The ICPR’s David Morrison reminds us that jail time may be the best thing to happen to those convicted of corruption: among the other penalties are revoked professional licenses and lost retirement benefits. Dean Bauer of George Ryan’s Secretary of State office, for instance, got 366 days behind bars plus two years of supervised release, and on June 30 a state appellate judge ruled that he should lose his retirement too.
“Although some government employees have a hard time resisting the pressure from above,” concludes Morrison, “awareness of the punishment received by those who have been caught–including jail time and lost pension benefits–may be all the incentive some need to behave ethically and even to report the ethical lapses of their bosses and co-workers.”