9 of the 10 slots have been filled on new El Paso County ethics...

Nine of the 10 seats on the county government's new ethics commission have been filled, and the defense attorney leading the panel said there could be many changes to the county's ethics code.

[Carl Starr]

re Ethics law vagueness...

COMMISSION FOR LAWYER DISCIPLINE, PETITIONER v. BARRY ROBERT BENTON, RESPONDENT SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS 980 S.W.2d 425; 1998 Tex. LEXIS 121; 41 Tex. Sup. J. 1250 February 5, 1998, Argued...Black's Law Dictionary defines "harassment" as "words, gestures and actions which tend to annoy, alarm and abuse (verbally)[*456] another person.." BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 717 (6th ed. 1991). Generally, harassment is a course of conduct or repeated action. See BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 717 (6th ed. 1991); WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 1136 (2d ed. 1960). The term "embarrass" implies some influence that makes one feel uneasy, usually in the presence of strangers. See WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 835 (2d ed. 1960). The problem with these definitions is that they are inherently vague. See generally Kramer v. Price, 712 F.2d 174, 178 (5th Cir. 1983)(vacated on rehearing after statute repealed)(stating that there is an inherent vagueness in attempting to define what annoys people).[**73] The definitions show that both "harass" and "embarrass" are based on an individual's subjective feelings. Thus, what might harass or embarrass one person may not harass or embarrass another. See Coates, 402 U.S. at 614.

[Oh Brother]

Stuart Leeds?? Same attorney who defends sex offenders and then defends the rights of children who have been neglected, violated or abused-CASA. Ethics and Stuart Leeds shouldn't be placed in the same sentence.

[PatriotMissile]

Congratulations El Paso and El Paso county on having arguably the most unethical ethics committee in the nation. Good ol' El Paso politics at work.

[mike a]

Oh Brother,
Stuart Leeds is the same attorney who served honorably in the US Army and retired as a COL. Even allegedly unsavory characters deserve a strong defense.

[my mother]

Anna Perez talking about ethics? Look at your dirtbag husband Art! Remember the motion to direct award to Bear Sterns while on the EPCC board? Umm yeah...crook!

[army strong]

he was a jag colonel in the reserves. don't confuse that with real soldiers mike a.

[The no-ethics committee]

What a joke. The county commissioners get to appoint the members who may be investigating them? Leeds represented Cobos - conflict of interest. Leeds filed complaints against Escobar - conflict of interest. Lizzarga was the first asst. DA under Esparza - conflict of interest. If you have a close personal or professional relationship with county officials or vendors doing business with the county, then you should not be on the county ethics committee.

[TLB]

WOw...this whole county ethics commission turned into a pathetic circus. What a glaring joke!

[William Pena]

PatriotMissile wrote:

Congratulations El Paso and El Paso county on having arguably the most unethical ethics committee in the nation. Good ol' El Paso politics at work.

Thanks!
It's the best ethics commission that money can buy.

[PatriotMissile]

William Pena wrote:

<quoted text>
Thanks!
It's the best ethics commission that money can buy.

Money well spent, then.

[Completeidiots]

This ethics commission is inherently unethical. Stuart Leeds and Lizarraga each have political agendas and neither are ethical and we all know it!!!! It is patently ridiculous. The inmates have the keys....

[I nominate myself]

I should be the 10th person. I'm probably the most ethical person in this dump. First thing I would submit would be closing the "ethics" commission.

[Anthony]

William Pena wrote:

<quoted text>
Thanks!
It's the best ethics commission that money can buy.

Hey hill billy

What does a Texan like you know?

[TJJackson]

An ethics commission with some teeth is a good idea. Long overdue. But this one has too many lawyers on it.

And I haven't seen a lawyer (or politician, either) yet who wasn't an over-opinionated sonuvagun.

[Stewart Lolly]

Call in the FBI and have them all put in jail. This commission is a big farce and joke and disgrace to the people of El Paso, Keep voting Democratic and you will soon be one big joke.

[Araceli]

Oh Brother wrote:

Stuart Leeds?? Same attorney who defends sex offenders and then defends the rights of children who have been neglected, violated or abused-CASA. Ethics and Stuart Leeds shouldn't be placed in the same sentence.

Your right stuart leeds is a very good friend of Anthony Cobos who nominated him and is one of the ones being accused of corruption. Stuart leeds is also a good friend of Chief wiles and worked as an attorney for the police department. All the members on that ethics committee have some kind of connection to people that work for the county so how is this being fair to the community. Members should be people that have no ties to the county and are independent of what goes on in the county. I would think they would disguise this a little better. This still smells like corruption to me.