{news} The case of the cokehead mayor: Why not one law for all?

[clifford thornton]

This could be the straw that broke the camels back.  This mayor has been on TV, Print, and radio for the last
two days.  With help from drug policy people in the state we may bring this subject to the forefront for weeks.



http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16818156&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=565859&rfi=6<http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16818156&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=565859&rfi=6>



      <http://www.journalinquirer.com/> Wednesday,
       June 21, 2006  




Editorials
The case of the cokehead mayor: Why not one law for all? 
06/21/2006

Yesterday Mayor John M. Fabrizi of Bridgeport called a press conference and cried.

He said he'd used cocaine while mayor.

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He apologized to his friends and family, "to all the people of the city," and maybe Lewis the Cat was on the list too.

Like the Steve Martin character of years ago who confessed he'd shot his girlfriend, the mayor said he kind of blamed himself.

He also said he would not resign.

He said that, bottom line, he's been a good mayor.

And most observers who know something about it seem to agree that Fabrizi has been a good mayor.

But is that what we are talking about here?

Say a 10th-grade history teacher gets busted for drugs.

Does he get to keep his job?

Even if he has done a great job at what he does?

You pick the example: Cop. Minister. Short-order cook. Let's say that one of them used to use illegal drugs, but all along he was able to do his work and do it well.

Does he get a pass?

How about a single mother? 

Let's says she lives in a tough neighborhood in Bridgeport and is poor and unemployed. She gets swept up in one of those big busts the authorities like to conduct to show they are fighting the drug war. (Mayors always applaud them.) And she gets arrested. Does she get another chance?

No. She loses her kid and goes to jail.
Or the UConn student who gets busted in a raid?

Does he go to jail?

Probably not, but his career is ruined before he begins it.

Even if he says the obvious, which is that he is responsible for his own stupid choices. Even if he says so on TV and weeps.

Which thing do we believe in? Second chances and treatment? Or the "war on drugs" and destroying lives and jailing drug users?

Let's decide.

If it is OK for the mayor to be a functional user, why not anyone else?

Suppose a bus driver or airline pilot says, "Hey, man, my record is impeccable. I have never had an accident. I just happen to use crack instead of Budweiser on Friday nights."

Do we cut that guy a slack burger?

Well, at least, as one town employee in Bridgeport said, the mayor brought this revelation out himself. That took guts.

Uh, no, he didn't.

There was an inadvertent release of an FBI document in which an alleged drug dealer claimed his "associate" had a videotape of the mayor using cocaine.

And then the Connecticut Post got hold of it.

U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor actually apologized to Fabrizi for the accidental release.

O'Connor said last week that Fabrizi was not a target of the feds' drug investigation.

Think he would do that for a black kid with a record in Bridgeport? Sorry to embarrass you. We were actually after someone else. We'll be moving along now.

The mayor said, "I will do everything, and I mean everything, I can to redeem the respect and the support of you, the employees of the city of Bridgeport, and of you, my friends, and of you, the great people of the city of Bridgeport." 

He added that he had put all this behind him. 

Certainly he must hope that he has.

Look, Fabrizi seems like a decent guy.

And there but for the grace of whatever higher power protects or bestows dumb luck go any of us.

But there are two issues here.

No. 1: Do actions have consequences?

We live in a time in which public officials and others of great power (in the corporations, the media, the church) preach consequences for those who are young or powerless but accept none for themselves. They either say that bad things just happen and no one is really to blame or, "I cried. Can we let this one go?"

The list is long: The head of GM drives the company into the ground and gets a big bonus. Cardinal Law covers up child abuse and gets a sweet sinecure in Rome. The head of the CIA and the national security adviser say there are WMDs in Iraq, both are wrong, and one gets a medal while the other gets a promotion.

Remember Lord Carrington? He showed us the way.

It's simple. You screw up, you have to pay. At least a little. 

It's just too easy to apologize if there is no consequence.

That brings us to issue No 2: If we don't think drug use is criminal for some people, why is it for others?

And if we don't really think recreational drug use is like theft or arson, why don't we decriminalize it and stop jailing people for it?

Many of us think we should decriminalize.

The mayor is not on a par with predecessor Joe Ganim, who went to jail for graft.

But let's have one system for all.

Either prosecute Mayor Fabrizi or let all the potheads, crack users, and junkies out of the state's prisons and jails.




©Journal Inquirer 2006 


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