This story is just getting out (motion filed Monday). I hope it is not as bad as it looks!
ACLU Press Release [PDF File]
The ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court on behalf of State Senator Vincent Fort and ethics watchdog George Anderson, challenging the Senate Ethics Committee’s gag rule that silences those who file ethics complaints against state senators. Under the rule, any complaint alleging unethical behavior by a senator “shall remain confidential” and if the committee absolves the senator behind closed doors, the complaining citizen must remain silent forever.
“The people’s business should not be conducted in secret,” said Debbie Seagraves, Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia. “Under this rule, a citizen may never disclose an ethics complaint, even if the subject of the complaint is running for higher office 20 years later.”
wow, i agree with the aclu for a change.
You have to wonder why these guys go through the motions of even wasting their time, and our money, on something that WILL get shot down.
It’s like the big flap over banning flag burning a few years ago. Again, a total waste of time and money for something that’s protected by the Constitution….which is why after all the chest thumping and patriotic speeches, it went no where.
Stop wasting our time and money….get back to work and fix the fricken budget and get these damn gas prices down. And where’s our flying cars at? We were promised flying cars!
Being an ex-patriot Georgian, this goofy legislation doesn’t surprise me much. It scares me, but doesn’t surprise me. One of the nice features of political natural selection is at least some of these wankers get filtered out before they make it into national politics. And if not, it gives FOX news something to cover.
Washington State has a similar rule for people who file a complaint against a judge – if you tell anyone about your complaint, you can be held in contempt of court.
And it gets worse. A Tacoma lawyer discovered that a judge was taking bribes and stealing from a former client. It is known as the Cadillac Judge case. After he pressed the matter with the Judicial Conduct Commission, the lawyer was suspended by the Washington State Bar Association for his actions. When it comes to corruption, Georgia has nothing on Washington State.
And what is the Georgia Senate going to do if someone does say something? They might be able to manage the rules in house, but they can’t dictate what a non member says outside the house.