Mr. Barry's Reckoning

Is it so hard to file a tax return?

THE U.S. government is justifiably fed up with Marion Barry. It gave the D.C. Council member and former mayor a break when it placed him on probation, not in jail, for his failure to file federal and city tax returns. Mr. Barry repaid that leniency by repeating the offense, essentially thumbing his nose at the government.

Federal prosecutors cited Mr. Barry's willful failure to file 2005 tax returns in asking a judge to revoke his probation and perhaps send him to jail. Also noted was Mr. Barry's breach of his promise to arrange a payment plan for taxes owed for a previous six years, a debt that got him in trouble in the first place and that has since caused the government to garnish his wages as council member for Ward 8.

Mr. Barry believes this to be a private affair; he says he should be treated "as any other citizen." Well, most citizens obey the law and pay their taxes. Moreover, when other citizens who do break the law violate their probation, they generally don't get another chance if the same offense is repeated. If anything, Mr. Barry -- who, it should not be forgotten, at one point failed a court-ordered drug screening -- has been treated with unearned deference.

And Mr. Barry is not just another private citizen. He is a public official who should know better and behave better. In that regard, his failure to pay District taxes is particularly galling. Not only do District taxes pay his $92,500 salary, but Mr. Barry, with his many years in public office, also knows well how many needs go unmet in this city for lack of funds.

Mr. Barry is 70 and in frail health. He has no great wealth. And, contrary to the caricature painted by his critics, he is a committed and caring member of the council. We would not want to see him go to jail. We just wish -- as do the many people he has disappointed in his uneven career -- that he would do the right thing.