In the 1950's, Sherman Skolnick saw his parents get swindled out of their meager life savings, by a stock broker, and then they were denied a chance to recover their funds, because of the crooked politicians and judges who were involved in the case. This motivated him to become a self-educated legal expert, scholar, and crusading advocate for the downtrodden.

In 1963, he founded the public-interest group the "Citizens Committee to Clean Up the Courts". At first, Skolnick just distributed his reports to the local press, hoping that they would look into his stories, but later he established a telephone hotline, public access television show, and a web site.

In 1969, the Committee's investigations touched off the biggest judicial bribery scandal in U.S. history. As the head of his group, Skolnick accused the Illinois Supreme Court Justices of bribery. Banker and former Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue, Theodore J. Isaacs, had been convicted of criminal charges in a lower court, so he appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. He won his appeal by bribing most of the justices with stock in his bank.

Outraged by Skolnick's accusations, the Supreme Court Justices demanded that he disclose how he and his associates discovered their evidence. When Skolnick refused to comply, the justices had him hauled off to prison, in his wheelchair, for "contempt of court".

Skolnick had been confined to a wheelchair since the age of six, and his imprisonment touched off a public uproar, which forced the chief justice, and an associate justice to resign. Another justice died suddenly during the commotion of the scandal. Skolnick was vindicated, but he didn't stop there!

Former Illinois Governor, Otto Kerner, Jr., was serving as a federal appeals court judge, in Chicago, when the scandal broke. Skolnick wasted no time in accusing Kerner of being involved in the bribery scheme, too.

Kerner held press conferences and called Skolnick a liar. Despite his denials, Kerner was eventually prosecuted, and sent to prison; the highest ranking sitting judge in U.S. history ever sent to prison! 

John Paul Stevens, special counsel to the commission investigating the scandal, gained great notoriety due to his work, which helped him to get nominated and confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, some years later. In 2001, the story of the 1969 scandal became the subject of the book, "Illinois Justice", by Kenneth A. Manaster.

Between 1983 and 1993, Skolnick, and his group, touched off a new series of bribery scandals, which did not end before 20 local judges and 40 lawyers were sent to prison for bribery; including the Chief Judge of the Traffic Court. This judge swore that Skolnick was "imagining things".

These and the many other investigations that Skolnick conducted throughout his life were the stuff of legends! Most people are still baffled by how he was able to conduct these extensive and very successful investigations from the confines of a wheelchair, and before the age of the Internet, but he now serves as an example and an inspiration of what can be accomplished by a small group of public-interest advocates who set out to clean up the corruption in their government!



One - Investigation:
The staff of the GOGP will investigate the  "irregularities" in the operation of City government, and publish reports on its findings. In situations where City government stonewalls the release of public information, subject to the Texas Public Information Act, the GOGP will work with the Attorney General in an effort to compel the City to do so, and if unsuccessful, consider filing suit to force its disclosure.

In situations where the GOGP sees the gross abuse of process, or outright corruption, it will consider filing suit to bring the wrongdoing to light, to attempt to force a change in policy, and encourage the District Attorney to prosecute the wrong doers.

Two - Grant Writing:
Part of the budget of the GOGP will be earmarked to pay grant writers to apply for money to fund projects that the City government has ignored such as public restrooms on the Strand, connecting the cruise-ship terminal to the Strand Historic District, public restrooms and other improvements on the Seawall, a beach re- nourishment system, and capital to rebuild or demolish derelict or vacant buildings.

Three - Restructuring City Government:
The GOGP will seek to persuade the voters to consider the following reforms:

1. The City-Manager Form of Government must be replaced by a Mayoral Form of Government. The City needs to be governed and managed by a CEO who is paid, elected every two years, and is subject to a six-year term limit. The City could certainly be cursed with bad Mayors, under this system, but they can be voted out every two years! In theory, the City Manager can be replaced by Council, but in reality, it is a very difficult thing to do!

2. All Council Members should be paid a reasonable salary so that residents who own and operate businesses, or who work for a living, can consider serving without severe financial hardship. The unpaid nature of the current Council leaves the job open primarily to those who live on trust funds or pensions, are supported by a spouse, or who work for government agencies; people who often have little or no stake in or understanding of how the City must operate to provide the opportunity to earn a living for those who wish to live here. If the voters of Galveston ever thought that they were getting a bargain by electing unpaid volunteers to serve on Council, they should be painfully aware of what a bad idea that was by now!  

3. Adding at-large Members to Council would include some people who would be forced to consider City policies from an overall perspective. It would also give each voter the opportunity to vote on at least three members of Council. At-large Members would perform a function similar to U.S. Senators, with the Council Members from each District acting like U.S. House Members. 

4. The boundaries and numbers of the City Council Districts need to be reconsidered and possibly redrawn.

5. The City's two major agencies were set up as mini City-Manager Forms of Government. This merely multiplies the problems discussed above. The City needs to disband the Wharves Board, and privatize the Port through a sale or long-term lease to a private company. The folly of an arm of City government owning and operating the City's most valuable asset has been covered at length in "The Port of Galveston".

The Park Board should also be disbanded so that its functions could become a City department. With this change, its operations would be the direct responsibility of the Mayor. There is no reason to continue to manage the Park Board's area of responsibility as a separate and unaccountable entity.

Four - Public Integrity:
It is the Galveston County District Attorney's responsibility to investigate and prosecute public corruption in City government. The historical record appears to show that there has been a long history of a hands off approach towards public corruption in Galveston County. This combined with the lack of direct voter over sight of the City Manager has allowed things to get much more out of control than if the CEO of the City was elected, and the DA provided additional effective oversight.

The final goal of the GOGP will be to build public awareness of and support for the need to create an office of public integrity within the DA's office whose sole task it will be to investigate and prosecute public corruption in the cities of Galveston County. 

To read the entire article on the GOGP, click here:  


We want to hear from whistleblowers! You are protected under Chapter 554 of the Government Code, commonly known as the Whistleblower Act, against retaliation by your government employer, but we will not disclose your identity to others. However, if you prefer to do so, contact us anonymously.
 or Call 409-356-6553.