R.I. Supreme Court justice violated state ethics code, board finds

PROVIDENCE (RI)
The Providence Journal

February 26, 2019

By Patrick Anderson

Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Francis X. Flaherty said it never crossed his mind to mention he was president of the St. Thomas More Society of Rhode Island on his annual state financial disclosure form, even while he was on the bench for an appeal of a priest sexual abuse case.

PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Francis X. Flaherty said it never crossed his mind to mention he was president of the St. Thomas More Society of Rhode Island on his annual state financial disclosure form, even while he was on the bench for the appeal of a priest’s sexual-abuse case.

After all, the organization promoting Catholic legal principles has no paid employees, meets only a handful of times a year — primarily to sponsor the annual Red Mass for the state’s legal community — and has never paid him or other officers a cent.

But the state Ethics Commission on Tuesday concluded the size and informality of the Society were no excuses to leave it off the list of entities government officials are required to disclose their leadership roles in to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

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