Originally Published: February 2, 2012
Experienced prosecutor has the needed integrity to head new ethics body charged with enforcing state’s new ethics law
Citizens Union commends the appointment of New York State’s Inspector General Ellen N. Biben as Executive Director of the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), the new state ethics body having joint jurisdiction over both the legislative and the executive branches. Ms. Biben is an experienced prosecutor who, prior to becoming Inspector General, served in positions that have prepared her well to assume this post. She has the requisite experience and needed integrity to take on the enormous challenge of serving as this new ethics body’s first executive director. The task before her is especially important because of the need for this agency to succeed as an impartial panel charged with oversight and enforcement of our state’s new ethics law and the pressing need to restore the public’s faith in our government and elected officials.