A CRIME'S A CRIME

Court's softness on actor Robert Downey Jr. sends a bad message

Actor Robert Downey Jr. was rightly sentenced Monday to serve time in the
Los Angeles County jail for again violating the terms of his probation on
a 1996 drug conviction. Jail time was the option that should have been
taken months ago, as it surely would have been for any ordinary citizen.

Malibu Municipal Court Judge Lawrence Mira talked tough when he said it
was his intent "to let [Downey] know that when you make the choice for
drugs, you're going to jail." But Mira's previous leniency with the actor
has been part of the problem.

What kind of message is sent when youths who idolize stars see that drug
arrests do not even interfere with movie careers?

Downey's first arrest came in June 1996, for speeding on Pacific Coast
Highway. He pleaded no contest to felony drug and weapons counts. He was
arrested again when he was found unconscious in a neighbor's house and was
charged with trespassing and suspici on of drug possession. A third
arrest came in July 1996 after Downey skipped out on a required treatment
program. Judge Mira's toughest ruling in those cases was mandatory drug
treatment at a locked facility.

Even that became a joke when Mira allowed Downey out to host the "Saturday
Night Live" TV show, which included a skit in which Downey played a
detective who found a stash of heroin.

"In my book, if you do drugs, you go to jail and you stay there," Downey's
character declared. "You don't go to some cushy rehab center and take a
week off to host some comedy show."

The public properly slams the National Football League for allowing
players three drug violations before suspending them for a year. Downey
kept making movies throughout his legal troubles, hired once by a director
who said that Downey "had been crucifie d enough." How? A few soft
interviews and jokes by talk show hosts?

One movie production company took out an "incarceration coverage" policy
on Downey in case he was arrested during filming. That's some hard line.

Downey has been given many chances to straighten out, certainly more than
most addicts receive. His sixmonth jail sentence was an unavoidable end
to what had become a nearmockery of the justice system.

Copyright Los Angeles Times