Can citizens file ethics complaints against sitting legislators? North Idaho political activist Larry Spencer insists he can pursue an ethics complaint against Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake. State officials, including 
House Speaker Lawerence Denney and a deputy attorney general, aren't so sure. In an article written by the Spokane Spokesman-Review's Betsy Russell, reprinted in the Dec. 27 Statesman, Denney downplays the notion of a citizen's complaint, but said he passed the complaint along to House Ethics Committee Chairman Tom Loertscher, R-Iona. Said Denney, R-Midvale: “Our rules on ethics are basically for the House, and I think the attorney general will say that a complaint from other than a House member is not acceptable.” Deputy attorney general Brian Kane concurred. “The general rule is that the House rules apply only to members of the House,” Kane told Russell/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.
Question: Should citizens be allowed to file ethics complaints against Idaho legislators?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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