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Ethics In Government Act Essay

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The Ethics in government act was written into federal law on October 26, 1978. The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 was caused by the rise of the Richard Nixon Watergate scandal and the Saturday Night Massacre. The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal that was an attempt of a cover up of a break in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. President Richard Nixon attempted the cover up. The Saturday Night massacre was the dismissal of high-ranking officials under Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. The Ethics in Government Act was created to reduce corruption and to “prevent the use of knowledge gained while in the government’s employ for former federal employees.” (http://definitions.uslegal.com) The act also created the Office of Government Ethics, which was created to be responsible for …show more content…

Another definition is a person’s moral principle. Workplace ethics is a big problem within the United States today. What one may think as being right may be wrong for someone else. This act was signed to be a law by President Jimmy Carter. Another name for this act was the Independent Counsel Act. In 1988 there was a Supreme Court case named Morrison v. Olson, to determine whether or not the act was constitutional. The United States Supreme Court determined on a 7-1 vote, that the act is constitutional. According to Title IV, an appointed official under this act can only be removed from their office by impeachment or by action of the attorney general, which must be done under good intent. Impeachment is when a government official is accused of doing illegal things, which will lead them to being removed from office as well as an additional punishment. Good intent is having a reason to take a certain action against somebody for the good of the country. It is also to avoid any legal action against that

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