MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) — A newly elected city councilman in Pennsylvania has been barred from taking office because of a drug conviction from 23 years ago.
McKeesport Councilman-elect Corey Sanders pleaded no contest to two felony drug counts in 1993 and was sentenced to four years in prison. The Democrat was prevented from being sworn in with colleagues on Monday night.
Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Francis McCarthy said in a letter to McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko that Sanders will need a full pardon from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to be able to hold public office.
There were questions during the race about whether Sanders should be left off the ballot.
Community members say Sanders has turned his life around and mentored young men to stay out of trouble.
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Meanwhile, the new mayor of Bridgeport, CT, is the felonious former mayor, Joe Ganim, who served several years in federal prison for public corruption. Yup, the city he and his pals robbed blind just elected him again. Because, you know, he’s learned his lesson.
Yeah, but Ganim is white and was screwing lots of people out of money. I’m surprised they don’t give him a raise, perhaps a multi-million dollar bonus in the process. I’d love to say something snarky about the injustice being done to Councilman Sanders, but it just too fucking obnoxious.
The people elected him & they should generally have the right to choose who they want, including someone who committed a crime in the past. Various examples of convicted criminals who were elected can be cited. Different guidelines in different states. The article is PA, your example is Connecticut.
Also, partially in reply to another comment, it is not merely because he is “white” or not guilty of a financial crime. The rule from what I can tell applies to felonies. Joe Ganim would have been disqualified, since he pled guilty to a felony too, but is in another state. I’m not sure why the Democratic governor can not simply pardon him. Should have did it when he ran in the first place.
… and yet it was all OK for Mitch Daniels to be a 2 term Governor of Indiana and a Presidential candidate - - - even though in 1970 as a student in Princeton, he was arrested in a police sting that netted two size-12 shoeboxes worth of marijuana, along with LSD and drug paraphernalia.
Currently in NJ - possessing more than 50 grams (about 1.8 ounces) of marijuana is a felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Given the amount of pot Daniels had (enough to fill two shoeboxes), he easily could have been charged with intent to distribute, (1970 law was even tougher)
This is nothing but pure disenfranchisement! The man was elected into office so how can anyone stop him from serving the people who elected him?
This is all about ‘race’. Black men are always subjected to different standards than puny mindset white men.