Justice and the Dotson case

ILLINOIS Gov. James Thompson has faced more than his share of tough challenges over the years. In a sense, that comes with the territory -- given the no-nonsense ward politics of Cook County and the Chicago area, where Governor Thompson first made his legal and then political mark. That perspective is useful, now that the governor says that the Gary Dotson rape case is the ``most unique and most difficult case'' that has ever confronted him.

For anyone who has followed even cursory news reports of the case, it would be hard not to agree. Given the complicated fact pattern involved in the case, Governor Thompson appears to have reached a balanced and correct decision, in commuting Mr. Dotson's sentence for a rape crime that his alleged victim now says never occurred.

The governor, in effect, has said that he is not going to ``manipulate'' the judicial system by pardoning Mr. Dotson as well as commuting his prison sentence. Mr. Dotson, who served six years in jail for the crime, will now be free, contingent upon his ``good behavior.'' Mr. Dotson has the option of seeking to clear his record in a subsequent court test. And, of course, as the governor indicates, there is no longer reason for Mr. Dotson to continue serving his 25- to 50-year sentence now that his accuser's credibility is certainly in question.

Time will tell whether the Dotson case leads to new insights or judicial standards involving rape cases in general, although as Mr. Thompson indicates, the Dotson case is essentially unique. In the meantime, Governor Thompson has served the immediate purposes of justice well with his decision.