DRUGS AND JUSTICE

The Resignation Of a Top Official Of The State Courts Was Imperative, But
Questions about The Episode Still Linger

Public interest in the private habits of government officials certainly is
triggered when their behavior risks compromising the job they do for the
people. It is aroused still further when those habits are said to have
involved illegal activity. By those standards, possession of illegal drugs
on the job clearly would qualify as a matter of high public interest. It
now turns out that John M. Kennedy, who resigned July 23 as North
Carolina's top court administrator, was asked to leave his post by his
boss, the state's chief justice, after a search disclosed the presence of
cocaine in Kennedy's office. Kennedy has not been charged with a crime, and
he denies ever using cocaine. But the circumstances of his departure raise
questions that go to whether the laws have been fairly and equally applied.
It would be intolerable if in the end, the public were to conclude that in
this case justice wasn't the same for a well-respected pillar of state
government as it is for any citizen.

Kennedy, who served as the elected clerk of Wake County courts for 16
years, had held the top job at the Administrative Office of the Courts
since early 2002 and had gained a reputation as an effective administrator.
His sudden resignation last month was said at the time to have been for
personal reasons.

But this week, in response to inquiries by The N&O, Chief Justice I.
Beverly Lake Jr. released a written account of Kennedy's departure that
offered fresh and startling details. Informed about possible cocaine use by
Kennedy, Lake had called Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison to request a search
of Kennedy's office by a drug-sniffing dog.

According to Lake, the search found "trace amounts" of cocaine, evidently
taken from Kennedy's desk. The chief justice promptly asked Kennedy to
resign, and Kennedy complied. Lake on that day then reported what he knew
to Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby.

>From interviews, The N&O learned that Willoughby consulted Judge Donald
Stephens, Wake's senior resident Superior Court judge, the same day about a
deeper investigation of Kennedy. Despite "a lot of suspicion of a drug
offense," Stephens agreed with the DA that more investigation wouldn't
produce more evidence than what they already had, and the two concluded it
was not enough to win a conviction.

Naturally, people will wonder if Wake judges and prosecutors are inclined
to hand out breaks to people with whom they may have ridden the courthouse
elevator for years. Whether or not the authorities decide every day against
pursuing investigations of cocaine use, deciding not to follow leads in
Kennedy's case leaves an open question as to what might have been found.
It's that kind of question which can rattle the confidence of citizens in
their government, and the kind of question which ought to be avoided.

The circumstances of Kennedy's resignation stain his long record for
dedicated public service, and that's a personal tragedy no one would wish
on another human being.

But the public, and the judicial system, cannot tolerate having someone,
even someone who is competent and well-liked, in a sensitive position if
his or her conduct could compromise the office. It also is well understood,
or should be, that few things are more important in a democracy than
confidence that nobody is above the law.