Jacksonville Needs A State Attorney Who Will Prosecute, As In, To Initiate Criminal Court Action Against Offenders Of The Law

The Times-Union wrote about it. The Folio (Flog) blogged about it. JaxOutLoud has had some forum postings about it, and I’ve chatted briefly with some folks about it.

I am of course talking about the meeting last week of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission and certain lobbyists’ refusal to abide by the new client reporting requirements.

After reading what I could read and talking to who I could talk to, I find there to be three issues at play.

First, attorney and lobbyist Paul Harden has stated he has no intention of revealing his client list, despite the new law that went into effect in January requiring such disclosure. Fine. See yesterday’s post about McCain, Fox, Starbucks, and of course GW blatantly ignoring laws as if such petty words were reserved for the vermin class and not the landed gentry. No surprise. No story. Congratulations, Harden, your arrogance and contempt for the law has earned you a spot in Bush's administration.

The second issue is the “penalty” for violating this law. Someone like Harden could face a $25.00 fine and ten days in jail for each offense. Ethics Officer Carla Miller conceded on JaxOutLoud that the “penalty” is (for lack of a better way of putting it) meaningless and explained that this lobbying law has been on the books for twenty years and that a proposal for change is coming.

Done snickering? Good. Let’s move on.

The third issue, and the one I find the most offensive, is that Lame Duck State Attorney Harry Shorstein went on record stating that any offenses committed under the ethics law would get low priority in this office.

That’s right. Yet again, we’ve got a situation where, despite possible findings of fault and guilt, the state attorney intends to turn his back on these violations, letting the offenders walk away free and clear of any real penalty. Bygones will be bygones. No harm blah blah blah.

Think of the mockery made of the legal system following the recent Sunshine Law violations. Or the perks ethics violations that went unpunished. Or the no-bid contract offenses that did nothing but make Peyton cohorts much richer. Harry couldn’t be bothered then, either.

It’s like ex post facto in reverse. Instead of passing a law that retroactively makes someone’s actions illegal (in violation of Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution), Harry has decided to simply preempt the peskiness of a prosecution by offering advance amnesty to anyone who breaks an existing law. Simple. Nothing unconstitutional about that. It’s just backroom cronyism business as usual.

Which brings me to a whacked out idea that one attorney friend has already balked at.

Since Jay Plotkin does not stand much of a chance beating GOP entrenched good ole gal Angela Corey under the current circumstances in this year’s race for State Attorney, he needs to switch gears (and parties while he’s at it) and run on a platform of weeding out city corruption.

He needs to bow away from the spinelessness of his boss and make a promise to the voting tax payers of this city that he will not stand by while government officials, whether elected or not, spit on the laws written to prevent corruption. He needs to promise prosecution against those possessed by avarice and stick by this promise until the Boss Tweed/Tammany Hall reputation of Jacksonville government is removed. Corey won’t do it. She needs these very people to get her elected.

I think Plotkin would be surprised at the overwhelming support he’d get for taking such a stand.