Retirement Board of Employees' Retirement System v. DiPrete

OPINION

WILLIAMS, Chief Justice.

Abraham Lincoln once explained that “[t]he legitimate object of government is to do for * * * people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves * * 1 Implicit in this is an indispensable ingredient of a well-functioning democracy — the element of trust. Public officials are honored with the opportunity to serve the public to benefit the people. It is expected that those officials will fulfill their commitments with loyalty, honor and integrity. This opinion comes in the wake of an elected official’s decision to…