Sheldon Silver and the Price of Doing Science

Walter Olson Rumors of ethics problems have long swirled around long-time New York assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, many of them connected with his role as a private lawyer associated with a personal-injury firm whose interests extend to many government- and policy-related matters. This morning, according to multiple reports, the FBI took Silver into custody following a corruption investigation.  The complaint (courtesy WSJ, more here and here) alleges improprieties with Silver’s income both from a real estate law firm patronized by developers and from asbestos-injury legal work. On the latter, it alleges that Silver directed hundreds of thousands of dollars in state research money to a university doctor in Manhattan, and that the doctor referred lucrative cases over asbestos-related mesothelioma to Silver’s law firm. The doctor is described as a “well-known expert” who “conducts mesothelioma research” at a center at his university dedicated to that purpose. The unnamed “Doctor-1” “has entered into an agreement with the USAO SDNY [U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York] under which he will not be prosecuted for the conduct described herein, and that obligates him to provide truthful information to and cooperate with the government.” [pp. 24-25] As science has grown more dependent on government funding, libertarians have warned that the money isn’t really free. Whatever the stated intentio...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs