News Archive

Professor David Orentlicher questions whether Indiana’s ethics laws for legislators are stringent enough in a news story published in the Indianapolis Star on December 15.  

Former Indiana State Senator Brent Steele has taken a job with the Vapor Association of Indiana, a group that represents the interests of the small number of electronic smoking device liquid manufacturers licensed in the state. He voted in favor of a bill that allows only these companies to sell the liquid in Indiana. Former State Representative Alan Morrison, who also voted in favor of the measure, began working as a sales consultant with a division of the group earlier this year.

Such employment arrangements raise questions about whether the state’s legislative ethics laws go far enough, Professor Orentlicher says in the story.

“You worry it creates the appearance of being awarded for your vote,” he said. “Then you’re worried about them taking advantage of their relationships once they leave. Both of those are at stake here.”

Professor Orentlicher served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 2002 through 2008. He is the Samuel R. Rosen Professor at IU McKinney and co-director of the Hall Center for Law and Health. He also has taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago Law School. He earned degrees in law and medicine at Harvard and specializes in health care law and ethics.