Commonwealth v. Gray

DOWLING, J.,

Junkets paid for by corporations doing business with the government have become somewhat routine for a number of elected officials, particularly those in the legislative branch. Our junketeers were two employees of the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare who accepted paid trips; James Gray to the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, compliments of Bell of Pennsylvania, and Stephen Stoner to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, compliments of Sperry Corporation.

What is not usual is that these relatively minor bureaucrats were prosecuted for their activities under the State Ethics Act, 65 P.S. 403(a)…