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Only in America... By Amin Y. Lame
An amazing thing recently happened here in my adopted home state of Ohio. Actually, it was not amazing as such, except that it happened so close to me, that I witnessed it unfold. On Thursday, August 18, 2005 a state court in the city of Columbus, Ohio found our Governor Robert (Bob) Taft guilty of violating the state's ethics Laws.
Under Ohio State's ethics Law, any public official who receives a gift over $75.00, yes, seventy five, from anyone doing business with the state government must report it to the state's ethics committee. The Governor, who is in his seventh year of his four second four year term, was found guilty of not reporting golf games that were paid for by his friends and associates, totaling $6000.00 over six years. The presiding Judge, who I learnt is also from the same party (Republican) as the Governor, could have sentenced the Governor to six months in prison and impose a fine on him. That is nothing new for those of us that have been in the USA for sometime. One could recall the former powerful chairman of the US house of representatives ways and means committee from Illinois who was imprisoned in eighties, and of recent memory, the former Arkansas Governor.
Anyway, the judge in this case did not sentence our state Governor to prison. Instead, he ordered the Governor to write a letter, which he personally paid all major Ohio newspapers to print, apologizing to all state employees for his violations. In addition, the Governor was fined $4000.00 and had to also pay back the $6000.00 to his friends for the golf games. But the Governor went further and sent thousands of us, state employees, personal apology through our emails.
What was amazing to me was to see the Governor, a republican, who is from one of America's political families (his great-grand father was US President and Attorney General, his grand father and father were US Senators) being pointedly told by a republican judge, in a court of law, "in this state no one is above the law," and answering to the judge by saying, "yes, your honor." By the way, the state and city prosecuting Attorneys who instituted the charges against the Governor are republicans yet, the republican white house did not intervene. That, I thought, was democracy, accountability and transparency in action. One hopes the be knighted elements in Nigeria, and their lawyers sitting in the courts as justices would learn a thing or two from this.
Thank you, Amin Y. Lame Columbus, Ohio USA
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