Columbia Law School and New York City’s Department of Investigation announce Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity
New York City Department of Investigation (NYC DOI) Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn and Columbia Law School’s Dean David M. Schizer announced the establishment of the Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity to study corruption and accountability in government. The Center will expand research into corruption at the municipal level in jurisdictions around the world.
The Center will be a partnership between the law school and NYC DOI, the city’s anti-corruption watchdog and one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the country. Commissioner Gill Hearn will chair the Center’s Advisory Board, which will include Columbia Law School Professors Daniel C. Richman and Richard Briffault. The Center will be housed at the Law School.
“One of the reasons we’ve been so successful in attracting talented people to City government is that we’ve made integrity the hallmark of our Administration—and Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn has been at the forefront of that work,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “Thanks to her and her outstanding team at the Department of Investigation, we have not only been able to root out corruption, we’ve been able to prevent it from happening in the first place—creating the cleanest government in City history. I have no doubt that the new Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity will benefit from her expertise and build upon her accomplishments.”
Over the past year, a number of Brooklyn politicians have been charged with various forms of political corruption schemes. New York State Assemblyman Vito Lopez has been accused of sexually harassing female staffers. While Lopez, who represented Williamsburg, denied the accusations, the State Assembly approved a $103,000 settlement to settle some of the harassment claims. Lopez resigned from office on May 20th.