SURELY STATE Sen. Clarence M. Mitchell IV finds himself under considerable strain -- largely of his own making.
An undisclosed loan he took from bail bond interests and votes he cast in favor of that industry drew conflict-of-interest inquiries recently from the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics.
He and other members of the Mitchell family face debts exceeding $400,000.
And the senator faces a challenging re-election test this summer in a new district where many voters may not know him.
He's choosing an odd way to introduce himself.
Standing on the steps of the courthouse named for his grandfather, civil rights leader Clarence M. Mitchell Jr., the senator disgraced himself with language unbecoming anyone let alone a state senator. We doubt that his threat would find much support among the voters of Druid Hill, a neighborhood in the district he represents in the assembly.
Before television cameras, Senator Mitchell threatened two Sun reporters who have raised serious questions about the handling of former Congressman Parren J. Mitchell's personal finances by Senator Mitchell's uncle, former state Sen. Michael B. Mitchell Sr.
"We will not allow these punks to invade our uncle's room," Clarence Mitchell IV said, "and if we see these punks we'll deal with them the way Druid Hill deals with them." He declined to elaborate.
His comment came after the Mitchells filed a $251 million lawsuit against The Sun charging invasion of privacy, an action called "utter nonsense" by The Sun's publisher, Michael E. Waller.
The Sun's story showed that former Congressman Mitchell's money had been used to pay expenses related to a Pigtown bar Michael Mitchell helps run and to buy a car. The former congressman's bills, including more than $100,000 owed to a nursing home, have not been paid by Michael Mitchell, who has power of attorney for his uncle.
Senator Mitchell's threat only compounds an already unfortunate matter. It falls far below standards set by his grandfather and grand uncle -- a standard still demanded on Druid Hill and throughout the city.