Evaluating State Ethics: The Case of Rachael Rollins
“Ethics” has been a political buzzword of late; with the recent departure of U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins and the allegations swarming around Clarence Thomas, a particularly new focus has been put on the judiciary.
State and federal ethics in particular are of great concern, given the scope of consequences for unethical actions. Concerns over state ethics have made headlines with the recent resignation of former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins, following accusations of abuses of authority and election interference. The Justice Department’s Office released a 155 page report detailing the actions in question. President Biden appointed Rollins for U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, a position that is tasked with enforcing federal laws in the Commonwealth. Rollins resigned last Friday, May 19th and her resignation was applauded by some of Massachusetts’ most important officials like Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.
Her actions were condemned as being clear violations of the Hatch Act, the law that restricts federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities. The primary incident was interfering with the Suffolk County District Attorney election, backing candidate Ricardo Arroyo against interim DA Kevin Hayden. She aimed to tarnish Hayden’s campaign by leaking sensitive DOJ information to the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald, including information about a possible DOJ investigation into Hayden. Evidence of hundreds of messages between Rollins and Arroyo, advising him on the election, have come to light. Though Hayden ultimately won, Rollins’ actions were clearly partisan since she explicitly violated election interference laws.Several other ethics violations were cited, including: using personal devices for official business, accepting campaign donations after being sworn in, and soliciting 30 free Celtic tickets. The full details of the investigation can be found in the report here. The US Office of Special Counsel also released a report from its separate investigation, reinforcing the severity of the Hatch Act Violations.
Looking beyond her resignation, Rollins could be disbarred by the Massachusetts Office of Bar Counsel if they decide to investigate her violations. If there is an investigation led by the Commonwealth, the Board of Bar Overseers would hold hearings and could recommend potential disciplinary actions to varying degrees. Along with her own resignation, there have been calls for Ricardo Arroyo to resign from his position as a Boston City Councilor, due to the collaboration between the two.
Rollins’ departure as U.S. Attorney has the potential to impact a lot of court cases. She was consistently seen as one of the most progressive district attorneys in America. During her time as Suffolk District Attorney she gained national attention for her decision to de-emphasize arresting individuals for 15 low-level crimes, like shoplifting. Due to her fame as a progressive attorney, her Senate nomination period was extremely contentious and ultimately split amongst party lines to a 50-50 vote that had to be settled by Vice President Harris.
In the wake of her absence First Assistant Joshua Levy now becomes the acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts while we wait for President Biden to nominate an attorney to fill the role. In his time in court, Levy’s work focused mostly on white collar crimes and he is not seen as nearly as progressive as Rollins. This is important as his position as interim U.S. Attorney allows him to make sentencing recommendations as well as the ability to decline prosecution, basically granting him the right to choose which cases to pursue.
Rollins’ departure is also coming while President Biden is entering election season. As it is well known, election seasons are highly contentious, especially around judicial nominations, and opposing parties are not afraid to work their hardest to delay these confirmations in the hope of their party winning the presidency. Similarly, President Biden may be seen as “rushing” the nomination if he does it during the election season.
Election interference and the sharing of sensitive government information have tampered with the political atmosphere in unique ways this year; the deeper impact on the agenda of President Biden and the Mass. Democratic Party has yet to be revealed.
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