MAGA Republicans and the end of ethics enforcement

A code of ethics, both in one’s personal and professional life, is the foundation of any functioning society, healthy family, or loving relationship. As society has become more complex and as information becomes more accessible through technology, we’ve improved our ability to catch criminals and corrupt politicians and hold them accountable for their negative impact they have on our lives. Although there have been missteps with its use, I cannot help but think about how much easier my life as a prosecutor would have been with this level of access to information. Despite the shift toward a more transparent and honest community, however, Florida’s MAGA Republicans have recently stripped power from ethics commissions all over the state. We are in deep trouble if the GOP maintains its stranglehold on power in Tallahassee.

Governor DeSantis has been methodically consolidating power over the past several years in Florida, and in so doing has cast ethics to the side and crippled efforts to curb corruption. A recent law that promises to make a big impact is SB 7014, which makes it easier for corrupt Floridians to get away with their crimes and undoes much of our progress in establishing ethical standards.

A complete description of the bill can be found here. I have put together a summary for this newsletter:

Local commissions can no longer initiate their own ethics inquiries, nor can they come from sources that need to remain anonymous (these people are sometimes known as whistleblowers). Commissions can only begin investigations into alleged malfeasance if someone files a third-party complaint under oath. In addition, one must have direct knowledge of the violation and not be engaged in “hearsay”. These changes fly in the face of all the progress we’ve made in workplaces and in our everyday lives on the issue known as “retaliation”. It gives a significant leg up to a manager who sexually harrasses an employee at work, or a police officer who doesn’t have their body camera on and violates the code of conduct with no other witnesses present.

The law also states that public sources of information cannot be used to initiate an ethics inquiry. These sources of information include campaign finance reports, audits and even regular newspaper stories. By signing SB 7014 into law, Governor DeSantis has made it far easier for his cronies to get away with crimes and corrupt practices. Local commissions, like those in Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach which successfully investigated corrupt officials based on the common practice of responding to well-sourced tips, are particularly incensed by this new law.

We need to affect change in Tallahassee, and if I am elected to this seat, a return to sound ethics policies will be a top priority. I was fortunate to be appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure in 1985, where we were tasked with investigating ethics complaints from all sources against sitting judges in the District of Columbia. I served on the Commission for fourteen years, and was reminded every day of how important a commitment to a code of ethics is as we ensured that the judicial system was held to the highest standard.

Whether or not you’re convinced by the Democratic ticket or the Democratic agenda in Florida, one cannot deny the scary future that the MAGA Republicans have promoted over the last eight years. There are plenty of us out there who understand that, in the words of Winston Churchill, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” Consolidating power under the Trump cult is not the way forward for our country or for Florida.

I look forward to your support.

Yours in Good Government,

Chuck

Learn more here: DeSantis signs anti-ethics bill