A bitter irony

Days before Dothan Police Sgt. Brad E. Baum Jr.  was to report to for a 13-month deployment to Iraq as a sergeant in the U.S. Marines, he received a farewell gift from Police Chief John Powell — a day of suspension and a demotion, discipline for an incident that occurred a year and a half ago.

Ordinarily, a municipal employee would have the opportunity to appeal such action to the city’s Personnel Board. But Baum, who received notice of his punishment last week and took his day of suspension on Thursday, left Friday on his deployment. His demotion is to take effect today.

It’s impossible for an officer in Iraq to appear before the Personnel Board. For that reason, Baum’s demotion should be stayed until his return so he will have the opportunity to exercise his right of appeal.

That’s the fair thing to do, particularly for an officer on active military duty in harm’s way.

From the perspective of Baum’s attorney, there’s plenty to discuss before the Personnel Board, such as how an incident that occurred in early 2007 was not addressed until now, and whether the discipline has anything to do with Baum’s arrest of four juveniles on a curfew violation in July.

The specifics of this episode must be determined by the Personnel Board or, if necessary, the courts. Whether Baum deserves punishment is not our call to make.

However, he does deserve the due process and the opportunity to appeal.

It’s a bitter irony that he’s being denied one of the very rights he defends in the service of our country.