Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Justice lawyer defends banning of honorariums Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 19:23:58 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \HD Justice lawyer defends banning of honorariums \BY Joyce Price \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES A federal judge erred in striking down legislation that banned all federal employees from accepting honorariums, the Justice Department argued yesterday, and it asked an appeals court to reinstate the law. But two of the three jurists on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit appeared to have some difficulties with the federal statute. Alfred Mollin, senior appellate counsel for the civil division at Justice, urged the appeals court to uphold the law, which he called necessary to prevent the "appearance of the sale of public officials. "There's a potential for abuse and conflict of interest" when government employees accept honorariums, Mr. Mollin told the court. But Gregory O'Duden, attorney for the National Treasury Employees Union, a plaintiff in the case, disagreed. "The reason the law was passed was because of the perception of influence peddling by members of Congress," Mr. O'Duden said in an interview after the hearing. "But the law is overbroad since it applies to all articles and speeches" written or delivered by federal employees - whether members of Congress or Labor Department file clerks, he said. Judge A. Raymond Randolph told Mr. Mollin he did not see how there would be an "appearance of impropriety" for an employee at the Internal Revenue Service to be paid for an article about insects. The law barring honorariums took effect Jan. 1, 1991. But it was challenged by the National Treasury Employees Union and 16 individual plaintiffs who said it severely restricted free speech. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, in a May ruling, agreed. He said the law was both overbroad and too narrow. He called it too broad because it prohibits federal employees from receiving compensation for speeches or articles on topics that have no relation to their job. It is too narrow, he said, in that it prohibits honorariums only for speeches or writings, not for music, poems or art. He found the law unconstitutional but allowed it to remain in effect pending the outcome of legal appeals or congressional action. Congress amended the original law earlier this year to permit compensation for federal employees who write three or more articles or give three or more lectures on a topic. But they are not allowed to accept compensation for one or two articles or speeches. Yesterday, appellate judges tried to find out from Mr. Mollin the constitutional difference between writing two or three articles. "The law [also] was recently amended to allow certain military personnel to take honoraria for some academic pursuits," Mr. O'Duden said. The House earlier this year passed a bill amending the law to allow career government employees to accept honorariums for speeches and writings as long as they don't relate to their jobs, a change favored by President Bush. But the measure failed in the Senate because of opposition by Sen. Robert Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, who believes congressional staffers should not be eligible for honorariums. Given the president's position on the issue, Mr. O'Duden said he found it surprising that the Justice Department appealed Judge Jackson's ruling. Last year, then-Appeals Court Judge Clarence Thomas ruled that federal employees receiving honorariums can put it into an escrow account, pending the outcome of the litigation. Following yesterday's hearing, Robert Gordon, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration employee, said he has an "escrow account building up" as a result of fees he's received for lectures on African-American history. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM