Photo by pablo.raw.

First, it was Cherita Whiting. Then, Sulaimon Brown. Now, it’s Talib Karim. What these three have in common is that they’re all supporters of Mayor Vince Gray who landed good jobs in his administration — and they all have questionable personal histories. But should those questionable histories — which include a stint in jail, a restraining order for stalking, and a domestic dispute — play a role in how we judge their qualifications for the positions they hold?

In mid-February, the Washington Times reported that Whiting, who was tapped to be a “special assistant” in the Department of Parks and Recreation, had a criminal record that she didn’t fess up to when she applied for the job — in 2001, she pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 22 months in a federal prison, amongst other crimes dating back to the 1990s. Last week, the City Paper found that Sulaimon Brown, a minor mayoral candidate who landed a $110,000-a-year job in the Department of Health Care Finance, also had a history of his own, having been slapped with a restraining order in 2007 for allegedly stalking a 13-year-old girl. Today, the City Paper again gets the scoop, this time on Talib Karim, who also ended up with a job at the Department of Health Care Finance, a 2008 protective order filed against by his wife notwithstanding.

The scrutiny of the three led Brown to lose his job (in incredibly dramatic fashion, no less) and forced Gray to order a top-down review of all political hires late last night. In the press release announcing the review, Gray stated:

“While a vetting process was implemented, it is clear that the approach was not thorough enough to address all relevant issues and questions for Excepted Service appointments. Moving forward, I want to make sure that we check and double-check all current and future Excepted Service appointees by also engaging our own Metropolitan Police Department.”

So Gray wants to know more about the criminal backgrounds of his appointees. But is it necessary? Or even helpful?