My weekly column over at Civil Beat today looks at a recent Hawaii Supreme Court case which overturned a major ruling by the State Ethics Commission (“Ian Lind: Ethics Commission Takes A Licking“).

It was the second court ruling overturning a commission action in just a month.

Remember that the CB paywall recently came down, so you’ll have easy access to the column.

The July 19 ruling by the Supreme Court shredded what had been one of the commission’s most extensive and significant enforcement actions in decades.

William Eric Boyd, an assistant administrator at the Connections New Century Public Charter School in Hilo, had been charged with violating the state ethics code by approving or processing purchases of supplies, equipment and school lunches from two companies controlled by Boyd and his wife.

In its decision, the Supreme Court noted that Boyd had actually followed all of the charter school’s policies and procedures, and faced the ethics charges despite apparently having done everything according to the rules.

What didn’t make it into the CB column is that there was no evidence that Boyd was anything other than the lowest bidder, providing needed products and services to the school at the lowest cost.

For example, Hilo attorney Ted Hong, who represented Boyd in the appeal, told me in a telephone interview that products ordered through through the Boyd’s Amway distributorship were sold to the school at their wholesale cost. And the court decision noted that meals for high school students purchased from Boyd’s wife cost just $3 each.

You’ll have to read the CB column to find out just why the court ruled against the ethics commission and ordered that all ethics charges against Boyd be dropped.