Rights of Public Employees (H 7425)

This legislation, based on a federal law, would make it a felony for a public employee to “engage in any conduct that deprives the public of the intangible right of his or her honest services.” The term “honest services” is not defined, leaving it open to wide-ranging interpretations and subjecting every public employee and public official to serious criminal penalties for a variety of relatively innocuous conduct. This language is so broad, vague and open-ended that it allows for great prosecutorial mischief. Indeed, the sweep of this language is such that a public employee who leaves work fifteen minutes early has committed a felony subjecting him to ten years in prison. For these reasons, the ACLU strongly opposes the legislation. Read our testimony.