," the report says. "There is no reason we should hold our public officials to a lesser standard."

This brings us back to the Legislature. And here is what the Legislature has done with most such recommendations in the past:

Zip.

So if you run across your friendly local member of the House or Senate, I wish you'd go out of your way to say: Hey, have you read this grand jury report? What are you doing about it? No, don't mumble — what are you doing about it?

Let's keep tabs on what the Legislature does as it moves toward its annual session this spring. In the meantime, at least we're No. 1 in something.

[Last modified: Jan 08, 2011 07:02 PM]

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My comment: the comments on the above thread at the St Pete Times are very interesting. Mostly, people agree it is impossible to combat corruption because: the ones engaging in corruption in FL are ALSO the ones holding the top political offices.

So, that is kind of tough for honest people. I have thought about this editorial and read some of the report. Here is
a page of the corruption report commissioned by Gov Crist, and I wish Troxler would have mentioned this page in his editorial, though he might not have gotten to it yet in his reading of this report:

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The Ethics Challenge in Public Service, at 27.

We have classified public corruption crimes to include, but are not limited to:

• Bribery offenses, 838.015, 838.15 and 838.16 (held unconstitutional);
• Unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, 838.016;
• Corruption by threat against public servant, 838.021;
• Official Misconduct, 838.022;
• Bid tampering, 838.22;
• Speculation by county or municipal officers, 838.04, 838.05;
• Extortion by officers of the state, 838.11;
• Falsifying records, 838.13;
• Officer or judicial officer withholding records, 838.14, 838.15;
• Misappropriation of moneys by commissioners to make sales, 838.17;
• Officer assuming to act before qualification, 839.18;
• Failure to perform duty required by officer, 839.24;
• Misuse of confidential information, 839.26;
• Willfully refusing or neglecting to perform duties of an official, 104.051(2);
• Fraudulently or corruptly performing duties of an official, 104.051(3);
• Attempting to influence or interfere with voting elector by election employee,
104.051(4);
• Remuneration by candidate for services, support, etc., 104.071;
• Aiding, abetting, advising, or conspiring to violate elections code, 104.091;
• False or malicious charges against, or false statements about, opposing candidate,
104.271;
• Prohibited political activities of state, county, and municipal employees, 104.31;
• Violations of campaign contribution limitations, 106.08; and
• Falsifying a material fact; making false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement; or
making or using false
documentation within the jurisdiction of the Department of the State.
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Here are two more recent articles about this important topic (and the first one has a link to the report):

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/panel-makes-recommendations-combatting-public-corruption

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/updated-fasano-says-hell-file-anti-corruption-bills

The 2nd article, above, is about two Republicans with ideas on how to fight corruption in Florida.

I have a number of ideas of my own, though I no longer reside in Florida. But I lived there for about 15 years, and I encountered plenty of public corruption at every turn. So, below, in the comments, are some of my ideas for Democratic lawmakers in Florida (if there are any still there) to fight corruption.

[anobserver2]

1. FL Ethics Commission - Reform needed

One way to help combat the widespread corruption in Florida would be to enable more citizens to access the
allegedly existing "Ethics Commission." As best I can tell, this commission in Florida exists solely for show and tell purposes,
public relations, and no other purpose. The reason I say this is because:

When I contemplated filing an ethics complaint against public officials in Florida, I was shocked to learn that the procedures of the FL Ethics Commission include this: you, an individual citizen, have to agree that you will pay ALL THE LAWYER FEES of those public officials you are complaining about, if you "lose" the complaint and the Ethics Commission rules against you, the citizen.

Well, how am I to know if the Ethics Commission in FL is also a bunch of corrupt cronies who will just conceal corruption -- and, make me go bankrupt with a deliberate cover up?

Such potential legal fees of the corrupt politicians I wanted to complaint about could have run in the millions of dollars -- and where am I, a law abiding citizen trying to report corruption, going to get millions of dollars to pay their fees if the Ethic Commission rules against me?

So, I could not complaint to the Ethics Commission. The financial risk is too great. What that procedure did was: to chill my speech. Because although I had the evidence, I do not have the power to combat any ADDITIONAL corruption and cover up about to come from the Ethics Commission -- AND I do not have the money to pay lawyer fees for corrupt politicians who have to defend themselves.

It is a terrible system. You have to be prepared to pay the other side's fees if you are an individual seeking to report corruption. That should not be. You should be able to make a public complaint, and publicly post your evidence, and then, that would help lessen the chances of a cover up by the Ethics Commission (and you getting slammed with attorney fee payments you have to now make to a bunch of corrupt politicians).

[anobserver2]

2. State Attorney Offices in Florida

Another way to combat corruption in Florida would be to give citizens the right to complain about criminal conduct to someone OTHER than the corrupt local police, corrupt local sheriff, and corrupt local state attorney. When all you have is a bunch of corrupt law enforcement, all covering up for a bunch of corrupt public figures (and, by the way, they are all in the same political party, GOP), in Florida, then: you don't have much of a chance to be heard.

Instead, citizens should be able to make complaints directly to the state's attorney general, with a time limit imposed on that office to act. And, if the state's attorney general can't do anything, then, you should know to go directly to the US DOJ because: the public corruption in Florida is not going away anytime soon, IMO. There is a reason it is #1 in public corruption in the nation.

And, one of the reasons is because: complaints that are legitimate are concealed by corrupt local law enforcement.

