OPINION: Turner's ethics, Statehouse trust on trial

Turner has claimed he was inbounds because he recused himself from voting on the bill, given his son’s ties to the Mainstreet Property Group, which puts up nursing homes. If the company sounds familiar, Mainstreet is behind the redevelopment plans for the former Home Hospital site at South and 26th streets.

New documents uncovered and reported in recent weeks by The Indianapolis Star and The Associated Press paint a more involved picture for Turner, who apparently had millions of dollars personally riding on nursing home deals.

But the General Assembly’s practices will be on trial during Wednesday’s hearing, too. By giving cover of unspeakable privacy to the times when party members meet behind closed doors — a sort of Statehouse version of Vegas, where what happens in caucus, stays in caucus — the legislature leaves itself open to accusations of back-scratching deals.

That, of course, is nothing new. The fact that a handful of legislators ratted him out on the nursing home deal hints at just how far Turner was willing to go to twist arms to save his investments. (Your citizen legislature, ladies and gentlemen.)