Monday, Aug. 2, 2010 | 3:40 p.m.
The state's ethics law, already hollowed out by court decisions that don't allow the commission to discipline legislators, took another blow last week from the Nevada Suprme Court. With only Justice Kris Pickering dissenting, the court ruled that a key provision of the law is unconstitutional, allowing only specific conflicts outlined in the law to be used by a state commission, thus creating a Guidebook for the Unethical. Pickering's dissent concluded thusly:
"But applying First Amendment strict scrutiny and overbreadth precepts to invalidate state conflicts-of-interest laws that govern local governmental officials who vote is a mistake that I fear opens the door to much litigation and little good."
Let the lawsuits commence.
The decision is at right.
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