In a Muncie Star Press article entitled Local House Democrats defend walkout, return to floor, “Rep. Tiny Adams defended the walkout on the principal of separation of powers. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels is pushing for creation of an inspector general with prosecutorial powers to investigate waste and fraud in state government. That would give the executive branch unprecedented prosecutorial power.”
Perhaps the Governor could alter the Inspector General post to where it was not a position beholden to the Governor himself? The main problem, I presume, is that the Governor fears that the people he thinks should get prosecuted won’t get prosecuted. The more I think about it, the more I don’t like the idea of the Governor, any Governor, having prosecutorial powers. I like the idea of making prosecutors local and directly accountable to their communities. Give an Investigator General subpoena powers and let the IG make public reports on his or her findings. But leave decisions on prosecutions to the prosecutor in the locality where the crime was committed. Let the Attorney General file civil suits against appropriate parties. And let the people of Indiana vote them out if they don’t do their job, based on the information the IG makes public.
See my previous post for specifics on how the most recent Inspector General bill was structured.
Leave a Reply