The Capitol in Albany (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

New York’s newest state government ethics commission, set to replace the infamously dysfunctional Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), will soon take its first steps when its members are approved by a committee of law school deans. That could take place beginning as soon as this month.

Nine out of 11 nominees to the new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (CELG) have been formally named by New York's statewide elected officials and legislative