Comprehensive government accountability investigation finds pervasive corruption risk
When it comes to risk of corruption, not all states are created equal. A new 50-state investigation found that no state does exceptionally well when it comes to having laws and practices that discourage corruption. And some states do extremely poorly.
A year-long investigation into the risk of corruption across all 50 U.S. states culminated Monday morning with the release of corruption risk report cards by the State Integrity Invesgtigation.
In it, not a single state was determined to merit an A in terms of minimizing the risk of corruption. And 25 of 50 states got either a D or an F for their laws and practices. The State Integrity Investigation is a joint project of the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International, the operator of this website.
The individual grades, though, can mask the individual areas of success and failure in each state. Take Georgia for example. While the state got a 49, an F, the lowest score given, it had areas where its performance wasn't so bad. Like internal auditing. In that area, it scored an 86, good enough for a B and a tie for 37th place. Auditing, though, is an area where most states did well, with just five Cs and one F being handed out.
So, without delay, a top five and bottom five list of selected scores from the State Integrity Investigation. In the case of ties, we included all states with the necessary score to make the cut.
Overall (Top 5)
State, Score
New Jersey, 87
Connecticut, 86
Washington, 83
California, 81
California, 100
Connecticut, 100
Florida, 100
Idaho, 100
Iowa, 100
Mississippi, 100
Vermont, 100
Washington, 100
Wyoming, 100
Redistricting (Bottom 5)
State, Score
Kentucky, 5
New Hampshire, 10
Wisconsin, 15
North Dakota, 25
Ohio, 30
Lobbying (Top 5)
State, Score,
North Carolina, 96
California, 92
Washington, 91
New Jersey, 90
Nebraska, 88
Lobbying (Bottom 5)
State, Score,
North Dakota, 35
Wyoming, 36
Virginia, 41
Delaware, 42
South Dakota, 49
Procurement (Top 5)
State, Score
Iowa, 93
Nebraska, 93
West Virginia, 93
New Jersey, 92
North Dakota, 92
Procurement (Bottom 5)
State, Score
Maryland, 60
Georgia, 65
South Dakota, 66
New York, 66
New Mexico, 70
Arizona, 70
Executive accountability (Top 5)
State, Score
New Jersey, 88
Tennessee, 85
California, 83
New Hampshire, 82
Washington, 82
West Virginia, 82
Executive accountability (Bottom 5)
State, Score
South Carolina, 47
Maine, 50
Idaho, 52
South Dakota, 54
Wyoming, 56
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http://www.complaints.com/2012/march/14/Corrupt_Judge_David_P._Kreider_now_taints_the_ele_264712.htm
for more information. I say prison sentences for all those who think they are above the law, especially public servants whom we should be able to trust. Then and only then will the governmental paradigm undergo the shift that is so dearly needed. Unfortunately the lack of ethics, lack of honor, and lack of concern for one’s fellow man has infected governments worldwide on both an institutional and cultural level.
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