Scott Turow

Scott Turow whom we hosted this past June discussing his new book, Innocent, is quite familiar with ethics matters in Illinois.  He served on on the state’s ethics commission for several years.  Interesting commentary on the Blogojevich verdict and campaign finance laws by Turow in the ….

“…the unwillingness of one or more jurors to convict Mr. Blagojevich of anything but bare-faced lying makes some sense. I suspect the jury’s indecision might have been a reaction at some level to the hypocritical mess our campaign financing system has become, especially in light of recent Supreme Court jurisprudence about political donations.”

On campaign finance laws, he adds:

“…the Constitutional amendment this nation most urgently requires is one that reverses the notion that unrestricted political spending deserves protection as free speech. Without that, who could fault a juror for looking around at contemporary political life and feeling that Rod Blagojevich had been unfairly singled out?”