Right now, if you complaint to your corrupt local state attorney's office, and you know they are not doing their official duty because you have evidence that warrants an investigation, or they investigate and lie with a whitewashed report that doesn't mention the evidence, then: you SHOULD be able to GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. But, in Florida, when I then tried to go ABOVE the local state attorney's office, I was told: you can't. The local state attorney makes the decision and that office is "independent."

Well, actually, they are not "independent" in my book -- it is all part of the same political and public corruption. But, there is no oversight over these local state attorney offices in Florida. The local state attorney can be as corrupt as all h*ll, but: so what.

That is a big problem in Florida.

[anobserver2]

3. Another huge problem in FL: FL Bar Association needs reform

Another huge problem in FL, in addition to the Ethics Commission procedures that chill free speech with the burden of attorney fee payments to the corrupt politicians, and the lack of oversight of independent local state attorneys, is the FL Bar Association.

This is an agency that is supposed to have oversight on lawyers licensed in Florida. And, much corruption is committed by
lawyers in Florida. They are the ones who grease the wheels of corrupt politicians in Florida and keep everything (false documents, etc) moving right along.

But the FL Bar Association -- like every other state's bar association, I now realize -- knows that when you are a consumer complaining of "unethical" acts of an attorney and your evidence involves public records, then: what you are really complaining about is a criminal matter, not merely "unethical conduct."

So, how does FL and other state bar associations handle this situation -- because now, the state bar association knows the lawyer has the due process right NOT to respond to a criminal complaint you bring to the state bar association, even though: the state bar association has the obligation to require an answer from the corrupt lawyer -- well, what these bar associations do is harass the h*ll out of the consumer. You will be sorry that you complained to them, even though, again, your complaint is legitimate and you have evidenced your allegation.

What makes these state bar associations so frightening, in my view, is that after they destroy your complaint and harass you, you realize: you have just been harassed by a branch of that state's supreme court, because all these bar associations are actually departments under: the state's court system.

So, there's nothing you can do.

It would be better if there was a law requiring every state bar association to FORWARD TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AT THE STATE LEVEL any consumer's complaint against any type of lawyer that is actually a complaint of public corruption (false records, etc).

Then, perhaps, a criminal prosecution could take place.

But, as it is: there is NO possible way to stop corruption in Florida right now by reporting unethical conduct to the state's bar association. It is a total farce.

[anobserver2]

4. In Summary: No Way For Citizens In Florida To Ever Complain About Public Corruption

In summary, there is no way for citizens in Florida to ever complain about criminal conduct that constitute: public corruption.

Here are your current choices, as explained above:

1) Go to the Ethics Commission and have your free speech chilled due to their demand that you will pay attorney fees of the politicians you are complaining about (you will not be filing a complaint once you find out this procedure, which is exactly what they hope will happen: you go away);

2) Go to your local corrupt law enforcement, and when they evidence to you that they are indeed corrupt, too, then: there is no oversight. You are told to GO BACK to your local state attorney and assured they are "independent." Where is that FL Attorney General? Why doesn't the FL Attorney General have any oversight over these corrupt local state attorneys?

3) Go to the FL bar association, and they will be more than happy to harass the h*ll out of you with bogus documents mailed to you, and a whole course of illegal conduct they have ready for anyone who dares complain about a corrupt GOP lawyer and the evidence involves public records -- and criminal conduct.

Florida is not amenable to exposing corruption. That is why Florida is #1 in the nation for public corruption.

It would be helpful if Democrat lawmakers took this problem seriously, and if Democrats in Florida, in general, were more aware of the tremendous amount of on-going corruption in Florida. Right now, too many FL Democrats just seem to say Huh? when you try to talk to them about this topic. It is better to move out of that state if you can't stand all the corruption by Republicans.

[anobserver2]

5. Re: from the Boston Globe -

I would also like to mention the following article, as I think the Massachusetts Attorney General is on the right track:
although Gov Patrick in MA just cut a ton of expenses from the state budget, they are expanding, not cutting, funds to
fight public corruption.

And, that is a good thing. The Massachusetts Attorney General is taking
this type of problem of public corruption and making a new department
to handle it.

It would be unheard of in Florida for anyone to take seriously public corruption.
It is just too overwhelming in that state, too political, and impossible to
prosecute is my opinion.

But, other states, like Massachusetts, are now trying:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/26/coakley_proposing_extra_focus_on_public_corruption/


Coakley proposing extra focus on public corruption
By Glen Johnson
AP Political Writer / January 26, 2011


BOSTON—Attorney General Martha Coakley announced Wednesday she is creating a task force to focus on public corruption that has permeated the Massachusetts political establishment.


The Democrat told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce she will split an existing fraud and corruption unit in her office and refocus its workers. One new unit will focus on financial crimes, the other on public corruption....

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BTW, Boston and Massachusetts has had its share of public corruption, too.

[anobserver2]

6. "Parody" is another suggested topic for the DU sidebar

Since it is so hard to report public corruption in Florida, I have made about half dozen (at least) web sites
that are parodies, to enable myself to have some free speech while exposing corruption. These sites have
had a positive impact, in that they have educated people in an entertaining way, as people do spend a lot of time
on these sites.

Here is my latest such site:

The Private Diary of Allun Porkbutt
http://www.theprivatediaryofallunporkbutt.blogspot.com

It would be good to include these kind of sites on the sidebar so that more people trapped in totalitarian local
governments in the USA can learn to make them and post them safely and legally. (See my footnote on that site.)