"Jerry Brown vetoes California political ethics bills"

A pleasure to speak with David Siders at the Sacramento Bee for this piece.

Jessica Levinson, a campaign finance and ethics expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said much of the legislation made “great talking points on the campaign trail” but was so minor that, even if enacted, it would not “change the way business is done in Sacramento.”

“There was this reaction like, everybody needs an ethics bill,” she said.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/09/30/3567530/jerry-brown-vetoes-california.html#storylink=cpy

"Statewide ban on disposable plastic bags is signed into law by Brown"

Great to talk to Melanie Mason for this piece in the Los Angeles Times. 

But Jessica Levinson, an election-law professor at Loyola Law School, disagreed, saying Brown was right to reject lawmakers' "knee-jerk reaction" to the recent scandals, which included federal corruption charges as well as perjury and voter fraud convictions for the other.

"There was a lot of political will to propose ethics reform," she said, "but Jerry Brown … understands that more regulation isn't always good regulation.

Steinberg powers through Senate’s ethics crises in his final year

Quoted in this one in the Sacramento Bee.

“These are isolated incidents that really don’t have anything to do with his leadership,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor of political law at Loyola Law School and a member of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission. “They would have happened regardless of who was in his position ... What can we criticize him on? Maybe the aftermath.”

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/09/6393961/steinberg-powers-through-senates.html#storylink=cpy

My latest op-ed in the Sacramento Bee: "Maybe we should let Wright and Calderon get paid while on leave"

You can read the piece here.

Here are the beginning of the piece:

Everyone seems upset that California Sens. Roderick Wright and Ron Calderon are taking paid leaves of absences.

I get it. Both politicians have been, or have been accused of, behaving badly. A jury convicted Wright of eight felonies, including fraud and perjury, stemming from the fact that he did not live in his district when he ran for Senate, something that is required under the state constitution.

We can argue about the wisdom of the requirement. However, that is exactly what it is, a requirement that all candidates must abide by. More importantly, he lied about it.

A different kind of jury, a grand jury, indicted Calderon on 24 counts of bribery, money laundering, and tax fraud, things we don’t want our representatives to do.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/03/09/6215863/viewpoints-maybe-we-should-let.html#storylink=cpy

"California Legislature considers ethics reform bills"

Quoted in this article in the Los Angeles Times. 

Trying to counter ethics scandals in which lawmakers stand accused of voter fraud, bribery, money laundering and other misdeeds, Democratic leaders Thursday proposed sweeping changes to state political laws aimed at restoring public confidence in the Legislature.

The proposals, which Gov. Jerry Brown has yet to embrace, would ban lawmakers and other state officials from accepting such gifts as spa treatments, golf games and tickets to Lakers games.

Officials could take other gifts, but only if their worth totaled $200 or less annually from any source — down from the $440 now allowed. And politicians would have to report campaign contributions more frequently.

The scandals of recent months have spawned more than a dozen measures by various lawmakers, addressing fundraising rules, lobbyists and travel by state officials. Thursday's more visible effort followed the back-to-back departures of two Democratic state senators, both now on paid leave, that this week cost the party its supermajority in the upper house.

... 

The timing of the new package is no coincidence, said Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor who studies governmental ethics. "Oftentimes the only silver lining that comes as a result of scandals is reform."

The question, she said, is "whether this is real reform or politically expedient reform, or both."

 

"Should politicians still get a paycheck while facing criminal charges?"

Here is a link to my appearance on 3/4/14 on AirTalk on KPCC. 

Two California politicians have been placed on paid administrative leave while they wait for their next days in court. Ron Calderon, who is facing two dozen charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering charges, announced this week that he will take a leave of absence rather than resigning from the state Senate. Calderon will continue to collect his salary while he's on leave, which is expected to stretch through the end of the legislative session in August.

Last week, Roderick Wright also announced he will be taking a paid leave of absence from the Senate after being convicted by a jury Jan. 29 of eight felony counts for perjury and voter fraud. Prosecutors said Wright falsely claimed to live inside his Inglewood district while really keeping a large home in Baldwin Hills. Wright plans to appeal his convictions at his sentencing hearing on May 16 but will continue to receive a paycheck from the state, despite already being convicted.

The California constitution prevents the state Senate from withholding pay from any senator but taxpayers are upset about being forced to continue to pay the salaries.

Is there any legal recourse for taxpayers to recoup the money from politicians convicted of felonies? What power does the state government have to withhold their paychecks, particularly once a politician has been convicted of a crime? Do constituents have any power to recall the senators?

 

Who Will Lead the California State Senate?

Quoted in this article in the Sac Bee (Kevin de León aims to move past Calderon scandal to lead Senate)

That Sen. Kevin de León remains a serious contender to become the next leader of theCalifornia Senate may seem surprising given the events of the past six months.

His name is mentioned 56 times in an FBI affidavit alleging that Sen. Ron Calderon accepted $88,000 in bribes from an undercover agent and a hospital executive.

De León himself accepted $5,000 in campaign contributions from the agent.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/05/6046614/kevin-de-leon-aims-to-move-past.html#storylink=cpy

... 

That’s the combative nature of politics, said Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law Schoolwho sits on the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

“Is (Calderon) such a tainted figure at this point that just being associated with him is problematic, or are people really innocent until proven guilty?” she said. “The law and politics are different things. ... Politics is a lot more about appearances.”

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/05/6046614/kevin-de-leon-aims-to-move-past.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/05/6046614/kevin-de-leon-aims-to-move-past.html#storylink=cpy