American Notes ATLANTA

"We should never be so concerned about anything that we stop caring for each other," Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young declared last week. That pastoral attitude, says Young, was the reason for his March 25 telephone call to the estranged wife of his friend and political colleague Julian Bond, cautioning her about allegations of cocaine use she was making to the police. Those charges implicated Bond, Young and other prominent Atlantans. (She later retracted the charges, which were denied by both Young and Bond.) A grand jury took up the case.

Last week, however, U.S. Attorney Robert Barr announced that Young would not be indicted for obstruction of justice, despite indications that federal statutes were violated. Said the mayor: "You are innocent until proven guilty. What ((Barr)) said was there was not enough evidence to prove me guilty. That's innocent enough for me."