If You Rape One Staffer, It's Your Fault.
If You Rape Another, Is It Your Boss's?

By Henry J. Stern
June 14, 2004

A number of fascinating stories in this morning's newspapers suggest a television reality series more than political reporting. The theme of the program is official – and unofficial – misconduct.

The Daily News' lead editorial, "Do your job or get out, Mr. Weprin," calls on Mark Weprin, chair of the Assembly Ethics Committee, to inquire whether Michael Boxley, formerly counsel to Speaker Sheldon Silver, was punished sufficiently after he allegedly raped Elizabeth Crothers, an Assembly aide. According to Crothers, Boxley continued to harass her after the crime, and later repeated the offense with another Assembly staffer, whose identity is concealed by the name Jane Doe. Crothers complained to the Assembly, but Boxley's second victim complained to the police, and Boxley was subsequently arrested, cuffed, and removed from the Assembly premises. Doe has sued Silver and the Assembly.

The Assembly situation is described on page 2 of the Post, in an article by Fred Dicker, headlined "Pretzel popper Silver dissed my rape claim." The conversation took place three years ago, after Ms. Crothers said she was raped by Boxley. She did not go to the police, but did bring the issue directly to the speaker. She said he did not show any interest in her complaint, and was never in touch with her afterwards.
 
The subject of the News headline, Hon. Mark Weprin, is an affable and thoughtful young man, devoted to public service and well-liked in his district. He was first elected in 1994, taking the seat of his highly capable father, the late Speaker Saul Weprin, who died earlier that year. Saul Weprin was Silver's immediate predecessor. Mark's older brother, David, a former state deputy banking commissioner in the Cuomo administration, now chairs the City Council Finance Committee, which has been a powerful force in city budget matters. In 1995, the City Council co-named 188th Street in Queens "Saul Weprin Boulevard," for the eponymous speaker.
 
People wonder whether Mark Weprin really has the authority to do anything about the Boxley case or the Roger Green case, even if he wanted to. Insiders believe that he lacks the power. It is Silver and only Silver who makes important decisions on ethics, and if Mark Weprin decided to go into business for himself by taking independent positions on issues, his Assembly career would experience extreme prejudice. On the other hand, since he takes the $12,000 lulu, he should really do something more than raising his hand at the Assembly speaker's cue.
 
This is how the wagons line up with regards to ethics matters: Silver ostensibly defers to Weprin, and Weprin waits on the courts, who generally take years to dispose of matters. The judiciary is  subject to lawyers' delays, postponements, and appeals from any decision a lower court may make. As a result, nothing is likely to happen for a long while, unless outside political pressure compels the principals to act.
 
Sheldon Silver is not an evil man. He has not been accused of stealing public funds, taking bribes for official acts, or sexual misconduct of any kind. He is seriously religious, and fair and decent in personal and political relationships. You should not take him on, as former Majority Leader Bragman learned in 2000. His morals are superior to those of many members of the Democratic and Republican Conferences.
 
He runs the Assembly like a plantation, where unsanctioned dissent on an issue may be punished as severely as attempted escape. New York really needs a middle ground speaker, something between Silver's autocratic style and that of his city counterpart, Gifford Miller, who is led around by the nose by the Council's more vociferous and radical members, whom he dares not defy.

Governor Pataki jumps in to attack the speaker in an op-ed column on page 33 of today's Daily News. As so often occurs in these cases, "The truth lies somewhere in between (Rule 30-T)." Pataki has a point in that Silver's principal strategy, delay, does drag out issues interminably, and prevents other matters from being considered at all. But the Republicans do not enter the battle with clean hands. There is rigidity on both sides, unwillingness to accept the reality that half a loaf is better than none, and a fierce desire not to let anybody else get credit for anything. The way Albany works now, both sides claim credit for passing a bill (called, appropriately, a one-house bill), but the bill cannot go to the governor to be signed into law, because the Senate bill and the Assembly bill are not identical. This political art form is a charade with three actors. The governor demands action (see his op-ed piece), but no one acts on his demand. How sad it is.
 
Proceeding from the Assembly to the State Senate, the ethics of Republicans and Democrats are discussed today in a gripping column on page 11 of the Sun by William F. Hammond, Jr., "The Metastasis of Guy Velella." You should read this and share it with your friends. I have not described it here in more detail because I do not want to burden you with another laundry list of illegal acts allegedly performed by public officials.
 
We barely touch on the latest escapade of Justice Laura Blackburne (another oxymoron), because so many others have already rebuked her for inducing a wanted criminal to escape from her courtroom while a detective was in court to arrest him. (He was picked up the next day at his drug treatment center.)

We should be aware, however, of the irony that this radical judge, once a mayoral aspirant, was placed on the Supreme Court bench in Queens by former congressman and police officer Thomas J. Manton, whom I am certain does not approve of her conduct. However, her husband, Elmer, was a district leader, and this is a case where politics trumps ideology. I am curious to see how The Pink Couch Lady will wiggle out of this one.

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