Tracking code caldwell guardian

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Legislative Ethics Need Honor Code

Legislative Ethics Need Honor Code Like U.S. Military Academy

Idaho’s legislature has a crisis in confidence following numerous ethical lapses on the part of members–some have been convicted, some have lost leadership roles, and others have lost face.
Exterior dome of the Idaho State Capitol building located in Boise, Idaho, USA.
On the third day of the 2013 session they have devoted considerable time to “ethics training,” and they hired outside counsel.
The GUARDIAN has offered perhaps the easiest and most logical solution in the form of the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) HONOR CODE. The code says “a Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” The code in some form has served the Academy since 1802 with the final tweak adopted in 1970 to “not tolerate those who do.”
CARVED IN STONE...
CARVED IN STONE…

We have suggested the plan to a Senator and a Representative–both Dems–who scoffed at the suggestion and walked away.

It seems like a pretty simple ethics policy for the members of the Idaho House and Senate to adopt. Just change “cadet” to “member” and it’s ready to adopt.
Three rules of thumb:
1. Does this action attempt to deceive anyone or allow anyone to be deceived?

2. Does this action gain or allow the gain of privilege or advantage to which I or someone else would not otherwise be entitled?

3. Would I be dissatisfied by the outcome if I were on the receiving end of this action?

We would suggest they use modified guidelines similar to West Point when it comes to adjudicating violations. They are tried by a jury of their peers (ethics committee). If they are found guilty, the case will go up to the (full House or Senate) who will give a recommendation to either impose sanctions (strip the member of committee assignments) or recommend impeachment.

Definitions of the tenets of the Honor Code:

LYING: Cadets violate the Honor Code by lying if they deliberately deceive another by stating an untruth or by any direct form of communication to include the telling of a partial truth and the vague or ambiguous use of information or language with the intent to deceive or mislead.

CHEATING: A violation of cheating would occur if a Cadet fraudulently acted out of self-interest or assisted another to do so with the intent to gain or to give an unfair advantage. Cheating includes such acts as plagiarism (presenting someone else’s ideas, words, data, or work as one’s own without documentation), misrepresentation (failing to document the assistance of another in the preparation, revision, or proofreading of an assignment), and using unauthorized notes.

STEALING: The wrongful taking, obtaining, or withholding by any means from the possession of the owner or any other person any money, personal property, article, or service of value of any kind, with intent to permanently deprive or defraud another person of the use and benefit of the property, or to appropriate it to either their own use or the use of any person other than the owner.

TOLERATION: Cadets violate the Honor Code by tolerating if they fail to report an unresolved incident with honor implications to proper authority within a reasonable length of time. “Proper authority” includes the Commandant, the Assistant Commandant, the Director of Military Training, the Athletic Director, a tactical officer, teacher or coach. A “reasonable length of time” is the time it takes to confront the Cadet candidate suspected of the honor violation and decide whether the incident was a misunderstanding or a possible violation of the Honor Code. A reasonable length of time is usually considered not to exceed 24 hours.

To have violated the honor code, a Cadet must have lied, cheated, stolen, or attempted to do so, or tolerated such action on the part of another Cadet. The procedural element of the Honor System examines the two elements that must be present for a Cadet to have committed an honor violation: the act and the intent to commit that act. The latter does not mean intent to violate the Honor Code, but rather the intent to commit the act itself.

5 comments:

  1. This post came from my friend Dave Frazier and is on his blog the Boise Guardian. I would like to see this Honor Code Adopted by all elected officials. It would be interesting to see their reaction to this at all levels in Idaho government.

    ReplyDelete
  2. There is no honor amongst thieves. Not sure who said this first but it sure fits for most of our elected officials. Also, did you catch the OP-ED in the Press Tribune today? It speaks to all the embarassing people we have elected to public office here in Canyon County.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sure, they will have their ethics "workshop" with the advice from their counsel to be more careful and just don't get caught.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Of course the Idaho Legsislazyturds won't adopt a code like this and why should they? David Petraeus is a West Point graduate and we all know what a fine example he set by Lying, Cheating, though I am not certain of the stealing part unless you count Broadwell's cold heart. If the Legislazyturds adopted such a thing they would all have to leave office like their buddies Craig, McGee and now Crapo.

    Wonderful idea though. Can't seem to limit their terms (we were stupid on that regard) Can't seem to vote them out either. So they go on being the same bunch of good old boys and girls.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Correct me if I am wrong, but think that there was a news item that indicated that the McConnell wing of the Senate gave Crapo a promotion.

      Delete

A public discourse on the issues of the day makes the world a better place.

We welcome comments but they will be moderated and edited if too long or do not have anything to do with the post.
Agree or disagree just do it without profanity or it won't get posted. Try to keep your comments to no more than 300 words. Too long and I will try to edit it down or simply delete the comment. The whole idea is to get people to read your comment. Don't use 10 words when one will do the job.

It's OK to have a difference of opinion but keep it civil. I have used the "delete" feature on myself at times.

The ANONYMOUS feature for comments seems to be the most user friendly. People have commented they have difficulty with the other methods of posting comments.