I see from the morning paper that School Board President Katherine Mitchell has received a letter of caution from the Ethics Commission for failing to report income from the state of Arkansas (funneled through the School District) for putting on a program for potential teachers.
Though critics of her aren’t happy that she wasn’t fined (or drawn and quartered), they should look to the Ethics Commission record. It’s a typical punishment for people who have failed to disclose income. A former governor got a similar knuckles-rap for failing to report income he received from his campaign for a personal plane and money his wife received from his campaign. The point is in the case of the governor and Mitchell that a public official was found to have broken the rules and an official finding of that fact was issued. That’s punishment. It’s on the permanent record.