Rod Strickland, as you'll recall, got in trouble back in September of 2010 for driving under the influence. As a result, his driver's license was suspended for 12 months.
This morning, he was arrested again:
"Rod Strickland was pulled over this morning in Lexington on a routine traffic stop on the way to the office," the statement said. "According to police reports, he was pulled over for failure to signal and for driving with a suspended license.
"According to Strickland, his vehicle was properly registered and he produced his driver's license at the scene. We are currently gathering information on whether his license was suspended due to a clerical error which led to his arrest."
Obviously, if you do the math, the 12-month license suspension should be long since over. Sure enough, it turns out that Strickland's license had been duly reinstated:
According to court documents obtained by LEX 18, former UK assistant basketball coach Rod Strickland, who was arrested Thursday morning for driving on a DUI suspended license, had the license reinstated in April 2011.
As to whether or not his vehicle was properly registered, nobody other than Strickland himself have said.
Naturally, some were quicker to judgment than others, pronouncing his job in jeopardy, and even suggesting he "take the bus" after it was reported that a clerical error might be at fault.
Strickland doubtless deserved his punishment for the DUI, that is a dangerous and unconscionable act, and sets a particularly bad example for young people. But it looks to me like this was purely the fault of the local government's failure to document a proper reinstatement. I suggest we keep the pejoratives and helpful suggestions to a minimum, and let Strickland, who has done nothing wrong other than a failure to signal if this report is right, alone. He has hopefully learned his lesson.