Having spent my early career working for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, I have thought long and hard about why, for decades now, one public official follows another when it comes to indictment, conviction and jail. Pennsylvania has a special status when it comes to public corruption and no one seems to be deterred. Quite to the contrary, officials emulate their colleagues- turned-felons and their accumulation of power and perks. The prospect of monetary and jail sanctions is relegated to an afterthought. Former State Senator Vince Fumo remains very much an icon. And the simple reason is that, in the end, crime pays.
Law students are taught that sentencing and fines serve as a deterrent when it comes to others repeating the same behavior. Deterrence has not penetrated the all-expense paid bubble that our public officials live in. To the contrary, they having one set of standards for garden variety criminals and another for themselves. They seek to outperform each other criminalizing various forms of behavior, railing for ever-tougher minimum sentences. All the while “pay to play” remains an acceptable practice, characterizing the prevailing environment in the State Capitol, whether it comes to getting legislation passed or getting a contract awarded. Then again, the term itself: “play to play” is merely a substitute for the nastier term meaning the same thing: “bribery”.
The reason for it all is that politicians don’t act against their own. Despite the fact that the Pennsylvania Executive, House and Senate bodies are each the judges of their own members, no initiative is taken, no matter what the revelations are in the newspapers. Instead we are told that everyone is innocent until proven guilty and that we should let the process take place. So not only is an elected official or bureaucrat allowed to get paid while he or she is under a cloud, but millions of dollars in state funds go for their legal fees prior to indictment. Contrast that with some poor slob working in the private sector whose job and meal ticket can be pulled at any time.
So we wait, and pretty much without exception, convictions result. One would think that this should be the end of the matter after they serve their rather minimal sentences and presumably fade away to live a private and shamed life. This ignores the lifelong fraternal ties that bind when it comes to those presently in power and those forced from power. In Harrisburg those ties trump any ephemeral shame. The circle of corruption remains unbroken because the felons re-emerge as lobbyists able to charge fees that make their old salaries look like a pittance. Simply stated, crime pays.
For example, consider the circumstances of a former State Senate leader. After his stint in jail, of all organizations the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers hired him as a lobbyist. (This is when I stopped my membership.) My understanding is that he has also represented the University of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia. Forget about his still admiring cronies in the General Assembly. What does it say about the ethics of those who hire him? More fundamentally, what does it say about the process? Answer: It’s all corrupt.
It occurred to me that if political leaders were truly tough on crime that they would take the “pay” out of “pay to play”, barring former elected or appointed public officials from being able to lobby Pennsylvania State government. I wrote to Governor Corbett and received no response. His staff dismissed the concept. Notwithstanding his career as a rough, tough prosecutor he has his own favorite felon, long prominent in past Republican campaigns. So much for being tough on crime. At the same time don’t expect anything from challenger Tom Wolf. I have contacted his press secretary and have heard nothing.
Happily, a bill to bar public official felons from lobbying sponsored by Eli Evankovich (R. Armstrong and Westmoreland counties) has been introduced. Interestingly it was not one of the flurry of bills passed at the close of the legislative session. Apparently it has not been embraced by legislative leaders in either the House or Senate in this election year. There is no legal or policy reason for this not being passed. There is only one roadblock I can think of. I suspect that legislative leaders and the Governor want to keep their options open. I call it the “There But For the Grace of God Go I Syndrome” when it comes to the possibility of their own indictment and conviction. Why not keep open the prospect of a well-paid afterlife? Its only Pennsylvania human nature.
As they say, if our politicians are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem.
And the problem that remains is that crime pays in the Keystone State.
Photo by ABC News