Truth And Consequences Bedevil Politicians

An Oregon politician is in trouble because he misrepresented his military record in the state Voters Pamphlet.

Former U.S. Rep. Wes Cooley claimed falsely that he had served with the Army in the Korean War. Now he’s on two years’ probation and under court order to perform 100 hours of community service, not to mention $7,110 poorer, for telling voters a lie.

Here in Washington, meanwhile, a politician is in trouble for telling voters the truth.

Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders (yes, Supreme Court justices who run for office and campaign for voters’ support are politicians, too) is facing allegations that he violated the state’s Judicial Code of Conduct.

On Jan. 26, 1996, an hour after he had been sworn into office, Sanders briefly attended an anti-abortion rally where he delivered a short speech. Although it neither mentioned abortion nor referred to how Sanders might rule in any abortion-rights cases, the speech left no doubt about where his heart lies.

Interestingly, Sanders recently wrote a majority opinion in which the court held that a Tacoma newspaper could reassign a reporter based on her involvement in gay-rights causes.

Preservation of its “editorial integrity and credibility” gave the newspaper authority, under the First Amendment, to override the employee’s right to political association, Sanders wrote.

Substitute “court” for “newspaper” and you have the essence of the criticism that has been leveled at Sanders before the Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Sanders says he’s human and has opinions but is able to interpret and apply the law irrespective of them.

Maybe he has a point. Maybe the public would be well-served if judges and other candidates for judicial office were free to talk openly about their personal philosophies. The conduct code doesn’t prevent them from having opinions, after all - just from letting voters know what they are.

Or maybe Sanders had a point when he wrote in his majority opinion about some people having to forfeit some of their free-expression rights because of the jobs they hold. Maybe faith in the whole legal process suffers if judges don’t mask their personal beliefs.

You’re the jury. What’s your verdict?

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