How Corrupt Is Rhode Island?
Monday, September 05, 2011
Perceptions by many journalists are that Rhode Island and Louisiana lead the United States in public corruption. According to a recent survey of journalists who cover government and politics across the U.S., these two states lead the pack, i.e., where corruption is more accepted or conducted. But, the numbers don’t necessarily align with the results of studies compiled in the past few years.
Journalist's Perceptions
Nancy M. Cook, formerly a reporter for Newsweek and once at NPR (WBUR’s then RI affiliate), argued in a 2010 piece that Rhode Island was #1. Cook wrote, “Rhode Island may not have the most corruption in absolute terms, but it deserves to win because of its debacles per capita. The state has slightly more than 1 million residents, but if you ask any of them to name the top five worst political scandals, they laugh. There are just too many.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut while Rhode Island may be known for high-profile episodes such as Buddy Cianci’s conviction or State Senator John Celona’s guilty plea are well-known, the data may be inconsistent with the perception.
What the Numbers Show
A report published by USA Today in 2010 compared states by number of public corruption convictions per capita. Rhode Island ranked in the middle of country. North Dakota ranked #1 with 8.3 convictions per 100,000 residents. Rhode Island recorded just 2.5 convictions per 100,000 Rhode Islanders. The USA Today report was based on Department of Justice data.
“Let’s keep in mind [there are] an awful lot of other states that can give RI a run for its money -New Jersey, Chicago, and Boston all have their share - so we are not alone,” said former United States Attorney for Rhode Island, Robert E. Corrente. He is now in private practice with the law firm of Burns & Levinson, LLP in Providence.
Similarly, the New York Times reported in 2008 on a study issued by State Politics and Policy Quarterly (using similar data sources to USA Today) that found that Rhode Island was #34 in the US for corruption by public officials. Rhode Island was, in fact, behind both Connecticut #24 and Massachusetts #27.
Overall Corruption
In 2010, The Daily Beast examined overall corruption state by state. They expanded their analysis from focusing just of public corruption and looked at a wider range factors.
The Daily Beast found Rhode Island was #27 in the country.
Public Corruption: 32 Ranked
Racketeering & Extortion: 32 Ranked
Fraud Rank: 14 Ranked
Forgery & Counterfeiting: 44 Ranked
Embezzlement: 7 Ranked
“Rhode Island is so small that one of the downsides for people who want to engage in the discussion is it is easier people talk,” said former State Prosecutor Bill Devereaux, now a partner at the law firm Pannone, Lopes, Devereaux and West, LLP.
Daily Beast’s five data sets were weighted equally:
• Public corruption, 1998—2008: Convictions of elected and other public officials investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Department of Justice.
• Racketeering and Extortion, 1998—2008: Code for organized crime convictions, also investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Forgery and Counterfeiting, 1999—2008: Arrest numbers for producing or distributing fake money and goods over a 10-year period, from the FBI.
• Fraud, 1999—2008: Arrests for false statements or documents produced for personal gain over a 10-year period, from the FBI.
• Embezzlement, 1999—2008: Arrests for surreptitious theft of money over a 10-year period, from the FBI.
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