Frank Anechiarico, the Maynard-Knox Professor of Government and Law, was interviewed for a Baltimore Sun article about Baltimore city hall corruption allegations (1/4/09). The article noted that a grand jury examining charges of corruption in Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration will expire this week. Anechiarico who has written extensively on such investigations, described the length of the Baltimore probe as "almost record-breaking."
Anechiarico explained in the article however that public corruption cases are notoriously tricky to build, particularly if the suspected wrongdoing goes beyond one individual. "If they are going after something more systemic, if that is what they are going after, you should cut them some slack," Anechiarico said. "At the very least, they should be able to flip a few people."
Yet when such cases drag on, he said, there is a danger of undermining public trust in elected leaders. "You think the whole government is rotten," he said. "People tend to think that anyway. I'm not saying that you shouldn't go after someone, but you should do it efficiently."
Anechiarico explained in the article however that public corruption cases are notoriously tricky to build, particularly if the suspected wrongdoing goes beyond one individual. "If they are going after something more systemic, if that is what they are going after, you should cut them some slack," Anechiarico said. "At the very least, they should be able to flip a few people."
Yet when such cases drag on, he said, there is a danger of undermining public trust in elected leaders. "You think the whole government is rotten," he said. "People tend to think that anyway. I'm not saying that you shouldn't go after someone, but you should do it efficiently."
