Danny Davis is late and no one can find him. “It’s going straight to voice mail,” his scheduler says as she hangs up the phone after her latest attempt. This is not good news. A half dozen people have been waiting in his west-side congressional office for half an hour.
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As it happens, the reason I’m here is to talk with the congressman about ex-offenders. Davis has become a leading advocate of support programs, and for good reason—his district has one of the highest concentrations of ex-offenders in the nation.
The long and the short: he calls himself a fan, but he’s not always convincing. “You know, I don’t think we’re going to see the Sears Tower fall into the lake or anything.”
In fact, Davis himself becomes cautious when asked about reforming drug laws—the primary cause of the revolving prison doors. He says he’s open to lessening penalties for pot possession, but not legalization. “I see people who are alcoholics lined up at the liquor store at 8:30 in the morning,” he says. “I’m afraid we’d have people lined up at the marijuana place the same way.”
