release

Riding in a vehicle operated by anyone in the Kennedy clan continues to be a serious hazard to public safety and public morals. U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, son of the notoriously lethal driver Ted Kennedy, crashed into a barricade at the Capitol Building sometime around 3.a.m Thursday.

The two officials said officers at the scene reported seeing the car swerve before the crash and said Kennedy appeared intoxicated.

There was no indication from the sources that a sobriety test was given or that an arrest was made.

According to the Natioanl Public Radio report I heard this morning, police made an initial response to the scene, but were quickly replaced by higher-ranking members of the department. The ones who, apparently, gave him a ride home and didn’t bother to administer any kind of alcohol test despite the fact that Rep. Kennedy thought he was on his way to a vote at 3:00 a.m.

That’s impaired, baby, and in D.C., whether it’s drugs, booze, or an intern in your lap causing the impairment, that’s a criminal charge. The only possible reason I can think of for them letting him go was his implausible claim that he was “on his way to a vote.” Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution provides that :

[Members of Congress] shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same;

I do not believe that this would actually apply to a Congressman, impaired, driving into the Capitol at 3 a.m., but I’m not entirely familiar with the case law. On the other hand, the Capitol Police felt perfectly free to stop Rep. McKinney a few weeks ago on her way into the building, and look what happened in that case.

One thing is clear. If I or anyone reading this would have done the same thing, we’d have been the overnight guests of the Capitol Police. Ted Kennedy’s son, though, got a pass. And it stinks.

UPDATE: I’m hardly the only one to raise questions. The Captiol Police are investigating, and the officer’s union has questioned, whether any special treatment occurred and whether any additional charges should be filed. By Kennedy’s own admission, he was driving while impaired and I have a hard time imagining that, absent further special treatment, he will avoid charges of that nature.