But for a dubious decision by a federal appeals court, former Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville would still be serving out a five-year prison sentence for tax fraud and running an $800,000 scam charity. Instead, she’s running for Congress again, piling on the Democrats’ mounting political woes in Florida.
Brown, 75, is a convicted felon. She avoided a retrial and possible return to prison by pleading guilty to a single felony count of corrupt obstruction of the internal revenue laws and was sentenced to time served of two years, eight months and nine days, and $62,650.99 in restitution to the government. She was one of three Black members elected to Congress from Florida in 1992 for the first time since Reconstruction.
Rehabilitation is a noble goal of the criminal justice system, but there are commonsense limits. It is the equivalent of a middle-finger gesture for Brown to now ask voters to entrust her again with a seat in Congress. There are more than enough other people with clean criminal records seeking the same high honor.
