Ex- Florida Senate President W.D. Childers was arrested Monday in Pensacola on a felony arrest warrant charging the Escambia County Commissioner with two counts of bribery and one count of money laundering, according to reports in the Associated Press.
The big surprise for observers of Florida politics is that Childers is being held on state charges, something that is seen just about as often as the sighting of a Florida Panther. The Federal Justice Department has a special wing for former Florida Legislators at the Federal prison at Eglin Air Force Base in the panhandle. It now has a vacancy sign out since former Speaker of the House "Bo" Johnson was released last year. The Justice Department treats the Florida Legislature like a refrigerator. Whenever there is a vacancy at the federal prison, they can just reach in there and get them a cold one. Cold, because they usually wait until the elected official leaves office before they are prosecuted. This is why the "Eight Years is Enough" law may be too much, because it tends to shield Florida legislators from federal prosecution until they are term limited out.
If these alleged charges against Childers are true, then the Justice Department may very well bring some federal charges of their own. The problem with bringing state charges is that Florida's ethics laws need an overhaul. Gov. Jeb Bush assembled a blue ribbon commission in his first year in office to review the state's anti- corruption laws. They crafted a new law titled, "Citizens Right to Honest Government" which was introduced to the legislature for the past three years but never passed in either house. Floridians should not have to rely on federal prosecutors to clean their dirty laundry. The "Honest Government Act" should be passed this year or the citizens will be forced to do the job themselves through a constitutional amendment.
Meanwhile corruption remains one of the major cottage industries among Florida legislators. Once they get term limited out of office they often go back home to run for county office where they teach the local officials how to do corruption Tallahassee style, with both fists. Only a tough ethics law will stop this cycle of corruption and renew the public's trust in their government. | 