OCG BLOG

Now that the R.I. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of former Senator William Irons, they have in effect granted each legislator a lifetime Get Out of Jail card. Because of this ruling, the Ethics Commission has been stripped of the ability to go after legislators whose votes may be for sale.

House Resolution 6070 is a proposed Constitutional amendment sponsored by Rep. David Segal (and cosponsored by others) that is languishing in committee. This amendment specifically addresses the conflict between the “speech in debate” clause and the Ethics Commission language. H6070 would restore the ability of the Ethics Commission to investigate, and if necessary, prosecute legislators for participating and voting on legislation where they have a clear conflict of interest. Legislators would continue to have the full protection of “speech in debate” from any person or entity except the Ethics Commission. We need to persuade the Democratic leadership to allow H6070 to reach the floor for debate and a vote. If passed, voters will decide in 2010 whether to add this crucial language to the Constitution.

Please call as many state representatives as you can and ask them to SUPPORT H6070. The phone numbers for members of the General Assembly House can be found at:

Be sure that you call House Speaker Murphy and Majority Leader Gordon Fox first. Their phone numbers are 222-2466 and 222-2447, respectively.

If you are interested in the details of the Irons’ case, you can visit our web site, ocgri.org and read up on how Operation Clean Government initiated the complaint about Senator Irons back in 2004. You can catch up on how Senator Irons resigned almost immediately, and how he has managed to avoid any major repercussions through this latest technicality. If you’d like to read the decision, that’s also available on our web site. You might enjoy Justice Suttell’s well-reasoned dissent, a refreshing counterpoint to the strained logic of the majority decision.
Posted by OCG Blog Administrator on July 5, 2009