Open these ethics hearings

Does any reasonable person believe a committee composed of state House members will be able to conduct a fair investigation into ethics charges against two House members? If so, we would like to know why.

The cases against Reps. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, and Phil Riesen, D-Salt Lake City, which will be heard, beginning this week, offer strong arguments for the need to reform the Legislature's ethics process.

At the very least, the House Ethics Committee should hold these meetings in the open. Citing advice from attorneys, the committee's co-chairman said legislative rules require the meetings to be closed. But both Hughes and Riesen have asked that they be conducted openly.

Even constitutional guarantees may be waived if interested parties agree to it. In this case, the Legislature has much to gain from allowing the public to view what happens in the hearings. The process already is severely flawed in that the politicians themselves are being asked to judge the actions of one of their own. No matter how much integrity the politicians may possess, keeping the proceedings secret only adds to the suspicions that favors or other political considerations will mar the process.

There is another compelling reason to open the hearings.

Hughes stands accused of offering a former lawmaker up to $50,000 in campaign contributions from special interests if she would switch her vote on a controversial school vouchers bill. Riesen stands accused of breaking ethics rules by leaking news about those allegations to the media. Given how both sets of allegations already have been aired publicly in newspapers, on television, radio and the Internet, it makes little sense to hear the facts and allow the accused to defend themselves in secret.

The rules requiring closed hearings were likely put in place to protect the accused. In this case, the accused desire no such protection.

What Utah needs is a new ethics process that is as free from political interference as possible. An independent panel ought to be empowered to hear complaints. It could even do so in private, making public only those complaints that are deemed to have merit.

Politicians can't be divorced from politics, of course. During an election season, there are plenty of incentives to air complaints to the media for full impact. But if lawmakers themselves had more faith in the ethics process, they may be less likely under normal circumstances to turn to the media. And if they did, those allegations would be heard and investigated in full view.

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