EDITORIALLY SPEAKING: Ethics code should steer conduct; Muskogee Phoenix, August 9, 2017

Muskogee Phoenix Editorial Board; EDITORIALLY SPEAKING: Ethics code should steer conduct

"The document requires everyone to sign a confidentiality agreement before entering an executive session. Anyone who refuses to sign the agreement will not be allowed into the meeting.

We would hope that anyone who is elected to public office would have the integrity and character to understand that what happens in executive session must stay in executive session. That is, after all, the entire point of an executive session.

We would hope anyone elected to public office would not need a piece of paper to ensure ethical conduct."

Wyoming Judge Facing Ouster Over Stance on Same-Sex Marriage; Associated Press via New York Times, 5/9/16

Associated Press via New York Times; Wyoming Judge Facing Ouster Over Stance on Same-Sex Marriage:

"Neely is fighting removal, arguing she has a constitutional right to voice her opinion. Her lawyers have said no same-sex couples have asked her to preside over their weddings...

In a response to the removal petition, Neely's lawyers stated in a court filing last month that removing her would violate her rights. They quoted a provision of the Wyoming Constitution which prohibits the state from finding a person incompetent to hold public office, "because of his opinion on any matter of religious belief whatever."...

"For me, it's a free speech issue," said Rep. Kendell Kroeker, R-Evansville, one of the lawmakers supporting Neely and a member of the House Judiciary Committee in the Wyoming Legislature. "A judge shouldn't be removed for something that she said outside of her duties as a judge."...

"You can't have a piecemeal government, or government by checkbox for the personal beliefs and bias of people who for a time hold a public office," [Jason] Marsden [executive director of the Denver-based Matthew Shepard Foundation] said. "If you want to hold a public office, you have to serve the public under the law, and if you can't do that, you need to find another line of work.""