Corruption Then and Now
January 11th, 2006
Twenty years ago this week, police stopped a car swerving on the Grand Central Parkway and inside discovered city political power and Queens Borough President Donald Manes bleeding from a botched suicide attempt. Marking the anniversary in Power Plays, Tom Robbins recalls, “Manes’ suicide attempt opened the floodgates on a string of scandals involving crooked city officials and political leaders that rocked the mayoral administration of Ed Koch who had just been overwhelmingly re-elected to a third term.”
Probably coincidentally, a Brooklyn court marked the anniversary another way. Today, Brooklyn State Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus sentenced former Brooklyn Democratic leader and Assemblymember Clarence Norman to two to six years in jail for charges related to campaign contributions. And this could be just the beginning, NY1 reports. He still faces sentencing on his conviction last month of misusing a $5,000 contribution and two more trials on other corruption charges. The onetime political boss hopes to stay out of jail for the time being by asking for bail while he appeals.
His sentence comes despite pleas for leniency, according to the Daily News. Brooklyn Justice John Leventhal, who has long-standing ties to Norman , reportedly asked Marcus ” to please take into account the good things he did, his years of public service. He fought hard for the people of Brooklyn, that he fought hard for the underprivileged.” And Councilmember Leticia James said a group of supporters told Norman ” we would be there for him, and we appreciated all he did and would send him care packages.”
By Gail Robinson on January 11, 2006, 2:27 pmIn category: Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law | No Comments »

